Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser [211]
doubts on Wall Street: For pessimistic views of McDonald’s financial prospects, see Ken Kurson, “Supersize Dread: McDonald’s Future is Smelling Worse Than Its Restaurants,” Esquire, April 1, 2001, and Alby Gallun, “McDonald’s Mid-life Crisis,” Crain’s Chicago Business, April 30, 2001. For a much rosier view, see Moises Naim’s interview with Jack Greenberg, McDonald’s CEO, “McAtlas Shrugged,” Foreign Policy, May 1, 2001.
doubling its sales within the United States: Cited in Alby Gallun, “McDonald’s Mid-life Crisis.”
McDonald’s ranked just a couple of places: Cited in Bob Krummert, “QSR Patron Picks and Pans; American Customer Satisfaction Research Shows Customer Dissatisfaction with Fast Food Restaurants,” Restaurant Hospitality, April 1, 2001. The survey was conducted by the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan Business School. It ranked two hundred national organizations on the basis of 50,000 consumer interviews.
282 acted decisively and hired Temple Grandin: Grandin, an associate professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, has designed livestock handling facilities throughout the world. She gained renown for her ability to “see through the eyes” of cattle of order to minimize the fear and stress they experience before slaughter. Her commitment to animal welfare is heartfelt and unassailable. Grandin was profiled by the neurologist Oliver W. Sacks in An Anthropologist on Mars (New York: Vintage Press, 1996), and has published her own memoir, Thinking in Pictures: And Other Reports from My Life with Autism (New York: Vintage Press, 1995).
According to Grandin: Temple Grandin discussed McDonald’s humane slaughter program with me at length.
the enthusiastic support of the meatpacking industry: Janet Riley, a spokeswoman for American Meat Institute (AMI), told me that the industry has eagerly backed the new guidelines devised by Grandin. Slaughtering animals humanely is a good idea, not just for ethical reasons; it also improves the quality of the meat. The meatpacking industry much prefers a program administered by McDonald’s to one administered by the USDA. McDonald’s inspectors are employed by meatpacking companies; their inspection reports are not open to public scrutiny; and the names of companies that fail an inspection are not disclosed. For the AMI’s resistance to greater USDA involvement in humane slaughter, see “Panel Gives Agriculture Dept. $2.5 Million,” AP Online, July 17, 2001.
I visited meatpacking communities in Texas: Our photoessay, “The Most Dangerous Job in America,” appeared in Mother Jones, July/August 2001.
283 forever surrendering the right to sue: See Tad Fowler, “In the Matter of Michael Glover vs. IBP, Inc. Workplace Injury Settlement Program, Judgement in Arbitration,” p. 3. The ability of workers to sign away their common law rights has been upheld by the Texas Supreme Court, which has given precedence to the sanctity of contracts. See Supreme Court of Texas, Lawrence v. CDB Services, Lambert v. Affiliated Foods, Inc., Nos. 00–0142, 00–0201, March 29, 2001.
control over the job-related medical treatment: See “Workplace Injury Settlement Program — Texas,” IBP, p. 7.
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled: According to the court’s perverse logic, companies participating in the worker’s comp system are not allowed to fire injured workers — but companies who leave the system are free to do so. See Supreme Court of Texas, Mexican Railway Company v. Bouchet, No. 96–0194, February 13, 1998.
When Lonita Leal’s right hand was mangled: See Karen Olsson, “Chain of Casualties: How an Amarillo Beef Packing Plant Disposes of Injured Workers,” Texas Observer, May 22, 1998.
When Duane Mullin had both hands: See ibid.
the world’s biggest and most powerful meatpacking firm: See Kelly P. Kissel, “Tyson, IBP Agree to Terms on Chicken–Beef Merger,” AP, June 27, 2001, and Bill Hord, “Livestock Producers ‘Feel the Squeeze’ of Tyson–IBP Deal,”