Many people have died left and right due to the alarming many different types of diseases from all around the world. Because not all are equivalent to the damage they may inflict, it would be unreasonable to compare some of them side by side. In the book Fast Food Nation written by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser, he dives into further detail about the local and worldwide impact of the fast food industry that resides in America. One of the subjects he scrutinizes is the regulation of food safety which was not up to par. A momentous incident he explains to highlight the issues that needed to be resolved was the recall of nearly 19 million pounds of tainted beef at an American food packaging corporation called ConAgra. As a result, Schlosser effectively advocates for the safety of meat consumption by explaining the terror of E. coli, however, his need to compare this bacteria to AIDS is uncalled for as it is overwrought and serves its purpose to inflict pathos in the audience.
Because food contamination within the meatpacking industry is such a vital issue that requires attention, the author also tackles the safety of the meat itself that is being produced. Schlosser mentions how E. coli, one of the most common bacteria in meat, releases a strong toxin that damages the intestine’s lining. The various outbreaks of this bacteria during the previous decades show how beef is not totally safe as the process of how cows are handled throughout the whole operation allows for an environment where
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can spread. He thoroughly explains that logically, it is very hard to keep track of the bacterium’s source in America as the government overlooks the production of an abundance of meat is low. The writer remarks how “the Reagan and Bush administrations cut spending on public health measures and staffed the U.S. Department of Agriculture with officials far more interested in government deregulation than in food safety” (Schlosser 206). Because the entire system is complex, it creates difficulty in determining the cause and effect of the situation. The inadequate strict policies within the meatpacking and fast food industry carried the responsibility for the downfall of regulations that were placed during Reagan and Bush’s administrations. With that said, deregulation can be the most efficient treatable case of these food-borne diseases in the United States. Schlosser wisely included the fact that this problem scaled to an even bigger platform as it was brought to attention on a federal level because it brings an alarming amount of awareness and strength into his argument. He continues to successfully break down the process of health procedures in the meatpacking industry and highlights the flaws as he goes along which helps the reader understand what is happening behind the scenes and why this method needs to be fixed. We are not living in a utopian world where meat would be perfectly kept and not contaminated with the security of not having fecal substances making their way through the process. Because that is not how it works, we must ensure the absolute safety of the meat as best as possible for the consequences will be detrimental as is shown in this case with the spread of E. coli. Despite the high number of cows being placed in these facilities, taking the time and effort to load them should not be ignored as it contributes to keeping them cleaner for butchering. Schlosser also makes another valid point that even with the inspectors on-site in a plant completing their job, it does not guarantee that they will manage to discover everything down to perfection and therefore, need to include an adequate amount of workers for this task. Because we are human, we are expected to make mistakes and it so happens that this error can lead to the contamination of tens and hundreds of pounds of meat customers will consume. His appeal to logos throughout this chapter grabs the audience’s attention with reasoning. He heavily relies on this tactic of drawing his audience as he plays with their intellect by treating them rationally. The clarity and connection of principles and convictions to factuality and proof that Schlosser brings to his argument make it quite compelling.
While discussing the defects of processes occurring in the meatpacking industry and how they can result in E. coli, Schlosser feels the need to compare this bacteria infection to AIDS which is unnecessary. Although there are some similarities between the two diseases such as how they both have the ability to contaminate from one person to another and can lead to death, they contain more differences that do not make it reasonable for them to be compared against each other. Schlosser’s goal was to impose frightful emotions within readers since there is an assumption that his audience will be already familiar with the concept of AIDS and as a result, there will be hopes to enhance the fear within people. He goes about pointlessly commenting on how “like the multiple sex partners that helped spread the AIDS epidemic, the huge admixture of animals in most American ground beef plants has played a crucial role in spreading E. coli 0157:H7” ( 204). The issue with this comparison is that the number of people that have been killed by E. coli does not compare with AIDS, nor is it filled with the same social and political background. Moreover, the way these diseases are spread is completely dissimilar to the deviation of unsafe blood transfusions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the top national public health organization in the United States under the Department of Health and Human Services, CDC approximates that E. coli leads to 265,000 illnesses, 3,600 hospitalizations, and 30 deaths in the United States. However, an online resource for the entire United States HIV and AIDS sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Public Health and Science, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs called HIV.gov stated that since 2016, there being 15,807 people in America who were diagnosed with AIDS that have died and estimated that 1.1 million people living in the United States live with HIV today. As the statistics show, the drastic differences between these two diseases are incomparable and should not be used to merely trigger pathos amongst the readers. The author tried to affect his audience by making a historical analogy as he alludes to data and facts, but the purpose of including this contrast proves futile as there is not a solid foundational link between the two to strengthen his argument.
Regardless of achieving a valid and logical argument about diseases concerning meat, Schlosser unsuccessfully attempted to amplify the dangers and fear of the potential damage E. coli can do and how it can be easily slipped into the meatpacking industry through its process by making an illogical differentiation with AIDS. The two illnesses may pose life-threatening dangers to society, but in unalike ways that cannot measure within the same ballpark. If Schlosser had perhaps approached this topic by comparing another disease or concept to E. coli, his argument would have been stronger as the relevancy of the subject will make sense.
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