How Uniformity Killed The Cat (and Many Others)
In Eric Schlosser’ Fast Food Nation, Schlosser reveals the good, the bad, and the ugly secrets that brought fame and fortune to many fast food companies. One distinct reason why Schlosser believes that fast food companies gained a large amount of power is because of uniformity. Many corporations and their leaders claim that “the key to a successful franchise… can be expressed in one word: ‘uniformity’. (5)” However, according to Schlosser, uniformity is more of a vice than it actually seems to be. Schlosser exposes how the demand for uniformity from fast food companies such as McDonald’s caused severe economic problems for potato farmers and beef ranchers who cannot keep up with larger corporations. However, the same demand for uniformity undeniably creates millions of low-skill jobs that boost America’s economy. In addition, uniformity makes food more affordable for lower-income families with it’s value pricing (115). Indeed, uniformity can be seen as something positive because of
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Schlosser states that, “in 1968, McDonald’s bought ground beef from 175 local suppliers. A few years later to achieve greater product uniformity...it reduced the number of beef suppliers to five” (136). Furthermore, Schlosser explains how few large meat-packing corporations fueled by the need for uniformity, gained a monopoly, an unfair control of the supply or trade of a commodity, by secretly fixing the prices of meat and ensuring that ranchers were paid the lowest amount possible for their cattle (136, Monopoly). Even with the federal government trying to break the “Beef Trust” with the help of strict antitrust laws, today, only four meatpacking companies control and provide for 80% of the nations cattle