'Fast Food Nation' Author: How the Poor Feed the Rich

It was a full house at Thursday night as nearly 800 people packed into the main auditorium at Thorne Hall to listen to best-selling author, journalist and social justice advocate Eric Schlosser.

Schlosser is the author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, an acclaimed 2001 book that illustrates how the fast-food industry in the United States rose to prominence and became a global giant. A reporter for The Atlantic monthly, he also co-produced 2008’s Food Inc., an Emmy Award-winning documentary that probes corporate farming in America.

How The Rich Eat

“There’s been a huge transformation in how well-educated, upper middle-class people view food, what they’re eating and where they’re buying it,” Schlosser said from the podium on stage.

“Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are booming, organic is the fastest growing segment of American agriculture, and we have an organic garden at the White House,” he said. “All of these things would’ve been inconceivable 10 years ago and I’m not taking credit for it—I’m just delighted at seeing those changes in 10 years.”

The Great Food Divide

Schlosser talked about poverty and how it determines the quality of food a person consumes. He also spoke about the need for social justice in Los Angeles and the connection it has to a handful of issues in the food system, such as food itself, the workplace environment and immigration reform.

“I thought that Schlosser was an amazing speaker because he makes the center of his work the suffering and struggles of poor and working people in the American economy,” Occidental sophomore Guido Girgenti said when asked what she thought of the investigative journalist’s work.

“He doesn’t get distracted by the fluffy, organic and local frame that ignores the poverty and oppression being imposed on immigrant communities and communities of color in a systematic way,” the urban and environmental policy major added.

Schlosser elaborated on the structures within agriculture, the U.S. government and corporate America that ensure that the people at the bottom of the food chain—who are growing and producing America’s food—have no rights, unions, or even a democratic process to air their grievances and are being deported on a daily basis.

The ‘Crime’ of Harvesting Food

“There are farm workers, mothers and fathers, who are wondering if they will see their kids at the end of the day because they can be arrested by immigration officers—and the only crime they committed was harvesting our food,” Schlosser said.

Pasadena resident Lisa Talbot, who is affiliated with a local slow food organization, said Schlosser has long been active in the same areas as her organization, which is good, clean and fair food production.

“I came out tonight because my admiration for him was renewed recently,” Talbot said. “He talks about how we need to become not just responsible consumers but responsible citizens, and I was hoping he’d elaborate on that tonight.”

Honorary Degree

Prior to Schlosser addressing a capacity crowd in the auditorium, Occidental College President Jonathan Veitch awarded the speaker with an honorary degree.

“Your investigative journalism and narrative skills have created a new agenda for change,” Veitch said, as Schlosser stood steps away, awaiting to be presented with his honorary degree.

“With your eye-opening and meticulously documented book ‘Fast Food Nation,’ you have literally changed the way we think about food, what we eat, how it is produced and the economic, environmental and political consequences of our menu,” Veitch added.

“It’s amazing to me that this first book of mine that was published 10 years ago would still be relevant today,” Schlosser responded, thanking Oxy for the honorary degree bestowed on him.

Getting In The Know

For people who haven’t read “Fast Food Nation” or are unfamiliar with the underlying issues within the food industry, Schlosser offered some key advice.

“However you can, you need to educate yourself about the food you eat and the food that your give your family because it’s going to help determine how long they live, what the quality of their life is going to be and what the quality of their community life is going to be,” he said.

According to Schlosser, the public is under enormous pressure to buy food without thinking about its origins—which is precisely one of the top things everyone should consider in their life.

“I’m not saying buy my book,” Schlosser said. “I’m just saying find a way to learn about the subject because it couldn’t be more important.”

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