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 3-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 3 Summary: “Behind the Counter”

The chapter begins with a description of Colorado Springs, particularly the suburban sprawl that was happening at the time the book was written. Schlosser attributes the population growth of Colorado Springs in part to military installations, specifically the US Air Force. He also attributes this growth to an influx of transplanted residents from Southern California, many of whom were businessmen and entrepreneurs. This created a change in political demographics, as Colorado and other western states began leaning Republican. Schlosser examines how the standard of living evolved in places like Colorado Springs, which had slowly become corporatized. Despite the new industries being brought to Colorado, such as telecommunications and computer software development, the fast food industry was still the largest employer (64). Schlosser examines the makeup of the fast food workforce, of which adolescents form the majority. Fast food chains target these young people to work at their stores, which helps keep the cost of labor low. Additionally, Schlosser discusses the various strategies and principles the fast food industry borrows from the manufacturing industry. Chief among these is the idea of “throughput,” which Schlosser defines as “the speed and volume of its flow” (68). Fast food kitchens operate like an assembly line in which employees are stationed to perform specific tasks. The idea behind this approach is that it minimizes the possibility of things going wrong and keeps the product uniform from one location to another.

Employment within the fast food industry is the central concern of this chapter. Schlosser examines the cultural attitudes of this line of work, as well as various attempts at unionization over the decades. Generally, corporate representatives have been successful in tamping down any momentum toward unionization by using a variety of techniques: psychological approaches such as “stroking” and other, more nefarious tactics. Schlosser discusses how the industry pays its workers and how the generally low-paying work affects lower-income areas. Lastly, Schlosser highlights a growing trend in the industry: theft and violence. He points to statistics that reveal fast food restaurants as primary targets for robbery. According to Schlosser, many of the perpetrators of robbery are former employees. In a disconcerting twist, Schlosser mentions a growing trend of violent attacks against fast food employees and lists some high-profile cases of workers being killed inside their stores.

Chapter 4 Summary: “Success”

Schlosser is in Pueblo, Colorado, as the chapter opens. He is a passenger with a pizza-delivery man named Kabong, an immigrant from Nigeria. Kabong delivers a pizza and then they return to the Little Caesars, where Schlosser introduces Dave Feamster, the owner of the restaurant. Feamster was at one time a professional hockey player for the Chicago Black Hawks and a native of Detroit, Michigan. He played youth hockey with the son of Little Caesars owner Mike Ilitch. After suffering a career-ending injury, Feamster was lost and had no idea what to do with his life. A friend suggested he call Mike Ilitch, and he did. Before owning a store, Feamster had to work from the ground up. He had gone from professional hockey to washing dishes at a restaurant.

Schlosser segues from Feamster’s story into a discussion of franchising. Much of the immense growth of McDonald’s can be attributed to franchising and the ways in which Ray Kroc allowed for individual owners to make big money in exchange for brand loyalty. Schlosser lays out a pros-and-cons segment in which he cites a Wayne State University professor’s claims that the failure rate for new franchisees is higher than for those starting their own businesses. From there, Schlosser presents some of the detailed ins and outs of the franchise system and how the system can be exploitative to franchisees. He cites Subway as one of the more egregious in this regard. After breaking down the economics and legal issues of franchising, Schlosser returns to the story of Dave Feamster and how he was able to secure ownership of a Little Caesars in Pueblo, Colorado.

Chapters 3-4 Analysis

Schlosser’s rhetorical strategy in these two chapters is built on a comparison and contrast of two locations in Colorado, Pueblo and Colorado Springs. The cities have different personalities. Colorado Springs is more affluent, and the growth of the suburbs creates a much different kind of physical and economic environment. Pueblo, on the other hand, is not as affluent and has not experienced the same kind of sprawl. Because of this, it does not have the same “new” feeling and instead is more run-down at the time of Schlosser’s writing.

Schlosser makes an important connection between Colorado Springs and Anaheim, California. Much like what took place in Anaheim just after WWII, the development of a large and critical military installation in Colorado Springs contributed in part to the population growth of the city. Additionally, transplants from other areas helped foster that growth. Anaheim and Colorado Springs both benefited economically from these two specific occurrences. The economic development that sprung up around Colorado Springs as a result of the military installation promised a workforce that was educated and geared toward technological acumen. Interestingly, as these industries and consequently the suburbs grew, there was a corresponding growth in the restaurant industry. Schlosser notes that “in Colorado Springs, the restaurant industry has grown much faster than the population” and that “the number of chain restaurants has increased tenfold” (64). The dramatic growth of Colorado Springs constituted a corresponding boom for chain restaurants and fast food enterprises. As is the case for any industry, a workforce was required. Fast food companies, in particular, sought to staff their stores with adolescents, a practice that continues to this day. The large corporations kept wages low, and usually there was an expectation of large turnovers in employees. Since the nature of the work was streamlined and developed from assembly-line principles, fast food corporations could continue to seek out “low skilled” labor, which enabled them to keep wages and labor costs low.

Often, the fast food workers in more affluent areas, such as the Colorado Springs suburbs, were not from there. Instead, many traveled from lower-income neighborhoods. Schlosser does not explicitly label the hiring practices of fast food corporations as exploitative, but it is implied throughout these two chapters. The same can be said of the franchising system that companies like Subway have developed over time. Schlosser points out some of the terms of a franchising operation with Subway, such as the fact that “the annual royalty Subway takes from its franchisees—8 percent of total revenue—is among the highest” (100). Additionally, Subway admits that “perhaps 90 percent of the chain’s new franchisees sign their contracts without reading them and without looking at the FTC filings” (100). The fast food franchising system, as represented by the example of Subway, walks a very fine line between ethical and unethical. While government oversight has sought to protect prospective franchisees, the indication from Schlosser is that the fast food industry is always one step ahead of the game, always seeking to keep its financial advantage.