Essay on Fast Food Nation- Why the Fries Taste Good

â€Å"The basic science behind the scent of your shaving cream is the same as that governing the flavor of your TV dinner,† (Schlosser 122). Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal was a Princeton graduate with a degree in American History. He’s written for the Atlantic Monthly since 1996 where he was given a prompt about America and its fast food industry. His simple magazine article transformed into an international bestseller. His book was on the New York Times bestsellers list for nearly two years. Schlosser has appeared on 60 Minutes, CNN, FOX News, and many others. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone and The New Yorker (Drury University). In Schlosser’s book, Chapter 5: â€Å"Why the†¦show more content†¦In 1953, Simplot began to sell his frozen french fries. After one year, McDonalds started to sell Simplot’s frozen french fries, eventually leading up to becoming McDonalds main supp lier of french fries. Simplot’s frozen french fries grew to other restaurant chains, causing a great influence in American’s eating habits (Schlosser 115). Three major companies are controlling the market for frozen french fries- Simplot, Lamb Weston, and McCain- making the french fry business more competitive. Fast food restaurants make a large profit from these three competitive companies by buying french fries for 30 cents a pound, frying them, and then putting them on the market for about 6 dollars a pound (Schlosser 117). Although the fast-food industry and frozen-french-fry manufactures are making a large profit, the potato farmers are not. This discrepancy of wealth is due to a term called oligospony, which is a market in which a small number of buyers exert power over a large number of sellers (Schlosser 117). About 2 percent of the $1.50 spent on fries goes to the potato farmer (Schlosser 117). Idaho has lost about half of its potato farmers in the past twenty-five years. According to Bert Moulton, â€Å"If potato farmers don’t band together, they’ll wind up sharecroppers,† (Schlosser 119). McDonalds’ french fry taste has nothing to do with the potatoes being used by the company, the fries get their taste from the cooking oil. 7Show MoreRelatedWhy the Fries Taste so Good1013 Words   |  5 PagesRhetorical Analysis In the excerpt â€Å"Why the Fries Taste So Good† by Eric Schlosser, Schlosser deeply examines the process of one individual farmer and his process, not to mention takes it as far as going to the International Fragrance and Flavor facilities to see what truly does make the fries taste so good. He does a good job of hitting each individual appeal as a writer in order for us as readers to accept the information he’s handing out. 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