Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser Essay Sample

In Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser argues in the epilogue that the processing and methods that began through fast food nation is unavoidable in many aspects of life, but as well as the changes created as an attempt to avoid the inevitable. Schlosser’s purpose is to inform the reader of the falseness spread about the safety of fast food that has been normalized in society that has spread in society in our everyday life. Schlosser develops this claim of how the fast food industry has contributed to large changes in society by using organization, emphasis, comparisons, and emotional persuasion.

Schlosser begins the the first section of the epilogue with a narrative of Dale Laster, the Conway family, and In-N-Out chain which are all linked together for being completely opposite of the normalization of processing in the Fast Food industry with their products. Introducing a narrative to the reader gives a better understanding of the topic Schlosser discusses in his work by sharing the stories of people who were affected by the fast food industry. Laster owned a cattle business that many opposed the normalized process of other large cattle businesses, he raised them in a very natural environment which made his beef become popular. His decisions of sticking to his values of letting nature be in control instead of chemicals and processing did not “revolutionize the American beef industry; but it was a start” (P.257). The result of the emphasis on the start of going against the tradition created in the food industry towards the production of meat. This began to influence other small businesses to attempt to use methods that did not involve much processing which brought some success, such as the Conway family’s Red Top and In-N-Out. Schlosser supports the change of operations in small businesses that connect to its success by comparing In-N-Out’s operations and their success from large chains. Referencing the Restaurants and Institutions from 2000, Schlosser proves that a family owned business that prepared their food daily unlike large fast food chains ranked first in some of the most important aspects when dining out, unlike McDonalds a very well known restaurant which was recognized in a survey to be “the lowest-quality food of any major hamburger chain” (P.260). This comparison shows how Schlosser wanted the readers to notice that a popular restaurant such as McDonalds would be the worst option in reality. Using this comparison brings the truth into the light which is something Schlosser is very skilled at writing.

In the second section of the epilogue Schlosser emphasizes how the goal from the fast food nation is part of our everyday lives tracing all the way back to jobs, technological industries, and the government, with the policy of having a “relentless drive for conformity and cheapness” (P.260). This affected how many important influences would occur such as the economy which was similar to the fast food nation would still not come close to the cumulation in the economy.