Blog Three: The End Of Overeating

"The End Of Overeating" by David A. Kessler is a book based solely on how America's diet consumes us not only on an emotional level but a mental one as well. Kessler explains the reasons why so many Americans are morbidly obese; and how it's not just due to lack of will-power/laziness - but actually much attributed to what exactly is in our food that propels us to binge. During one particular passage, Kessler describes the reward system as something that is "essential to survival, encouraging us to seek out pleasurable things like sex and food. Powerful biological forces are at play that make us want something enough to pursue it and then make us feel momentarily better once we obtain it." (Kessler, chapter two, page ten) Basically, the reward system is a region of our brain that seeks out the satisfying things (food). Once our reward systems are gratified, our brains become stimulated and crave more food, even if they are not hungry. An experiment was studied on animals to prove the power of the reward system. Food was placed on the far end of the room over an electrified floor. The strength of the reward system shows to be extremely strong when the animals still continue to try and reach the food even though they're not physically hungry. The overall discovery of this passage is that temptation for food (primarily junk food and sweets) is not just built upon actual hunger, but lies within our mind as well.

Blog Two

Another significant factor that determines the unjust realtionship between the food industry and it's workers is very largely based on the majority of adolescent employees working in these fast-food joints under extremely unfair conditions. According to Schlosser in chapter three ("Behind The Counter") - about two-thirds of the nation's fast food workers are under the age of twenty. Schlosser writes, "Teenagers have been the perfect candidates for these jobs, not only because they are less expensive to hire than adults, but also because their youthful inexperience makes them easier to control", (Schlosser, page 68.) Simply put: the younger the employeees are, the overall greater control the companies have over them. Due to their inexperience and unskilled abilities within the workforce, they will settle for these part-time low wage jobs that realistically should be granted to a more stable, more experienced adult. Most of these teens are standing on their feet for more than seven hours at a time during the course of a single work shift. The worst bulk of it, however, comes up on page eighty three when Schlosser delves into injury rates. Schlosser says, "Teenagers are fare more likely to be untrained, and every year, about 200,000 are injured on the job. The most common workplace injuries at fast food resturants are slips, falls, strains, and burns." Safetey also plays a big role in these establishments. Crime rate in the industry is at an all time high, and robbers are more drawn to America's fast food resturants than convenience stores, gas stations, or banks since fast food resturants still do almost all of their business in cash. This is where "stroking" comes into play. Managers will make these employees "feel good' by talking them up, telling them what a great job they are doing. This strategic method works effectively on employees, mainly teenagers, as they

Blog One: Summarizing How Corporations Target Children (Fast Food Nation)

Eric Schlosser, a journalist known for his investigative work, cracks down on the wretched reality of what really goes on behind the closed doors of The Food Industry in his acclaimed book, "Fast Food Nation". "Fast Food Nation" is a representation of the injustice that occurs within these multi-billion dollar corporations whether it's between it's workers, the produce/animals and how they're handled, and most importantly - we as consumers and how all of this monstrosity affects our well-being and health in the long run.

This all begins in chapter two of "Fast Food Nation", a chapter based on how large companies - mainly McDonald's - use advertising tactics to lure young children into their product. We learn that when these fast-food corporations aim at children for advertising, especially ones at a young age, it could very well pave the path to a lifetime of poor health and/or childhood obesity. Schlosser dives down the the very core of every working parent's number one guilt: "not spending enough time with the kids". This being so, in the 1980's there was an explosion of children's advertising. Ad agencies developed something they called "cradle-to-grave" advertising strategies, meaning "a person's 'brand loyalty' may begin as early as the age of two." By grasping this idea cooked up by Ray Kroc (Founder of McDonald's) and Walt Disney long ago, they realized how vital it was to grasp the child's attention at the very youngest age possible and set the basic standpoint and more of how "good" their product was.

Over the years, the mass advertising of these companies has grown increasingly worse, as well as downright obnoxious. Company mascots were formed (Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse) to cheer on your children into demanding that next happy meal, therefore manifesting the parent into thinking he and/or she is "the best" in their children's eyes because they were content for a few hours after such a "delightful" dinner treat. It doesn't stop there. As technology rapidly advanced it's way into the new millennium, we see a great uproar in advertising like never before. Commercials, internet games, TV series, toys, McDonald's characters splattered across elementary school walls, clothing apparel, even as far as a McDonald's museum exhibit. As harmful as the food behind these colorful advertisements are, emotions win above all. These parents are unfortunately fooled into believing that this money spent on their children is well worth the price. After all, it's making the kids happy - so what else matters?

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