By: Eric Schlosser Chapter 5: Why the Fries Taste Good Jordan Penrod and Morgan Williams

In the Beginning J.R Simplot was born in Dropped out of high school at 15. Worked odds jobs until eventually at 16 became a potato farmer.

From Rags to Riches J.R Simplot Dehydrating Company grows bigger and faster. They became the principal supplier of food to the American Military during World War II. By the end of WWII, Simplot was growing his own potatoes, fertilizing them from his own phosphate, processing them on his own, and shipping them in crates from his own lumber yards. He’s 36 years old.

Can things get better? Towards the end of 1920 and the beginning of 1930, McDonald’s began to sell J.R Simplot's frozen french fries. When consumers could taste no difference, they began to market them. Today, the typical American eats forty-nine pounds of fresh potatoes and thirty pounds of frozen french fries a year. J.R Simplot, an 8 th Grade drop out, has become one of the richest men in the United States.

And today? Simplot, Lamb Weston, and McCain dominate the frozen french fry industry, occupying 80% of the industry. In Bingham County, it costs $1,500 an acre to grow potatoes. For every $1.50 spent on a large french fry, two cents goes to the farmer who grew them. The Simplot plant runs 24 hours a day/310 days a year, & process a million pounds of potatoes a day. J.R Simplot is still one of the most important figure in one of the nation’s most conservative industries Bingham county grows more potatoes than any county in Idaho.

Did you know? The color of food is a great factor on how taste is perceived. Bright colored foods with the same flavor compounds of bland-looking foods will taste better. A natural flavor isn’t necessarily healthier or more pure than artificial flavors.

Author Bias Since the chapter is mostly the historical background of fries and flavors, there is little room for biased writing. The author tends to highlight one potato farmer and one flavor company when there are many that deserve just as much recognition.

Author Bias This may be because J.R. Simplot did the most work in potato farming, French fry distribution and inventing, and making many other plantations for other foods like onions. He also did this work over a very long period of time. Simplot became successful in his early twenties and work hard every day of his life.

Author Bias The author visited the International Flavors and Fragrances plant (IFF). He tells about the flavoring and coloring of food that makes it so desirable to society. Schlosser tells this through the perspective of only this plant, but he mentions others around the world.

Relevance Schlosser tells the truth about what makes food so desirable and tasteful in common language. He connects food flavoring to today’s major concern in health. He explains the difference between artificial flavoring and natural flavoring

Connection “When almond flavor (benzaldehyde) is derived from natural sources, such as peach and apricot pits, it contains traces of hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison. Benzaldehyde derived through a different process – by mixing oil of clove and the banana flavor, amyl acetate - does not contain any cyanide.” People believe that “natural flavors” are healthier cause less harm. The truth is that artificial flavors are the exact same chemical compound, but they are just derived differently in the lab.