Slow down and think about fast food

BY ELIZABETH COHEN
Press & Sun-Bulletin

There are so many ingredients in the strawberry flavoring of a fast-food milkshake that a list of them
would be taller than the cup it comes in. You will never see that list, but author Eric Schlosser recited
them during his talk Tuesday at Broome Community College. It took almost a minute to read and
included some surprising and unpronounceable ingredients -- one was a substance he said is used to
clean oil rigs.

"It's really weird," Schlosser said of

the myriad substances all mixed
together to imitate the simple taste
of strawberry. "It's like something a How Big is McDonald's?
mad scientist would come up with."
These statistics were offered up by Eric Schlosser
That was but one stomach- [author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the
curdling detail in the talk given by All American Meal] at his address Tuesday at Broome
the author of Fast Food Nation, Community College:
who was brought in as the guest
speaker and anchor for the In 1968 there were about 1,000 McDonald's in the
daylong event, which focused on United States; today there are more than 30,000
the politics of food. Other activities worldwide.
during the day included a
screening of the film The Future of McDonald's is the largest purchaser of potatoes in
Food and panels on food the United States.
addictions, vegan eating and
diabetes. There also was a McDonald's is the largest purchaser of beef and
discussion by BCC professors pork in the United States.
Helen and Francis Battisti on ways
to eat healthy when balancing a McDonald's is the second-largest purchaser of
busy schedule. Schlosser, the chicken in the United States.
keynote speaker, addressed what
he considers the most pressing Today, McDonald's is the largest private employer
and critical issue of our time: our in Brazil.
food.
One out of every five toddlers eats french fries
"In one hamburger patty there is every day.
meat from over a thousand
different cattle," Schlosser said,
underscoring the dangers of fast
food practices. "One steer infected
with a nasty disease can reach many; it increases the odds you'll encounter some of it."

Schlosser's talk posed these questions: If we are what we eat than what does it say about us that we
consume the frightening array of unpronounceable chemicals and additives that we do? What does it
say about us that the food we eat is produced in inhumane circumstances by a colossal agribusiness
industry?

A man of slight build who delivered his oration in a steady and straightforward style, Schlosser
addressed these topics, captivating the audience of students, faculty and community members who filled
the school's Baldwin Gymnasium.

"I've come to believe that food and the food industry is the most important subject out there," Schlosser
said. He admitted he had never had much of an interest in food before a magazine assignment to "look
behind the counter" of fast-food businesses. But as he researched the subject, he began to believe that
the food industry is the basis of our entire culture and economy today.

"Without food there is no civilization; without it there is no other industry; it is only because we had
agricultural surpluses that we were able as a species to develop science, literature, all the things we like
so much. It is all because you don't have to fight for survival."

The book, published in 2001, has topped best-seller lists and earned Schlosser a reputation as one of
the most important popular culture scribes of our time. In his talk, Schlosser discussed not only the
enormous and powerful fast food industry -- but also the frightening array of food additives, the entire
new "flavor" replicating industry, the way that fast-food production affects economics and labor relations,
the obesity epidemic and the effect of advertising on children.

"We don't buy other important things on impulse -- cars, homes, laptops -- but the vast majority of
Americans never think about their food," Schlosser said. "But food is probably the most important
purchase you make every day -- it enters your body, it becomes a part of you."

For Raine Ford, 23, one BCC student who drove in from Owego for the talk, Schlosser's book was eye-
opening. "We read it for English 220, it gives a broad perspective about what goes on behind the
curtains of fast food," said the senior who works as a paramedic. "Some things you'd rather not see."

Ford, a self-described "animal person," said the most distressing part of Schlosser's talk and book was
about the treatment of animals by the food industry.

"Chickens are literally grown by the thousands and stuffed into tiny areas; it is very saddening."

Ultimately, Schlosser said, he does not intend "to tell people how to eat" but rather to educate people
about their food. "If you don't educate yourself you will always be at the mercy of the people who have
the knowledge."