Analysis+and+Predictions

Analysis and Predictions

Chapter 1: The Founding Fathers Prediction: I predict that this chapter will talk about Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds. Kroc started fast food franchising, and was a pioneer in the industry.

This chapter talks about Carl N. Karcher, the founder of Carl Jrs. and later on Hardee's. He moved to California and bought his first hot dog stand. At this time, drive-ins were becoming very popular and their owners were becoming very rich. Karcher was doing okay at his restaurant, but when he visited The McDonald's Famous Hamburger's restaurant, he discovered the competition that he had. McDonald's started the Speedee Service System, which would change the fast food industry forever. In this system, customers had to order for themselves and they served themselves. Each employee had their own job, which made food preparation much more efficient. After seeing McDonald's success, Carl Karcher decided to open his own self-service restaurant. Several fast food restaurants adopted this way of preparing food after McDonald's and Carl Jrs.

Chapter 2: Your Trusted Friends Prediction: I predict this chapter will unveil the faults and downfalls of fast food big-wigs. I think it will talk about employees as well.

This chapter talks about many different marketing strategies targeted towards kids and the relationship between Ray Kroc and Walt Disney. Some strategies mentioned include starting clubs, using internet websites, having playlands inside the restaurants, and television commercials. TV ads are the primary source of marketing for children. Over the years, parent groups, the Federal Trade Commission, and many other groups tried to ban all television ads directed at children under seven years old. Having playgrounds inside restaurants has proved to be a very good way to draw in customers. "Playlands bring in children, who bring in parents, who bring in money". Another strategy used was to sell kids meals with toys included. Just adding a toy typically doubles or triples the weekly sales of a kids meal. In May of 1996, Walt Disney linked the Walt Disney Company and the McDonald's Corporation. McDonalds earned the rights to Disney's films and videos. McDonald's restaurants could also be found in Disneyland. Fast food companies also started to sell food in schools.

Chapter 3: Behind the Counter Prediction: I predict this chapter will focus on the employees of fast food restaurants. I think it will talk about how the food is prepared.

This chapter tells about the employees of fast food restaurants and their treatment. Most of fast food workers are teenagers. This is because they are part-time workers, unskilled, and will work for minimum wage. There have been several instances of fast food workers starting a union. But at McDonald's they are always quickly shut down. Despite not being able to form a union for more than thirty years, every once in a while a group of workers will try again. Fast food workers are often used and not payed when they work overtime. The restaurants try to make the preparation of the food as easy as possible, so no employee training is required. The machinery in the kitchens is made so that it is almost impossible to make something incorrectly. It also talks about how many fast food workers die each year. In May 2000, five Wendy's employees were murdered during a robbery. Fast food restaurants are now the main targets of robbers. They are more attractive than banks because most people pay for their burger and fries with cash.

Chapter 4: Success Prediction: I predict this chapter will be about how successfull McDonald's and other fast food restaurants have been. I think it will tell about how they have gone across the country and even international.

This chapter talks about how restaurants like Little Ceasars and McDonald's started franchising. Franchising helped the new fast food chains to grow quickly by raising the hopes and using the money of small investors. Dunkin' Donuts and KFC were the first chains to start franchising. Along with the growth of these restaurants came strip malls and a fast food restaurant on every corner. Franchising is said to be the safest way to go into business yourself because you already have a recognizable brand and good food. But, the chain will try to take control of prices. The chains are sometimes sued by the franchisees that are angry about this encroachment. The franchisees and chain owners are still seeking ways to become better salesman though. They attend sales confrences like the one held in Denver.

Chapter 5: Why the fries taste good Prediction: I predict this chapter will be about all the things that go into fast food. I think it will say all the bad ingredients and where they come from.

In Aberdeen, Idaho, the Simplot potato plant runs almost year round turning potatoes into french fries. It makes about a million pounds of potatoes a day. It created a new method for drying potatoes and became one of the principal suppliers of food for American military during WWII. After the war, they focused on flash-freezing food for "meals of the future". J.R. Simplot started selling frozen french fries in 1953. This started a much easier way for fast food restaurants to produce the fries. The J.R. Simplot Company still supplies the majority of McDonald's fries today. Simplot, Lamb Weston, and McCain now control about 80 percent of the french fry market in teh U.S. McDonald's has long been praised for their delicious tasting fries. They have a distinct oil that they are cooked in, which is different from other fast food fries. This section explains what artificial flavors are made up of. Often times, foods are dyed so they wil be more appealing to children too.

Chapter 6: On the Range Prediction: I think this chapter will be about the meat that is used in hamburgers. It will most likely talk about the industry and the cattle ranching.

