Fast Food Nation Essay

Summary: All Americans effect the huge growth of fast food but adolescents play even more of a vital role in than the average consumer. Not only do teenagers consume fast food, but they work for it and steal from it because they are attracted to it the most. The fast food industry provides the easiest way for young people to get started and continue to succeed in our â€Å"Fast Food Nation. † Our country loves fast food, there is speedy service with cheap tasty food in over one million restaurants world wide. Though we all love it, we do not like the stories behind it. In 2004, Americans spent over 110 billion dollars on fast food, that’s more than higher education, computers, computer software and new cars combined (Scholosser, 3). Teenagers provide a huge role in the fast food industry. Teenagers work at these restaurants, eat at these restaurants, are objects of advertisements by these restaurants and steal from these restaurants more than any other age group. Ever since the age of three more than 75 percent of American children can recognize the face of Ronald McDonald. Since our nation is currently being raised around fast food it is only inevitable that as children grow, they only become more of a part of it everyday. The average American child begins to work around the age of 16 doing low wage low labor jobs. At anytime a teenager can walk into any fast food restaurant and apply for a job. Fast food restaurants prefer to employ teenagers because they are easily trained, less expensive to tend to than adults and are easier to control. Also since most teenagers still live at home they can afford to work for wages too low to even support an adult. â€Å"No other industry in the United States had a workforce so dominated by adolescents. About two-thirds of the nations fast food workers are under the age of twenty† (Scholosser, 68). Working in McDonalds is not difficult, but just tedious and long. Since most fast food restaurants are run my machines, it is up to these 17 year-old employs to push buttons and say commands. All Burger King wants is for things to get done faster, not how much effort is put into work, so teenagers feel working at Taco Bell or KFC won’t be as difficult as it will a strain. Any teenager working behind the counter at any fast food restaurant is given less respect than animals at the pet store. .†.. she hates the job and is desperate to quit. Working at the counter she has to deal with rude remarks and complaints. She is often yelled at by strangers angry that their foods taking to long or that something is wrong with their order. One elderly woman threw a hamburger at her because there was too much mustard on it† (Scholosser, 81). Though rudeness is a downside to a fast food job, there are perks for kids who do not need a lot. Many of the 200 dollar a week salary is used for teenage spending; clothes, nights out, cars and other desirable things. Teenagers run and continue the fast food work force every day, not because they have to but because it’s the best option available to them. Though we may not like the way the food is cooked or served; the way it tastes is still great. McDonalds makes a huge profit off of everything; soda fries and sandwiches all profit so largely, and teenagers are one of the most popular customers. A medium soda in McDonalds is $1. 29, it cost McDonalds $4. 25 per gallon of soda syrup, only about 9 cents worth of syrup is used in a medium drink, giving McDonalds almost a 95% profit. Soda consumption among teenagers has doubled within the past 20 years, reaching an average of twelve ounces of soda a day per child. (Scholosser, 54). With French fries McDonalds buy them frozen for 30 cents a pound, then sells them reheated in oil for 6 dollars a pound, pure profit pulled from the hands of teenagers. McDonalds makes billions upon billions of dollars annually by selling things for such a low price but really making the largest profit possible. Recently, fast food restaurants have become more attractive to armed robbers than a clothing store or gas station. Since fast food industries do almost all of their business in cash, others rely on credit card transactions. Robbery in fast food chains is not uncommon at all, even when most of it happens by their own employees, underage teenagers who are desperate for money. Though most of these robberies occur early in the morning or late at night when few people are working. â€Å"The typical employee stole about $218 a year and according to industry studies, about two thirds of the robberies at fast food restaurants involve current or former employees. † (Scholosser, 84). Employees have low pay, high turnover and know the restaurant, why not steal? McDonalds is already a billion dollar industry, many of the people think, its not going to hurt their business, they won’t even notice. However these robberies have led to deaths and injuries, and make teenagers realize what horrible conditions they are working in. All Americans effect the huge growth of fast food but adolescents play even more of a vital role in than the average consumer. Not only do teenagers consume fast food, but they work for it and steal from it because they are attracted to it the most. The fast food industry provides the easiest way for young people to get started and continue to succeed in our â€Å"Fast Food Nation. â€Å"