20 Argumentative Essay Topics: Hooking Facts on Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Coming up with topics for argumentative essays can be quite challenging for students, especially if you’ve decided to work on it a few days (or a few hours) before the deadline. If your next assignment is to write an argumentative essay on Eric Schlosser’s book, “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal”, you can easily take on this challenge if you have the right topic in mind. To get your creativity going here are 20 topics you can use.

Should Hospitals Ban Fast Food Outlets?
Healthier Fast Food Choices and Awareness Will Improve Health
Low Work Wages in the US Fast Food Industry Are Costing Taxpayers
Is Fast Food Cheaper Than Home-Cooked Meals?
The Hidden Costs of Obesity and Excessive Junk Food Consumption
Is Fast Food as Addictive as Drugs?
Should Governments Impose More Taxes on Junk Food?
Junk Food Packaging Should Come with Health Warnings
Famous Public Figures Should be Banned from Promoting Soda and Junk Foods
As Bad as Smoking: Should There Be an Age Restriction On Eating Fast Food?
The Link Between Fast Food and Child Obesity
The Fast Food Industry Needs a Paradigm Shift
Fast Food’s Effects on the Brain’s Pleasure Centers
The Psychology of Fast Food Marketing
How McDonald’s Utilized Disney’s Marketing Approach
Eating Fast Food Can Make You Depressed
Overcoming Fast Food Addiction: Time for Extreme Measures
Do Healthy Options on Fast Food Menus Help?
Causes of The Rapid Rise of Fast Food Restaurants
Eliminating The Junk Out of Junk Food: Can We Turn the Fast Food Industry Around?

The topics are an eclectic mix of direct claims and general themes that are directly related to the issues which Schlosser focuses on in his book. There is also a list of authoritative sources and materials at the end of which you can use to lend credence to your essay. However, if you are still at a loss for ideas, check out our list of 10 facts on Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser for an argumentative essay and further inspiration. Also check out the detailed guide on how to write an argumentative essay on Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser to properly write your own.
These resources aside, refer to our sample essay below to get a better idea about how to properly structure an argumentative essay on Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. This example can be used as a template and as a guide about what kind of content you need to include to draft a clear and balanced piece of writing.

Sample Argumentative Essay on Labor Practices in the Fast Food Industry

The fast food industry has been held responsible for numerous problems affecting the American society. Advertising to children and providing high-carbs and low-nutritional value foods, however, are only some of the main concerns of people in this industry. The matter of labor practices has become one of the prominent issues and a subject for debate in the past ten years.

There are three reasons why this has become a major issue. First off, the fast food industry has the tendency to overwork its employees. Secondly, the industry has been known to pay their workers the minimum wage. Finally, there are almost no benefits for the employees of this industry. All of these lead to poverty-stricken workers who are worked to the bone. In fact, in “Modern Slavery. US Fast-food Industry Thriving on Poverty-stricken Workers”, Finian Cunningham wrote that millions of fast food employees are “so exploited it is estimated that more than half of them can only make ends meet by relying on some form of government handout.”

Cunningham also writes that many fast food employees finish their shifts only to return to homeless shelters since they cannot afford to purchase homes of their own or rent apartments for their families. Even then, they do not get the peace they deserve as they are too tired to carry out their daily routines. To drive this point, he gives the example of former Dunkin Donuts employer Maria Fernandez. The 32-year-old woman has been doing back-to-back shifts at multiple outlets in the greater New York area. Unfortunately, she was too tired after being overworked one day, that she slept in her car between shifts. She died that day from asphyxiation caused by the exhaust fumes of her car.

With an estimate of 2.25 million Americans working in fast food restaurants in the U.S., labor practices need to be tackled head on to ensure the survival and effective growth of the “fast food nation”. Numerous authors, including Eric Schlosser, have revealed the harsh realities of the labor practices in this industry among other controversies. Schlosser also used the example of teenager Elisa, who was hired because members of her age group are considered easier to control due to their inexperience, making them cheaper to hire since they are willing to accept a lower pay. If teenagers were unwilling to work at a place, the fast food industry replaced them with poor immigrants and the elderly.

Now there have been studies showing that employees enjoy working in this industry. A study by Michael Benner, an Iowa State University student, uncovered that high school employees at McDonald’s enjoy their work because of reasons such as easy money and the lack of other job opportunities without a degree in hand. Moreover, the fast food chain seems easier as it operates on an assembly line system, breaking down the tasks of the restaurant. Despite these so-called perks, do not justify the lower wages which prevent workers from leading a meaningful existence.

You can definitely come up with a better essay if you put your mind to it. So, make sure to start working right away or else your deadline will engulf you and you will have to address an essay writing service for professional help.

References:
Campbell, D. (2015). Ban Fast-Food Outlets from Hospitals, MPs Demand. the Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/25/ban-fast-food-outlets-nhs-hospitals-mps
Eating Fast Food. (2016). org. Retrieved 19 March 2016, from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyEating/DiningOut/Eating-Fast-Food_UCM_301473_Article.jsp
McVeigh, K. (2013). Low Fast-Food Wages Come at High Cost to US Taxpayers, says Report. the Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/15/fast-food-low-wages-high-cost-taxpayers
Bittman, M. (2011). Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?. com. Retrieved 19 March 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html
Rehel, J. (2016). A Healthy Diet Costs $2,000 a Year More Than an Unhealthy One for Average Family of Jour: Harvard study. National Post. Retrieved 19 March 2016, from http://news.nationalpost.com/health/a-healthy-diet-costs-2000-a-year-more-than-an-unhealthy-one-for-average-family-of-four-harvard-study
Benfield, F. Caid, Matthew D. Raimi, and Donald D. T. Chen. Once There Were Greenfields: How Urban Sprawl Is Undermining America’s Environment, Economy, and Social Fabric. Washington, D.C.: National Resources Defense Council, 1999.
Emerson, Robert L. The New Economics of Fast Food.New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990.
Card, D., & Krueger, A. (2000). Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Reply. American Economic Review, 90(5), 1397-1420. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.90.5.1397
Garber, A., & H. Lustig, R. (2011). Is Fast Food Addictive?. Current Drug Abuse Reviewse, 4(3), 146-162. http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1874473711104030146
Zhong, C-B. & DeVoe, S.E. (2010). You Are How You Eat: Fast Food and Impatience. Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/0956797610366090