In this chapter, Schlosser meets Hank; a cattle rancher from Colorado Springs. He works hard and doesn't "rape the land" like some ranchers in the area. He lives modestly and is a good rancher. Currently, McDonald's only has about five beef suppliers and they have monopolized the meat packing industry. Two-thirds of the poultry market in America are now maintained by eight main chicken processors. In 1979, Fred Turner had the idea for creating bite-sized pieces of chicken that would soon be what are known as McNuggets sold at McDonald's. These chicken nuggets went nationwide in 1983 and were extremely successful. Corporate behavior is being held responsable for the low prices that American ranchers are being paid for their cattle. In 1996, a USDA concentration in the beef industry investigation discovered that several ranchers were scared to testify against the large meat-packing companies.

Chapter 7: Cogs in the Great Machine Prediction: I predict that this chapter will talk more about the meat industry and how cattle are raised.

In this chapter, Schlosser describes Greeley, Colorado as a "modern-day factory town where cattle are the main units of production". Greeley is one of the main places where the majority of hamburger meat comes from. Warren Monfort and his son Ken opened a small slaughterhouse in 1960. Ken was a liberal Democrat and he appeared on Richard Nixon's "enemies" list. Old Chicago slaughterhouses had horrible working conditions. Workplace accidents and injuries were very common. When new IBP slaughterhouses open, it tends to ruin the town. In 1990 in Lexington, Nebraska, a new slaughterhouse was opened which created the highest crime rate in Nebraska. When Schlosser traveled to Lexington, he met many different IBP workers. Most of the population there are now hispanic, hence the slang name for Lexington-Mexington. The smell in Lexington is awful; the three main smells are "burning hair and blood, that greasy smell, and the odor of rotten eggs".

Chapter 8: The Most Dangerous Job Prediction: I think this chapter wil focus on the on-the-job injuries and how many accidents there are in slaughterhouses and other factories.

In this chapter, Schlosser visits one of the nation's largest slaughterhouses located in the High Plains. In the slaughterhouse about half are women, and almost all are young Latinos. They are very good at what they do and perform tasks quickly and efficiently. A worker called a "sticker" just stands in a river of blood and slits the neck of a cow every ten seconds or so. Meatpacking is now the most dangerous job in America because the injury rate is three times higher than the average American's job. Deep cuts and scratches are the most common injury because of all the knives and sharp machinery around. Many workers in slaughterhouses like this are recent immigrants and many are illegal. Many of the workers choose not to report injuries because they may be fired. If they do not report an injury, supervisors may shift them to an easier job for a while. Some of the worst jobs here are performed by the late shift crew members. They have to clean the slaughterhouses and there are many chemicals that they have to deal with. The temperature gets to about 100 degrees and "you just want to throw up".

Chapter 9: What's in the Meat Prediction: I think this chapter will be about the incidents when people have gotten sick. Also, I predict that it will talk about how restaurants serve meat that has gone bad sometimes.

The beginning of this chapter talks about Lee Harding, who ate a Mexican restaurant and got a deadly virus called Escherichia coli O157:H7. Harding had severe abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea. It ended up being part of a huge recall of the meat but it didn't do much because 25 million pounds of the ground beef had already been eaten. Roughly 200,000 people in the U.S. become ill because of a foodborne disease every day. These diseases are most likely to be caused by the way the food in produced. White Castle had a lot of success when they first began because they told customers that their meat was delivered fresh twice a day, and they kept their grills in plain sight. This chain helped to popularize hamburgers and remove the social stigma. More and more restaurants served them, making the hamburger America's national dish. The hamburger patty plants looked fresh and clean compared to the meatpacking plants. Many children died from the E. coli virus, and their parents surrounded President Clinton when he announed in July, 1996 that the USDA would finally adopt a way of making sure the meat was virus-free. In school cafeterias, the meat that is purchased for kid's lunches is often the cheapest possible. Hundreds of children have died from bad meat in school lunches.

Chapter 10: Global realization Prediction: I think this chapter will be about fast food around the world.

In this chapter, Schlosser visits the city of Plauen, Germany. For hundreds of years, farmers bought and sold goods in this small town.By the end of the 1800s, a lively textile industry had begun. After the war, the town had been mostly deserted. During the summer of 1990, construction began on McDonald's there, and it would be the first building in Plauen since the new Germany began. The fast food market has been so successful that the chains have looked for prospects in other countries. They use the same market strategy as in the U.S.: targeting children. Germany has been one of the most prominent markets overseas for fast food chains. Germans loved McDonald's. Ronald goes into hospitals and schools, while new restaurants open all the time in gas stations, railway stations, and airports. McDonalds is also big in England, but they have faced many critics there. But, McDonalds has faced so many legal issues overseas it's ridiculous. Overall, the world takeover by McDonald's is immense. They have spread so far across the globe, and it is the world's largest fast food chain.