Classport/ March 8, 2010

Clayton Crossing
North Florida Division
Clayton Crossing
5002 Cypress Branch Point
Oviedo, FL 32765


Observation: I noticed there were a lot of unfinished homes. Everything looked brand new. Inside of the office smelled new, looked clean, and everything was organized. It was large inside of the model homes. They were townhomes, and each one had three bedrooms. The paint on the walls and outside of the building looked brand new.


Speculation: I think this establishment was built in this location because there are many new stores and developments being built in the same area. A Publix is being built right next to Clayton Crossing. All of these developments are within walking distance.


Analysis: Basically, this establishment was built in this location because it is in a good school district, it's close to the highway, and it is easy access to many of the upcoming stores.


Evaluation: It makes perfect sense for the developers to have built this establishment in this location because it is near a lot of things. It's near stores, grocery markets, and a clothes store is almost directly across the street from it. It is easy access to get to all of those places if you do not have a car.

* Clayton Crossing looks as if it were built yesterday. Where I live, Barrington Place (the yellow building), our property was built in 1999, it is a smaller unit, and it is not a gated community, unlike Claton Crossing.

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Q: Why did you choose to build this establishment in this location?
A: This establishment is close to the highway, it's in a good school district, and it's easy access to stores and upcoming developments.

Q: When was this establishment built?
A: We started building in July of 2007, and we're still unfinished.

Q: How much would a property like this cost to own?
A: The Miramer model would be about $155,995, the Newberry model would be about $162,995, and the Oakland model would be about $178,995.

Q: Is your establishment flourishing with new home owners?
A: Yes, that is why we are able to give promotions, and our sales are doing well due to incentives, up-grade specials, and tax credits.

Fast Food Nation: chapter 10

1. Why did the author vist Plauen, Germany?

- The author visited Plauen, Germany because he found it fascinating. "But i found Plauen fascinating. The countryside around it is lush and green. The people are open, friendly, unpretentious-and yet somehow cursed." (pg. 316)

2. In what ways might there be a connection between the obesity rate in America and the fast food industry?

- There are many fast food restaurants in America, and Americans get lazy, eat, and don't exercise. Fast food restaurants are very cheap, and are quick and easy to consume. "In the United States, people have become sedentary-driving to work instead of walking, performing little manual labor, driving to do errands, watching television, playing video games, and using a computer instead of exercising. Budget cuts have eliminated physical education programs at many schools. And the growth of the fast food industry has made an abundance of high-fat, inexpensive meals widely available." (pg. 340)

3. Why is obesity a problem for American society as a whole?

- Almost all Americans eat fast food daily which is putting us in great risk of becoming obese or super-obese, so if almost all Americans consume fast food that much, we are all affected as a whole. "The CDC estimates that about 280,000 Americans die every year as a direct result of being overweight. Obesity has been linked to heart disease, colon cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, infertility, and strokes." (pg. 341)

Fast Food Nation: chapter 9

1. Compared with several decades ago, how common are food-related illnesses today?

- Food related illnesses are very common today compared with several decades ago. "Everyday in the United States, roughly 200,000 people are sickened by a foodborne disease, 900 are hospitalized, and fourteen die." (pg. 272) "But the nation's industrialized and centralized system of food processing has created a whole new sort of outbreak, one that can potentially sicken millions of people." (pg. 273)

2. What are most of the microbes in meat spread by?

- Most of the microbes in meat are spread by fecal material.

3. What are the effects of E. coli 0157:H7 on the human body?

- "Some people who are infected with E. coli 0157:H7 do not become ill. Others suffer mild diarrhea. In most cases, severe abdominal cramps are followed by watery, then bloody, diarrhea that subsides within a week or so. Sometimes the diarrhea is accompanied by vomiting and a low-grade fever." (pg. 279)

Fast Food Nation: chapter 8

1. What kind of injuries do workers in meatpacking plants typically suffer?

- "Lacerations are the most common injuries suffered by meatpackers, who often stab themselves or stab someone working nearby. Tendinitis and cumulative trauma disorders are also quite common." (pg. 239)

2. What's the impact on workers of speeding up the line in meatpacking plants?

- The workers are more likely to get hurt due to the speed. "One of the leading determinants of the injury rate at a slaughterhouse today is the speed of the disassembly line. The faster it runs, the more likely that workers will get hurt." (pg. 240)

3. Why don't more workers complain about safety conditions in the plants?

- The workers are put under pressure not to report injuries. "The annual bonuses of plant foreman and supervisors are often based in part on the injury rate of their workers. Instead of creating a safer workplace, these bonus schemes encourage slaughterhouse managers to make sure that accidents and injuries go unreported." (pg. 242)

Fast Food Nation: chapter 7

1. What changes did IBP introduce to the meat packing industry?

- IBP introduced a new IBP plant with a disassembly line, which is a slaughterhouse. "Each worker stood in one spot along the line, performing the same simple task over and over again, making the same knife cut thousands of times during an eight-hour shift. The gains that meat packing workers had made since the days of The Jungle stood in the way of IBP's new system, whose success depended upon access to a cheap and powerless workforce." (pg. 212) IBP also started fabricating the cattle into smaller cuts of meat. "In 1967 IBP opened a large plant in Dakota City, Nebraska, that not only slaughtered cattle but also "fabricated" them into smaller cuts of meat-into primals (chucks, loins, ribs, rounds) and subprimals (such as chuck rolls). (pg. 212-213)

2. Why were newer meat packing plants located in rural areas rather than in cities?

- Newer meat packing plants were located in rural areas because paying wages were lower, than paying wages in cities. "One by one, the packinghouses in Chicago closed down, and slaughterhouses were built in rural states hostile toward labor unions. The new meat packing plants in Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and Nebraska followed IBP's example, paying wages that were sometimes more than 50 percent lower than what union workers earned in Chicago.

Fast Food Nation:chapter 6

1. What are some of the problems facing cattle ranchers?

- Cattle ranchers face a lot of economic problems. "Ranchers currently face a host of economic problems: rising land prices, stagnant beef prices, oversupplies of cattle, increased shipments of live cattle from Canada and Mexico, development pressures, inheritance taxes, health scares about beef." (pg. 186)

2. What impact has the consolidation of the meat packing industry had on cattle ranchers?

- The growth of fast food chains has the consolidation of the meat packing industry. "On top of all that, the growth of the fast food chains has encouraged consolidation in the meatpacking industry." (pg. 186) For example, "McDonald's is the nation's largest purchaser of beef." (pg.186)

Fast Food Nation:chapter 5

1. Who is J.R. Simplot? What connections does J.R. Simplot have to the fast food industry?

- J.R. Simplot is a man that built an empire that consists of the making of french fries. Simplot's empire makes french fries, which is an easy food to eat. Frech fries are considered fast food. "Looming over the whole enterprise is the spirit of one man: John Richard Simplot, America's great potato baron, whose seemingly inexhaustible energy and willingness to take risks built an empire based on french fries." (pg.146)

2. What is PGI and how successful has it been at organizing potato farmers?

- "The PGI is a nonprofit organization that supplies market information to farmers and helps them negotiate contracts with processors." (pg.156-157) PGI has not been very successful with organizing potato farmers. "Today there are roughly 1,100 potato farmers left in Idaho-few enough to fit in a high school auditorium. About half of them belong to the PGI, but the organization needs at least three-quarters of them as members to gain real bargaining power." (pg. 158)

3. What is the "fallacy of composition?"

- "The fallacy of composition is a logical error-a mistaken belief that what seems good for an individual will still be good when others do the same thing." (pg. 158)