In Eric Schlosser's book, chapter 8, introduce us into the most dangerous job in the food production of cattle, and meatpacking. By the way, he described his experience going into the slaugtherhouse just made me as the reader feel a chill up in my body. The thought of seeing what he see as he described those big meats being slices by long slender knifes by a lot of women, mostly young one, and Latino. Seeing those a lot workers working hards, with no happy expression on their face and sweating even the room is so cold. Seeing blood everywhere, dead cattles being hang as it is being crops, or alive cattle being shoot with pressed-air gun by a worker call sticker who does it for eight and half hours and seeing the cattle struggle for it lives( 171). It also made me feel sad for the workers and animals, but come to think of it is a different ways, without the workers that work in a place like that, and without those dead animals, there wouldn't be meats for us human..but still it a little harsh. I liked this experience that he give us about being in the food production line. However, in this two chapter ( 8 and 9), he talk about a lot of interesting things. He talks the dangerous of meatpacking. How workers still use thier hands in the slaugtherhouse despites the use of converyer belt, forklifts, dehiding machines, and a variety of power tools (172). He emphasized that lacerations are the most common injuries by meatpackers, who often stab themselves or stab other working nearly by. Where these icidents happened mostly for closer in the slaughthouse, that the OSHA is involved too with the meatpacking.
In chapter 9, Eric talk about the safetly of the meat such as what is in there, what types of bacterias got in there. I like the story he talk about this Lee Harding eat frozen hambuger and got sick so bad and when he seek help from a nurse. The meats was investigrate to be found with E. coli 0157:H7. After that issues..Eric also talks about other issues and the things that he mentions in this chapter are so true, and it made me realized that I never really consider about the safety of my meat. It so amazing that E. coli 0157:H7 can be helpful in helping us digest foods, synthesize vitamins, and guards against dangerous organisms, but release toxin that call kill the lining of the intestine and cause a lot diease like kidney failure, anemia, internal bleeding and destruction of vital organ. Reading Eric two chapter really made me have second thought about fast foods, or even foods that i eat daily. It is not that the foods is harmful, but it might depened on how the food is prepared or who prepared it first before it get to you like the in the slaughthouse, or maybe how long is keep out that bacterias get in it..This is what I think and sort of understand from his book.
Kalia Chang
chan0719@umn.edu
"The medical literature on the causes of food posioning is full of euphemisms and dry scientific terms: coliform levels, aerobic plate counts, sorbitol, MacConkey agar, and so on. Behind them lies a simple explanation for why eating a hamburger can now make you seriously ill: There is shit in the meat" (197). This piece of information that Eric Schlosser addresses reminds me of the language so many politicians speak. Instead of giving the public a direct and honest answer, that everybody and their mother can understand, they give you this drawn out reason that is full of unnessasary words. They hardly ever answer a question directly and give you a strict reason right away with why they feel the way that they feel. It is verbose bullshit. No pun intended when speaking about the "shit in the meat." The unnessasary language is used to confuse everyday people. Politicians speak that way for a reason the same way the medical literatures use these scientific terms explaining food posioning. It's disgusting and degrading to the people that consume these lies and elaborate explanations.
Reading the two chapters has greatly affected me. If there is a person that was not affected after reading Eric Schlosser's experience in the slaughterhouse then that person has serious mental issues and should go to the hospital to get their head checked out. It is insanity to me. I have not eaten red meat in about three years and I will continue to do so. The horrific acts that the cattle and the workers themselves go through in obtaining this need for people to have this slab of meat on their plate is unbearable to comprehend. I applaud Eric Schlosser for taking on a subject that is taken for granted and so rarely thought in depth about. The meat industry is a dirty concept and my heart goes out to those that support it or work for it. Kenny's story really got to me and because of his illiteracy and lack of everday knowledge the company took full advantage of it. I am sorry that it has to be like that. I am sorry that it seems like certain people believe that they cannot do any better or get any more money. I am sorry that people can treat others like the cattle themselves. I am sorry that people can be such an awful, awful influence. I am so sorry that it has to come down to that. It's really amazing that this sort of behavior happens. It's really amazing how a person can read that part of Eric Schlosser's book on Kenny's endless injuries and hospital visits and then go to work and then to a movie and then go out for drinks with friends the next day without discussing the terrible acts being done to people that are not as fortunate as us.
The medical literature uses the language it does because it needs to precisely describe things. It cannot do this if everything is reduced to simple terms. Perhaps the key issue is how these concepts are communicated to non medical people.
Posted by: Rebecca at June 2, 2007 08:58 AMEffective communication skills are essential especially when passing important information. It really does need to be precise and detailed.
Passing the concepts to non medical people may be a problem. Though they are non medical people it doesn't mean that the information will just be communicated to them in simple terms. In this situation, it must even be communicated in more details for them to be able to understand it.
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