Fast Food Nation

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2001

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapter 9-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 7-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary: “Cogs in the Great Machine”

The title of this chapter is partially borrowed from Upton Sinclair’s famous exposé of the meatpacking industry, The Jungle. The chapter’s central concern is likewise the meatpacking industry. In many ways, the chapter is an extension or an updated version of Sinclair’s work. Schlosser examines the business practices of some of the industry’s largest firms, such as ConAgra and Monfort. The chapter begins with Schlosser commenting about the living conditions in the town of Greely, Colorado, particularly the ubiquitous smell that pervades the town from the cattle waste at the meatpacking plant.

Schlosser then goes back in time and describes the early days of the industry in Greely. Ken Monfort was a pioneer in the process of feeding grain to cattle rather than letting them roam and feed on grass. Instead of ranges, cattle were collected into what were called feedlots. This made the whole process of raising and slaughtering cattle much more efficient, which grew the industry and led to more and more ways of adding efficiency to the operations of the larger firms. Schlosser then uses Iowa Beef Packers (IBP) as a case study in how the industry changed very rapidly over a relatively short amount of time. As the meatpacking business became highly industrialized, the need for high-skilled labor decreased in proportion. Ken Monfort and Harold Swift, two pioneers of meatpacking, led their companies paternalistically and looked after their workers; however, as the business became industrialized, the fair treatment of workers was replaced by a much less worker-centric model. The bigger corporations moved their operations out of Chicago, the national capital of the meatpacking industry for the early half of the 20th century, to smaller, more rural communities. This decentralization strategy worked to break apart unions, thereby lowering the overall cost of labor. Schlosser spends much of the latter part of this chapter examining the labor practices of these corporations, such as depressing wages and loosening safety measures, and the impact these labor practices have had on small communities of the High Plains. He also describes the exploitation of migrant labor practiced by the industry’s largest corporations.

Chapter 8 Summary: “The Most Dangerous Job”

The beginning section of this chapter is graphic and details the gruesome activities that take place within a slaughterhouse. Schlosser takes the reader backward through the various stages of meat processing. He enters the facility at the station where the meat looks generally as it does at the supermarket meat department and then traces the process from there until he stands outside and watches cattle being herded into the facility. Schlosser then chronicles the danger that slaughterhouse workers routinely face. Mentioning that it is the most dangerous job in the United States (172), he proceeds to list some of the more horrific accidents as well as the types of injuries that add up over time, such as back problems and carpal tunnel syndrome. In addition to the workers at these plants, the cleaning crews face horrendous workplace conditions. Generally, the workers hired by cleaning companies for this job are migrants from other countries, and they are paid low wages. They work with chlorine, and like the other workers in the plants they clean, they face an ever-present danger of mishaps and accidents that cause injury and death.

Schlosser provides an analysis of how meatpacking companies are able to stay under the radar of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). First, because of high turnover, unionization is difficult. This allows the company to regulate itself rather than having to answer formal complaints. Companies refer workers to their own doctors, paid by the company, and as a result, accidents and injuries are rarely reported accurately. The meatpacking industry also has enormous political leverage in the states where they operate, and Schlosser chronicles how some politicians advocate against OSHA at the bidding of meatpacking industry executives. Again, Schlosser exposes an apparently unethical industry that seemingly does not care about its workforce. To further illustrate his point, Schlosser recounts the story of “Kenny,” a 16-year veteran of the industry. Kenny was a loyal worker and had suffered many accidents and near-death experiences. He always did what he was told, which sometimes included returning directly to work after almost being killed. Despite his commitment to his employer, Kenny was unceremoniously fired from his last job. As a man without education and means, he was reduced to collecting welfare, in terrible health, with no real prospects or hope for a brighter future.

Chapters 7-8 Analysis

The title of Chapter 7, “Cogs in the Great Machine,” alludes to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. In that book, Sinclair revealed the truth behind the meatpacking industry in the early years of the 20th century (the book was published in 1906). Sinclair pulled the curtain back on an industry that had fostered brutal working conditions, put worker safety last, and gamed the system once big corporations gained influence and economic leverage. Sinclair’s book caused a stir when it was published, and it moved people like Theodore Roosevelt to take action and break apart the monopolies that controlled the industry. However, the meatpacking industry gradually devised strategies, such as decentralizing their industry and scattering it over rural America, that brought the situation back full circle. As Schlosser details, “Today the top four meatpacking firms—ConAgra, IBP, Excel, and National Beef—slaughter about 84 percent of the nation’s cattle” (137), which suggests that the corporate power of these meatpacking giants is even more significant than during Sinclair’s time. This time around, however, the meatpacking industry anticipated objections to anti-trust violations. Using their vast political leverage, they influenced many politicians, specifically the Reagan administration in the 1980s, which “opposed using antitrust laws to stop the giant meatpackers” (157). In another example of political collusion from 1987, Schlosser points out how executives from ConAgra were at the table with former Nebraska governor Mike Harper to modify the state tax code that lowered tax rates paid by large corporations and their executives.

Schlosser closely follows Sinclair’s lead in Chapter 8, where he describes in gruesome detail the sights, sounds, and smells of a functioning slaughterhouse. The scenes described in this chapter are not for the faint of heart, but the descriptions are critical for the chapter’s thesis about the extreme dangers of working in a slaughterhouse. Schlosser points out that “meatpacking is now the most dangerous job in the United States. The injury rate in a slaughterhouse is about three times higher than the rate in a typical American factory” (172). At the root of the danger is the corporate value of production speed over safety and cleanliness. The large firms, following the lead of fast food companies, rely on low wages and high turnover. They also target less economically advantaged populations both in the United States and in Central American countries. The industry rigidly adheres to profit generation over the health and safety of both their workers and their consumers. And because they have gained such enormous economic power, they have captured agencies such as OSHA and the USDA so that they do the bidding of the industry rather than of the people. The facts in this chapter directly support the theme of Corporate Profit Versus Social Responsibility.