I’m almost done Fast Food Nation. Congratulations, Eric Schlosser, you succeeded in taking an already anti-corporate, environmentally and politically conscious, counter-culture, media suave young man and making him even more jaded. I’m thoroughly disgusted with fast and processed foods and the corporate and franchising powers that be. I also now know why McDonalds French fries taste the way they do. Actually, I now know why all processed foods taste the way they do and the quiet industries that facilitate them. I just got through the slaughter house chapter. It was the book’s money shot of gory detail, I found myself cringing as I was walking to work and listening. Apparently, since cattle varies so much in shape and size, automation of these plants is extremely difficult. So meat packing plants rely on unskilled migrant labor with employee turnover of over 80% yearly. Pressure to keep the line going quickly is enormous and the workers have the highest rate of serious injury (mostly lacerations) among the manufacturing industry. They are also all supposedly addicted to speed. An orgy of slashing, hacking, blood and methamphetamine. Yee-Haw. In a similar vein, last night I got a rare chance to watch one of my favorite things, The Fifth Estate, an award winning Canadian documentary show that looks at societal trends and issues.
The topic of this one was U.S.A. politics as presented through the American media eye. Funding sources and probable agendas of various organizations and the effect media bias has on news coverage were examined. It was the type of show that I delight in watching as I simultaneously become frustrated and angry at the material presented.
I felt it was quite objective even though the conservative talking heads came off looking like real assholes. Bob McKeown is the long time host of the show and he had an interview with Ann Coulter. Bob asked her something about U.S.-Canada relations and she replied along the lines of, “Well, Canada used to be the strongest ally of the United States. They sent troops to Vietnam to help ours and…”. Bob cuts her off in a mild but decisive tone, “Canada never sent troops to Vietnam” (very true). Coulter wouldn’t concede the point though, right there on the Fifth Estate being interviewed by a respected Canadian journalist who has been in the game maybe since before she was born and she told Bob he was wrong at least twice. My jaw just dropped open at the ignorance and pig headedness, I couldn’t believe it. Al Franken’s right (who also had an interview), she’s insane. A total psychopath. Unfortunately, I believe they are probably more common in government and the media than one would typically expect. A man who runs an organization monitoring media ethics said some things that struck a chord in me on how information and the real story doesn’t seem to matter anymore. There are just blue facts and red facts; The truth is different depending on which party you support. I found myself admiring Phil Donahue too since he came off so intelligent and informed. An old thoughtful media veteran. There was other meaty stuff on style and accountability too but this is depressing to write about, it really gets me upset. It hurts to ponder the greed, absurdity and patriotic ego of it all.
The Ancient Undergrad 
that’s from adbusters, isn’t it?!?!i liked schlosser so much i bought it for other people as a xmas present last year. there are so many mind-boggling facts that i wish i had time to read it again. it’s hard to swallow it all …
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You should get the adbusters calender!!!
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Interesting information about the workers, I had no idea. I want to read that book now!
I haven’t had any fast food (except In ‘N Out burgers) since I first got into college. I’m glad I’ve backed away from that shit.
Look at those fat kids! They need a goddamn salad! Remember how parents of fat kids were suing McDonald’s for making their kids fat? I read an article yesterday how they’re trying to bring that case back up, because of “false advertising that caused injury to the consumer” or some bullshit like that. I have never seen a McDonald’s ad that said “Eat a Big Mac! It’s good for you!” Well then.
I can go on and on about this. But I’ll just shut up now.
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the fifth estate sounds like a really good show. that stuff upsets and depresses me as well. white-christian-american supremacist media bias makes me sick. in my view folks like ann coulters are found on blight infected stalks in our cornfield and they’re spreading their disease all over. i’m beginning to fear that america as a whole will never join ranks with the reality-based community; we’re way too comfortable with our ignorance.
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I read ‘Fastfood Nation’ a little while back. It’s frightening… I rarely eat fastfood, but then again, I’m vegetarian and thus fastfood has little to offer! I’ve been outside of a slaughter house, looked in, but I just couldn’t manage to go in. One look was enough. I’ve been in chicken houses and barns with force-fed cattle in cages so they can’t move. Awful… then there’s the chemicals.. the sugar… Mmm.. sugar… Damn you sugar!!!
Bill O’Rielly was making a big deal out the whole Fifth Estate thing. They were trying to claim there were tens of thousands of Canadians in the Vietnam war. Canada did not send troops there. That was no lie. There was some under the UN – not to fight – but if that was what they meant, they are way off.
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I finished the book this afternoon and the line that will stick with me is:”There is shit in the meat!”I actually said this repeatedly to a co-worker/friend an hour ago during our shift change. All he did was stare at me blankly. I think he has come to expect that kind of nonsense from me. This is a really formal place and we were both in suits in the lobby and I was being loud so that’s why it was funny. Good times.I’m not going vegetarian or anything but hamburgers and amalgamated meat products just lost a lot of their appeal. I’m curious as to how the Canadian meat packing plants operate along with our meat inspection procedures because the US industry practices are atrocious.Yeah that image was in Adbusters, I think it may be public domain though, I’ve seen it elsewhere about the same time or before that issue came out.I’m now listening to America: The Book by Jon Stewart on audiobook now. It really makes me laugh. The part on presidential nicknames was hilarious.
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i gotta lay off the fast food…. i’m now remembering the movie supersize… poor kid does no one care for him that he’s gotten that large? i’m sure he gets tease terribly in school. I did and i wasn’t even large. i was just strange and talked funny.
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sounds like an interesting book to read…i’ll have to look into it.
you want some cookies? hahaha, that was so out of random…
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Then what is your “unbiased” opinion as to why we did….and do not say oil.
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jesus, I checked that book out of my library but never got around to reading it “employee turnover of over 80% yearly” damn. Did you see Super size me?
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evidentally i didn’t read this post before yet commented anyway is wrong with me??! Lying media… not good. And the workers are really on speed? damn… where can i get some?
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Yes I want some cookies. I removed the picture of the fat kids at McDonalds because the University had a blackout today and the little webserver I run on my computer to host images is off. I notice removing that image updated my page too, probably why whenanimalsattack came back and was confused.
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Whenever I smell McDonalds, I think of dog food.
Most dog foods are processed kibble crap (basically chum for dogs) coated in something that tastes good to dogs (maybe cat blood or something).
McDonalds is processed kibble crap for people, coated in grease to make the people-chum taste good.
I like organic. I like fresh. I like whole food. I like farmers that care about the land they use and give back to it. I don’t like eating pesticides. But they make that shitty food taste so good that it’s hard to pass up. So whenever I am tempted, I just think “dog food” or “people chum” (don’t you just love that word? chum. chum. chum.) and I can usually get over any craving. The image of hopped-up workers carving cattle carcasses is disturbing but funny. I can just picture disco lights and techno music in the background…
I saw Donahue on Bill O’Reilly and, though he came off as a nice guy, he also came off as a delusional Christian looney. Though I much prefer a dellusional Christian looney to a hyper-conservative elitist numb-nuts asshole.
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