Film Analysis: Fast Food Nation

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When eating from a fast food restaurant, many people do not stop to think about how the food they are eating was actually made. Fast Food Nation is a movie in which Don Henderson, the Vice President of Marketing for a burger chain known as Mickey 's, is given an assignment by his boss. He has to investigate why scientific findings are showing that there are traces of cow manure found in the patty of their new hamburger. He oversees the entire process of how the food goes from the ranch to your plate. In Fast Food Nation, it is demonstrated that dreadful working conditions, poor management in restaurants, and limited corporate action account for inadequate health and safety in the food industry.
Uni-globe meat packing (UMP) is the main producer
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Not only is the meat delivered to the restaurants unsafe, but poor management in the restaurant 's cause proper health and safety guidelines to be ignored. In Fast Food Nation, we see a Mickey’s employee named Brian open a hamburger, spit directly in the meat, and serve the sandwich in that condition. We also see Brian violate several other food safety regulations such as preparing food without gloves and serving food that has fallen on the floor. The issue lies in the fact that managers of Mickey’s restaurants are not enforcing food safety regulations and they’re getting away with it. They are not being penalized for cutting corners by higher authorities, and therefore keep allowing this to happen. Since food safety regulations are not followed, the food should not be labeled as safe to eat, as it may cause the customer to become …show more content…
Mickey’s executives contribute to the issues by not finding solutions to the problems. For example, Jack the CEO of Mickey 's reports to Don that there is “shit in the meat”. When Don confronts Harry, who is in charge of meat production, he explains that all of Mickey’s grills are carefully calibrated to cook the meat to a temperature that kills the germs and makes it safe to eat. Harry also threatens Don, who decides not to report everything he has seen. Although Jack knew that the meat was contaminated, he did not make sure that the problem was fixed. This small issue expands as it goes down the corporate hierarchy where it reaches Harry. Since Harry is only concerned about the price Mickey 's is paying for the meat, he does not care about the quality of the meat he is getting or the effect it is having on the workers. As result, undertrained employees who are trying to meet demand are forced to work in a fast paced environment filled with sharp objects and machines capable of grinding humans. The lack of change from higher up the corporate ladder is what is causing the issues.
In Fast Food Nation, issues in management are causing the steps of Mickey’s fast food production process to each output a product worse than the last. Management issues in both the plant and restaurants cause unsafe byproducts to be produced. Hazardous working conditions

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