Infantile Steps
The direct connection the Fast Food Nation in this comic is so apparent that it even states in the novel that children pick a brand loyalty when they are so small. It’s ironic that the child that’s taking the steps even is relatively large which probably infers that the parents have been feeding their kid fast food and this would be why the addiction to this nasty meal has taken root. It’s so sad and slightly pathetic that a child who’s taking his fist steps is going towards a fast-food meal. It’s not really a funny comic as much as it is to make a point, so it’s purpose is more political than to actually entertain like most comics do.
What’s In Your [Meat]?
Fast food restaurants are really only out for the money, whether we want to take that into regard or not. This cartoon is humorous in the sense that it’s ironic because fast food companies would never been worried about our health, it would be the government not themselves cracking down on regulation, and in the sense that what the cartoon predicts is absolutely true. The editorial article in the Review Journal goes over something similar, a huge meat recall. Not really the fast food chains fault, but it just goes to show how it’s about the money. The tone serves to be very satirical maybe even a little to much, you can see that the author means very well to inform as well as push his opinion down your throat. It’s a very passionately written piece about recalls in foods. The huge spinach recall in 2006 that was a big deal, that left scores of people so ill in many states. Then a salmonella outbreak in peanut butter, Trader Joe’s has decided to take out all product from China, with cause for concern on the health standards on exports. [i loooove Trader Joe's so good for them!] The heavy hitter however, is the largest recall in the history of the US. the removal of over 143 MILLION pounds of beef from stores. It addresses almost everything brought to your attention in Fast Food Nation, the fact that meat plants are NOT at all sanitary, and how they really need to be regulated, and how the people need to be notified. The one thing stressed more than anything in this article was informing the public. They should know exactly what they’re buying and where it’s from, but we’ve all gotten so lazy, so lazy that we don’t even check to see where everything comes from. Convenience has finally out paced our concern of health. The subject is obviously the regulation slacking on meat packing plants and the audience is people who need to be informed. The object is to inform the public about what they are buying, this is information that is very important despite the fact that it is opinionated it’s still very influential. The author of Fast Food Nation would agree completely it’s even cited in his novel that meat plans need to be regulated. This is an important issue that needs to be addressed not just by the meat packing industry but to the PEOPLE, which is the most important on an influential standpoint. People are the ones that can change the way things are, with enough people, the worst recall in the US history will be the last.
Interesting Insight
I was on the search for an image header with McDonalds french fries, since my blog after all is based mostly on Fast Food Nation, and i stumbled across this:
http://mcchronicles.blogspot.com/2006/12/mcdonalds-new-york-city-trans-fat.html
it’s a blog also all about McDonalds and how they are being regulated on certain things. Their most recent post was about how in New York certain cooking oils were banned, but this only applies to the McDonalds in New York. It has some pretty interesting and opinionated info, it’s not factual as in news paper factual but I thought it would be very informing to read and keep up on.
This isn’t my article post by the way, you can comment on it if you want to but it’s not my actual assignment lol, i might bring stuff up in later posts about it but i’ll almost always put a link. So go read stuff, enjoy 
Architecture & Energy Regulation Helps Regulate Safety
In the article “Buildings That Can Breathe”, Faeed Zakaria interviews architect William McDonough to gain perspective of how buildings that are run energy conservation wise opposed to not. This interview explores ways in which architecture that’s environmentally friendly can save lots, and lots, and lots, of money. It’s hard not to agree with wanting to better buildings especially textile and meat packing facilities as well as houses and other dwellings. The only downsides are the fact that it costs a sum of money, and that it uses solar energy which is only active during sunlight hours. The pro’s out weigh the cons in the sense that installing these solar power pannels pays itself off in months.
Giving the example of “water coming out of one textile mill in Switzerland is as clean as the water going in” when that water is crystal clear you can’t help to wonder how did they do it? The cleanliness and order that comes with solar panels and new architecture is definitely and improvement from where meat packing facility buildings stand. As brought up in Fast Food Nation, the factories that meat packing is done in are not clean at all and are probably the most disgusting places to know that your food is coming from. In this eco-friendly way we can not only improve cleanliness in those places but also make the work place more safe for the workers. If the work place is safer then the workers will enjoy going to work and probably be more attentive. Ford is a company that has these terms discussed and has saved them millions of dollars. If the owners of meat packing industries get more money they might actually attribute that to some of their workers. All the way around this plan is a great way to better these companies. Eric Schlosser would be happy to approve of this environmental help that attributes many factors that were brought up in his book. The general topic being regulation of energy and cleanliness helps workers and boosts the meat packing’s reputation as well. Zakaria is addressing an audience that has a stand on being eco-friendly and having a want to conserve energy. The purpose is to give a general over view of how energy conservation can benefit major brand companies. The speaker is well pointed out given the fact that it is an interview William McDounough states his mission to make companies have a smoother running facility. The tone of the article isn’t at all critical of current standards merely aware that standards need to go up.
