Exposing The Dark Side Of All American Food In Fast Food Nation
Have you ever wondered how the meats in the meatpacking industry really are? How the animals are really being treated? What it’s like to work long draining hours slaughtering animals to feed the American society? Next time you decide to eat that Big Mac think of what’s really going into your body. Eric Schlosser wrote “Fast Food Nation” to expose the dishonesty of the fast-food industry, the history behind the meatpacking industry and additionally uncovered the working conditions and reveals insight into the working individuals and the networks’ inexpensive food places targets. The fast-food industry has been a recurring developing business in the U.S and even across the nation, in “Fast Food Nation” Eric Schlosser discusses the dangers of the working environment and the dark truth of how the meats are being produced. OSHA needs stricter regulations in the slaughterhouses.
Not only are workers being worked to death but the OSHA is deciding to ignore them. They’re abusing their power to change things and instead know that the fast-food industry is a growing business meaning more money for them.
One piece of evidence that shows that OSHA needs stricter regulations within the meatpacking industry is the severe dangerous working environments causing horrible injuries and even deaths. According to Eric Schlosser “ Every year more than one-quarter of the meatpacking workers in this country — roughly forty thousand men and women — suffer an injury or a work-related illness that requires medical attention beyond first aid. There is strong evidence that these numbers, compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, understate the number of meatpacking injuries that occur. Thousands of additional injuries and illnesses most likely go unrecorded.” Not only are these workers being injured they go back to work not fully recovered being exposed to harsh machinery that is in fact deadly. Most may not even be able to speak up because of the bullying within the slaughterhouses.
Companies are failing to report these injuries to OSHA, during an investigation with a meatpacking company, the owner, John Merrel was caught being dishonest about injuries within its staff. Can you imagine working for a company that doesn’t care about your health?
Additional proof that the OSHA must have stricter regulations in the meatpacking industry is increasing the workers’ benefit for those who are seriously injured. According to Eric Schlosser “Today, it can take years for an injured worker to receive workers’ comp benefits. During that time, he or she must pay medical bills and find a source of income. Many rely on public assistance. The ability of meatpacking firms to delay payment discourages many injured workers from ever filing workers’ comp claims. It leads others to accept a reduced sum of money as part of a negotiated settlement in order to cover medical bills.
The system now leaves countless unskilled and uneducated manual workers poorly compensated for injuries that will forever hamper their ability to earn a living.” Meaning that the le OSHA is actually providing work benefits the harder and more dangerous the workplace safety is. OSHA needs more inspections, many slaughterhouses have never once been checked by OSHA. Discoveries of exit doors being shut and even piles of dead bodies near doors. That is sickening, when are things going to change?
Some people may argue that slaughterhouses are a decent way for large scale manufacturing of the food industry that way a large number of individuals are spared from starvation. But is money worth the harsh treatment of animals and workers? Of course not. Many meatpacking workers have been loyal to their jobs, some have o choice but to work in that field due to immigration, source of income. Many of these workers have experienced death and many are paralyzed for simply working. The OSHA needs to fix these problems because many lives are dependant on the OSHA.
No one in the U.S is compelled to purchase fast food. The initial move toward change is by a long shot but still needs to be said. A lot will say the administrators who run the meatpacking industry are terrible people. They are specialists, they’re businessmen, they will sell organic food by the request of the American people. We are really in charge because they will sell whatever profits them. Take time to really think about what you put in your body.
