Answers to reading question #1 were excellent: precise, thoughtful and passionate--I enjoyed each of your contributions. Also, unlike the previous chapters we've studied, everyone seemed to have strong, even angry responses to "the most dangerous job" and I'm glad.
Now for another discussion. Please answer the following questions with the same athleticism that you did in the previous posts. Be careful to answer BOTH of them.
Consider the following quote from chapter 9 :
"The nation's industrialized and centralized system of food processing has created a whole new sort of outbreak, one that can potentially sicken millions of people." (195)
1. Explain the significance of this quote and how it relates to Schlosser's position. In other words, what "outbreak" is he talking about? Be sure to include evidence from the text to support your answer.
2. What is your reaction to this chapter?
To receive full credit for your response, you have until 11:30pm this Sunday, October 12th. And remember, be bold and sophisticated with your answers.
All the best, and enjoy the reading!
12 comments:
First of all: Mr. Molnar, why was this question so late? x]
okayokay, now onto the question.
This quote is about how the 'industrialized and centralized food processing', meaning mostly everyone are eating the same things and what they are eating are coming from the same place, is definitely not helping slow down food- borne diseases from getting around. The fact that food that are processed from a certain packinghouse are all ending up in a place that everyone has definitely heard of and many include in their daily lives such as fast food restaurants and supermarkets mean that if one gets sick because of what is in the food, then there is bound to be another. Especially because its probably more than one part of the cow that has the disease and that cow's meat has definitely been around. Evidence from the text would be: "The meat-packing system that arose to supply the nation's fast food chains -- an industry molded to serve their needs, to provide massive amounts of uniform ground beef so that all of McDonald's burgers would taste the same -- has proved to be an extremely efficient system for spreading disease" (196). Schlosser included this information to let us know what role the mainstream fast food restaurants play in food poisoning epidemics such as the E.Coli case. These restaurants are too busy thinking about making their money to think about the safety of their costumers. They didnt even bother checking if their meat is clean. They were going with quantity instead of quality.
I do not eat hamburgers in the first place. In my opinion, burgers seem too gross to eat because i dont know what people put in there. The only time i'd eat a burger is when i see how the beef is grounded and made into patties (there ARE places where you can see how they make the patties and they have the best burgers ive ever tasted because the meat is fresh). This chapter showed me that i was right about the burgers. I am relieved, but also a bit grossed out because i know many people eat other burgers out there and to think that theres a chance they have e. coli in there is, well, sickening. I know in the end of the chapter it mentions that fast food restaurants are putting more effort into making sure that their beef is clean but i still think its better to be safe than sorry so you'd still find me refusing a burger and sticking to fries instead.
The significance of this quote is about "the first sign of an outbreak that extends statewide,nationwide, or even overseas"(195). Relating to Schlosser's position bout 'the outbreak of food poisoning'. In this case, it can be easily spread because "the newly recognized food borne pathogens tend to be carried and shed by apparently healthy animal,Food tainted by these organisms has most likely come in contact with an infected animal's stomach contents or manure, during slaughter or subsequent processing"(197). In which, it lead to cause health issues because healthy looking cows were unsuspected to be insanitary. Moreover, it provides a nationwide study in 1996 statistics of ground beef samples. "7.5 percent was contaminated with Salmonella, 11.7 percent was contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, 30 percent were contaminated Staphylococcus aureus, and 5.3 percent was contaminated with Clostridium perfringens"(197). And to consider we eat related-beef products coming from the same place results in increasing food borne diseases to spread. Therefore, if we are exposed to any of those diseases it can make us seriously ill due to the medical literature that "There is shit in the meat"(197).
I continue to eat hamburgers til this day. The difference now is i am aware of the outcome of eating a hamburger. In my opinion, i see nothing wrong with burgers because now we have advanced technology that can prevent a major illness to spread and even if we were to be contaminated with such disease it can be treated.
