Fast Food Nation: Final Exam
1. Schlosser paints quite a dire picture for how teenage workers are treated in the fast food industry. He describes how teenage workers are force to work long hours, even 12-hour shifts, after school and on the weekend, often in robbery-prone conditions. To make matters worse, the fast food industry is process-oriented and requires very little learned skills which lessen the teenager ability to negotiate working hours, salary, or others working conditions. Schlosser noted how the part-time nature of fast food work, and the high turnover rates also gave the workers little negotiating ability (p. 75).
One of the main concerns that Schlosser raised was the effect that the demands of part-time fast food employment …show more content…
First, teenagers are unskilled and they need to learn marketable skills that can help them through their working career. However, fast food jobs do not teach many job skills and require very low-skilled workers. Schlosser noted how the fast food industry collects millions of tax dollars to train employees (p. 77). The second way that I believe the two are at odds is the teenager’s desire for social status within their community. Fast food jobs do not have the benefits or status of more desirable jobs. Lastly, in most franchised fast food restaurants labor is one of the few controllable cost for the owner. So he has every incentive to keep wages low, as it directly effects his bottom …show more content…
Schlosser describes how the number of fast food restaurants in Great Britain double between 1984 and 1993 and with it the obesity rate went up as well (p. 242). At the time of the initial printing of Fast Food Nation, England had the highest obesity rate amount European countries (p. 242). When fast food companies entered foreign markets they decided to continue their successful strategy of marketing to children. Schlosser outlines one of the main reasons that the strategy is successful is that children have no traditions to uphold. However, some countries like Sweden fought back by banning advertising to children
1. Schlosser paints quite a dire picture for how teenage workers are treated in the fast food industry. He describes how teenage workers are force to work long hours, even 12-hour shifts, after school and on the weekend, often in robbery-prone conditions. To make matters worse, the fast food industry is process-oriented and requires very little learned skills which lessen the teenager ability to negotiate working hours, salary, or others working conditions. Schlosser noted how the part-time nature of fast food work, and the high turnover rates also gave the workers little negotiating ability (p. 75).
One of the main concerns that Schlosser raised was the effect that the demands of part-time fast food employment …show more content…
First, teenagers are unskilled and they need to learn marketable skills that can help them through their working career. However, fast food jobs do not teach many job skills and require very low-skilled workers. Schlosser noted how the fast food industry collects millions of tax dollars to train employees (p. 77). The second way that I believe the two are at odds is the teenager’s desire for social status within their community. Fast food jobs do not have the benefits or status of more desirable jobs. Lastly, in most franchised fast food restaurants labor is one of the few controllable cost for the owner. So he has every incentive to keep wages low, as it directly effects his bottom …show more content…
Schlosser describes how the number of fast food restaurants in Great Britain double between 1984 and 1993 and with it the obesity rate went up as well (p. 242). At the time of the initial printing of Fast Food Nation, England had the highest obesity rate amount European countries (p. 242). When fast food companies entered foreign markets they decided to continue their successful strategy of marketing to children. Schlosser outlines one of the main reasons that the strategy is successful is that children have no traditions to uphold. However, some countries like Sweden fought back by banning advertising to children