Fast Food Nation The Dark Side Of Fast Summary

Analysis of Motives in Two Essays
In the introduction to the book “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal”, Eric Schlosser focuses on the fast food industry while in “The Good and Bad News about Obesity: It’s No Longer Rising, but It’s More Dangerous than Ever” Alexandra Sifferlin focuses on the obesity epidemic, both in the US. In particular, Schlosser discusses unethical reasons behind the success of fast food industries, as well as their destruction of the socio-economic aspects of the American rural life while Sifferlin discusses the latest prevalence and mortality rates of obesity. A careful examination of the two articles reveals a motive of public good in the two authors. Both Schlosser and Sifferlin are motivated by

Schlosser is condemning the fast food industry for concealing the source of their products and meal preparation methods, targeting children, destroying the life of rural Americans, and the government’s failure to regulate fast food industry. In this respect, the specific motives behind Schlosser’s article are transparency, exploitation of workers, responsible marketing and government’s regulatory role, and corporate social responsibility. First, Schlosser is questioning the commitment of fast food chains to transparency, especially in relation to the sources of their products and how food is prepared. Schlosser argues that fast food is not prepared through the conventional cooking means but rather through use of advanced technological and engineering means. These observations are properly supported, given that most of the fast foods are not prepared in the restaurant kitchen but rather in a mass production

In this light, the Sifferlin’s specific motives in writing this article are to recognize government’s efforts in combating obesity, encourage Americans to continue fighting obesity, and sensitize Americans on the dangers associated with obesity. First, Sifferlin appreciates the important role the federal and state governments have played in stalling obesity rates, which had been in the rise for decades. Relying on latest federal and private reports of prevalence of obesity, Sifferlin has demonstrated that obesity rates have remained stable in all but one state (Arkansas). Sifferlin has attributed the encouraging results to federal and state laws that have regulated physical exercise, lunch, fast foods and soft drinks in schools in an effort to protect