I agree with Athena about why this quote is significant and about the lateness of this question [: Anyway, this quote is significant because one faulty mistake in the processing of hamburgers can lead to dangerous things such as food-borne diseases being passed around. It relates to Schlosser's position because it provides facts that contribute what it is he is trying to prove about fast food. The "outbreak" Schlosser is referring to is the outbreak of foodborne disease. "Every day in the United States, roughly 200,000 people are sickened by a foodborne disease, 900 are hospitalized, and fourteen die"(195). As for my reaction to this chapter, I was shocked. I thought you could only get foodborne disease or food poisoning through eating raw meat, but I guess not. Lots of things can cause foodborne disease, which is definitely not a good thing. Schlosser is pulling very powerful facts, because the deeper I get into the chapter, the more I want to refrain from eating burgers. I'm not saying I'll completely stop, but I think I won't eat as much as I usually do.
First of all, I agree with Athena and Janel's statement. The significance of this quote provides on with a statement on how one faulty accident can lead to dangerous effects. Such as, a mishap in the hamburger making factory, if one burger slips out with a disease unchecked, it affects all the meat around it ! It relates to Schlosser's position the fact that the "outbreak" is based on food borne diseases and other illness. "The widespread outbreaks that are detected and identified represent a small fraction of the number that acually occurs. And there is strong evidence not only that the incidence of food-related illness has risen in the past few decades, but also that the lasting health consequences of such illnesses are far more serious than was previously believed. My reaction to this chapter was actually amazed. When I was reading this, I was actually making Korean BBQ and I was reading that could the meat I'm cooking right now actually be clean and not contaminated with diseases. So, this chapter made me aware of what I eat. Sure, I'm a little disturbed in eating meat now, but I think that people try their best on making sure the food is fine but I really don't believe in it as much because from the previous pages, each worker has enough work they manage and I don't think that at all we're still safe from the meat we're eating. So, BEWARE(=
In this quote Schlosser is talking about the out break of the E coli infected meat. That has been produced in meat factories and sold to millions of people around the word and have gotten them sick. Evidence from the text is A pueblo health official went to Harding’s house, took the remaining hamburgers, and sent one to a USDA laboratory for analysis. State health officials had noticed a spike in the number of people suffering from E. coli O157:H7 infections. The DNA tests showed that at least ten people had been sickened by the same strain of the bug (194). This evidence from the text supports the out break because it tells us that many people did get infected with the contaminated meat and that in fact this is the out break Schlosser was referring to in his quote.
I was very shocked when I read this chapter. I actually eat hamburgers but as I kept reading this chapter I was convinced that every bite I take out of a burger can be very dangerous and even fatal. Schlosser has persuaded me to defiantly cut back on those burgers. As of this day I will think twice before having a burger.
hey mr.molnar can you email me at curlydez1991@yahoo.com.. please and thankyou..
First off, i agree with the girls about the significance of this quote. With any little mishap of meat handling can sicken people. Although we can cure people from food poisonings and or diseases doesnt mean people should eat carelessly. For example,"...Lee Harding ordered soft chicken tacos at a Mexican retaurantin Pueblo, Colorado...When the chicken tacos arrived, Harding thought there was something wrong with them.The meat seemed to have gone bad.They tasted slimy and gross"(193). About the packinghouses, everyhting they to the meat is very citical because they distribute to different companies. Many can be infected and so can their communities. Everything and anything can be infected.
I've been slowly letting go of burger joints and eating meat. All the things they inject in the animals can be dangerous. My mom is a big influence of a vegetarian life. We eat tofu and soy made products which taste the same maybe even better to actual meat.
