Fast Food Nation
by: Eric Schlosser
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Amazon.com Review:
On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its thriftiness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems as American, and harmless, as apple pie. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenization, and speed has radically transformed America's diet, landscape, economy, and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways. Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. Quickly, however, he moves behind the counter with the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavor company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns." Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--feces in your meat.
Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of federal oversight of a seemingly lawless industry. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting, and unsanitary practices that introduce E. coli and other pathogens into restaurants, public schools, and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young," insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behavior," he writes. Where to begin? Ask yourself, is the true cost of having it "your way" really worth it? --Lesley Reed
Product Description:
Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.
Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisions, where the business was born, to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike, where many of fast food's flavors are concocted. Along the way, he unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths -- from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate.
On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its thriftiness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems as American, and harmless, as apple pie. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenization, and speed has radically transformed America's diet, landscape, economy, and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways. Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. Quickly, however, he moves behind the counter with the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavor company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns." Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--feces in your meat.
Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of federal oversight of a seemingly lawless industry. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting, and unsanitary practices that introduce E. coli and other pathogens into restaurants, public schools, and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young," insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behavior," he writes. Where to begin? Ask yourself, is the true cost of having it "your way" really worth it? --Lesley Reed
Product Description:
Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.
Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisions, where the business was born, to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike, where many of fast food's flavors are concocted. Along the way, he unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths -- from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Review for Ms. Burns' English 101 Class
In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser goes in to harsh detail discussing the problems that the American fast food chains are causing to the health of America. Schlosser states that the chains have been chemically enahancing their foods and points out the issues such chemicals pose to human health. Also according to Schlosser, the chain have been using "cheap" agricultural practices in competition to provide more product at a cheaper price. The book reveals the hidden secret of why fast food ... Read More
Rating: 
- Review for Ms. Burns' English 101 Class
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser is an awesome book that covers a lot of true stories in conjunction with the fast food industry. Readers go behind the scene of the hard but unskilled workers and learn about the unhealthy and gruesome conditions at the slaughter houses. This book will help you understand why it is so important to carefully choose what you eat. As good as that double-double may taste, you get what you paid for in the long run, as you read to uncover some of the tragic stories of people ... Read More
Rating: - Read it along with Super Size Me
An excellent view on history of the fast food industry and how it is processed and eventually end up on places like McDonald's. When I first read the book I didn't make care so much as many others did. However, as I saw more and more people getting sick every year and not being able to afford their health care bills, I started waking up to this warning.
No matter how much money or resources the government or private corporations put into health care services, drug and therapy research, it wouldn't ... Read More
Rating: - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly side of Franchise Capitalism
This book gives the good, the bad, and the ugly side of the fast food industry. Once they reach a certain critical mass in size, the bad and the ugly then it seems, begin to far outweigh the good. Giant food franchises like McDonald's have not only literally changed the national landscape, but have also changed and seriously distorted our way of life: to wit, made us unhealthy individually and as a nation, undermined labor and pollution laws, further corrupted our politicians, our tax system and system of ... Read More
Rating: - Great read!
An excellent book, I enjoyed it front to back.Some of the information is very riveting.You will definitely never look at food the same way.I was a little bummed that the book was a bit dated (most information was dated right around 1999-2000), but that's no fault of the author.This is a great book for anyone considering a healthier lifestyle!
- Review for Ms. Burns' English 101 ClassIn the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser goes in to harsh detail discussing the problems that the American fast food chains are causing to the health of America. Schlosser states that the chains have been chemically enahancing their foods and points out the issues such chemicals pose to human health. Also according to Schlosser, the chain have been using "cheap" agricultural practices in competition to provide more product at a cheaper price. The book reveals the hidden secret of why fast food ... Read More
- Review for Ms. Burns' English 101 ClassFast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser is an awesome book that covers a lot of true stories in conjunction with the fast food industry. Readers go behind the scene of the hard but unskilled workers and learn about the unhealthy and gruesome conditions at the slaughter houses. This book will help you understand why it is so important to carefully choose what you eat. As good as that double-double may taste, you get what you paid for in the long run, as you read to uncover some of the tragic stories of people ... Read More
- Read it along with Super Size MeAn excellent view on history of the fast food industry and how it is processed and eventually end up on places like McDonald's. When I first read the book I didn't make care so much as many others did. However, as I saw more and more people getting sick every year and not being able to afford their health care bills, I started waking up to this warning.
No matter how much money or resources the government or private corporations put into health care services, drug and therapy research, it wouldn't ... Read More
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly side of Franchise CapitalismThis book gives the good, the bad, and the ugly side of the fast food industry. Once they reach a certain critical mass in size, the bad and the ugly then it seems, begin to far outweigh the good. Giant food franchises like McDonald's have not only literally changed the national landscape, but have also changed and seriously distorted our way of life: to wit, made us unhealthy individually and as a nation, undermined labor and pollution laws, further corrupted our politicians, our tax system and system of ... Read More
- Great read!An excellent book, I enjoyed it front to back.Some of the information is very riveting.You will definitely never look at food the same way.I was a little bummed that the book was a bit dated (most information was dated right around 1999-2000), but that's no fault of the author.This is a great book for anyone considering a healthier lifestyle!