The quote to my understanding is that the meat in our hamburgers have a bad diseases in it. The meat is making people sick and even killing.For example "Her six-year-old son, Alex, was infected with the bug in July of 1993 after eating a tainted hamburger. Another thing that i think, the people that take care of the meat need to be very clean not dirty. Like having to clean every thing and have no bugs or rats. Not only them but the people cooking it too.This is a nasty example "A 1997 undercover investigation by KCBS-TV in Los Angeles videotaped local restaurant workers sneezing into their hands while preparing food, licking salad dressing off their fingers, picking their noses, and flicking their cigarettes into meals about to be served"(222). I think the Schlosser is trying to tell u how a fast food local lunch can make u suck and even kill you.
This chapter is an eye opener to me. I think i am scared to go eat a hamburger at a fast food place. Well it is very infomative to me.
this quote is about how many people are pretty much eating the same thing. This also means that the community or society isn't helping to stop food-borne diseases. The fact that the processed food is delivered to a place people know. Going from supermarkets and from a restaurant. If someone gets sick by the food that they ate it also means that there will be more people getting sick from the food as well. My evidence would have to be "The meat-packing system that arose to supply the nation's fast food chains -- an industry molded to serve their needs, to provide massive amounts of uniform ground beef so that all of McDonald's burgers would taste the same -- has proved to be an extremely efficient system for spreading disease" (196). Schlosser added this information to tell us that the main fast food restaurants play a major role in spreading diseases such as E.Coli. Since the restaurants only care about making money they dont really care about the customer's safety. They only care about the quantity of the meat not the quality.
My reaction to this chapter does make me think about what I eat. Even though I do eat fast food I dont consume as much and know knowing about the meat it makes me think more about eating fast food.
I agree with andrea about the fact that mass food productions dont really have enough time to check all of the hamburgers thoroughly. Because of how much hamburgers per day are produced, there is a big possibility that one hamburger with a disease will pass through unnoticed. that one hamburger can cause a huge disturbance in the food world and can spread to other hamburgers getting shipped and packaged across the united states.
schlosser is trying to say that we can also get sick from food just as bad as natural diseases or any other disease out there.
Even though this chapter informed me with disturbing facts on hamburgers, it didnt affect the fact that i like hamburgers. It gave me an insight on how hamburgers are processes and how it can give off deadly diseases because of the mass production of hamburgers.
Ok so i know it late but i can still do it lol
and why was it so late man
i almost wasnt gonna do it man
ok well i think that the quote means by "outbreak" is that since it making people sick because of all the bad stuff in it
all the chemicals in it
also it some of the patties could be bad
(194) Investigators were searching for a common link between scattered cases reported in pueblo brighton loveland grand junction and colorado , on july 28 the usda lab noitified gaqllegos that lee hardings hamburgers was a contaminated with the same strain of E. coli 0157:h7. here was the common link
this shows tat even the meat is bad and you shouldnt trust fast food just cause they have an "A" rating in it
by reading this was reaction was no different
this world is corrupt and alot of corruption in it so in a way you can say this is just something tat corruption has made or we made
their both the same thing
it also shows that fast food isnt good
This quote means thatmost of the fast food restaurants have meat that is goin bad and causing anu disease that may not only make people sick but that it may also kill them. The disease that he is talking about is "Escherichia coli O157:H7, a virulent and potentially lethal food borne Pathogen." After this i dont really eat hamburgerss that much anymore..but i have a better understanding of what i should be careful of.
This quote is saying that the fast food we ate today can have various diseases. In addition, the patties could be something gross people are putting into their mouth. For example, "Roughly 35 million pounds of ground beef produced at Columbus plant was voluntarily recalled by Hudson Foods in August of 1997. By the time it was announced, about 25 million pounds of the ground beef had already been eaten"(194-195). People today have absolutely no idea what they are putting into their mouth! People not knowing this is really a disappointment.:[
This chapter has really surprised me. I really did not know much of these things. In addition, this chapter gets me kind of mad because these corporations really don't care about throwing away the gross patties before people in this nation eat it. Really a disappointment:/
I think i am going to stop eating less at fast food restaurants. :[
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