Rating: 
Summary: Welcome to "The Jungle"
Review: The author definitely has an agenda, no two ways about it, and as a political conservative I squirmed more than a few times at what seemed to be a blanket indictment against the Republican party, but as a human being I could not help but be affected by this book. The second part, especially, detailing the horrible conditions at meat-processing plants is certainly an eye-opener, reminiscent of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", written in 1906. This book, if nothing else, is eduational. Especially interesting to me was the chapter about the New Jersey chemical companies that develop formulas that make fast food taste and smell the way it does, totally in the chemical realm. There is also some interesting, if not comprehensive, fast-food history here. Unfortunately, one thing this book did not do is stop me from eating at fast food places. Excuse me, I think I'll go grab a Big Mac.
Rating: 
Summary: Better taste
Review: Not a diatribe against profit or capitalism, despite the attack from the probable beltway conservative think tank member who is so blinded by his own agenda that he won't let evidence (oh, sorry -- anecdote) get in the way, this book asks people to think about the consequences of what they eat. You may not pay now, but you'll pay later, if you ignore these warnings.
From an unrepentant meat eater.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for food activists
Review: This is one of the best books I have read on the history of the fast food restaurant phenomena and corporate greed. A must read for vegetarians and food safety reformers.
Eric details how the slaughterhouses hire illegal aliens, but who would have imagined that the greed goes so deep, so beyond what he wrote about, that our country's largest meat dealer, Tyson, would have been brought up on 36 charges of smuggling into our country illegal aliens to work the plants. In early January, after a sting operation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the company and many of it's top executives were charged with trucking in illegal aliens and furnishing them with false social security numbers and false identification papers to work in plants in eight states. You know that if the federal government, under a republican administration makes charges like these, then the company must really be F...ing evil.
Good book, read it.
Greg Lawson,
President, Vegetarian Society of El Paso
Rating:
Summary: Response to the review "A Bad Taste"
Review: This book is such an important piece of research and a long overdue peek into an industry we all assume is benign.
I think the reviewer who left the review entitled "A Bad Taste" is really some fast food ceo in disguise...vainly trying to throw up a smoke screen to throw the american public off the trail. Didn't fool this reader. Everyone deserves to make a profit but why can't business people make those decisions with integrity and honesty...oh I almost forgot... there is no profit margin in doing the right thing...
My first reaction to "A Bad Taste"....Me thinks thou protest too much.Buy this book, especially if you care about the planet, your health and the health of your kids. I learned a great deal and I used to eat fast food once in a while "as a treat" ...good god, some treat.
Rating:
Summary: Review in Bad Taste
Review: The book here describes why the fast food nation should look twice at the contents of an all-american meal, mainly based on the idea that the exploitation of hard workers only is upgraded to the exploitation of all. While some corporations will show up ANYWHERE to promote their product.:) We need to be strong to resist the urge of making it our way so we can bring back the basic social elements of a by gone era. Our social lives in America need help and in protesting the basic family dinner, the corporations have condensed (like everything) in to ten to fifteen minutes a dinner that could have been better spent at home communicating with your family in comfort, not in the haze of a fluorescent network of uncomfortable architecturally plastic benches. All in all this book has made me think again how my fifteen minutes could be better used in preparing a meal at home (that is nutritious) so that I can spend some quality time with the family.
Rating:
Summary: You dont have to be American to enjoy it
Review: I haven't read a book this insightful about how big-buisness food corporations are shaping and changing America and the world, since `Diet for a New America`. These two books, `Fast Food Nation(America)` and `Diet for a New America` are my two all-time favorite books! Which is funny, because I am from Japan! But, these books are not just for Americans to read! These books concern the whole world and all the people in the world. Almost every country or continent (Japan, China, South America, Europe, and many other places) has a McDonalds, a Burger King, or at least a meat industry... so these books are important for us to read. Not only are we effected directly, but we (our health, our environment, our world) are effected indirectly by these industries. I urge people from all over the world to educate themselves about the world they live in by reading these books!
Rating:
Summary: Tastes Great
Review: Fast Food Nation does a very good job of showing the greasy underbelly of an industry that has long been at odds with the American public. It is easy to takes sides with Schlosser and see the fast food industry as an unstoppable and gluttonous economic forced that is responsible for everything from the destruction of the family to farm to environmental savages. So, it seems like a liberal read as you begin, but Schlosser is surprising fair. He is repulsed and enamored by the process as we are. It's an honest look at a disturbing industry.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling and compelling, a must read...
Review: Something always bothered me about fast food places. The constant churn of employees, the almost supernatural uniformity from one locale to another. How in the world do they supply so many burgers to millions of customers everyday and make them taste the same?
This book spells it all out in brilliant (if not disturbing detail) and looks at the social and economic ramifications of our love for the quick bite.
A must read for folks who love the down and dirty...
Rating:
Summary: Don't listen to [other reviewers], read the book!!!
Review: In spite of [other reviews], this is a fine book. The facts presented are right on. The fact that fast food employees are forced to work less than 40 hours a week to prevent having to provide benefits has NOTHING to do with the Fair Labor Standards Act limitations on overtime. I could spend a full page dispelling his page full of mistatements, but it's not worth the time. Schlosser's point is not that people should not be in business for the money. His point is that business should be run in a socially responsible manner. People should not suffer. Animals should not suffer. Making money does not give a free pass to do as one damn well pleases. READ THIS BOOK! You will gain a view on big business that they try heartily in their marketing to prevent you from seeing.
Rating:
Summary: Holy Cow What a Good Book
Review: I bought this book on a whim. When I first saw it I thought it was simply about how Americans love fast food. Boy was I wrong. Instead Schlosser goes over everything fast food: from the history to where the meat comes from to the social and political power the fast food industry has. And, for the most part, he scores a direct hit. There is a great deal to like in this book. I particularly enjoyed the history of the fast food business. I also found the sections on how the food is flavored (with "natural flavors") and the franchiser/franchisee sections eye-opening to say the least. Another thing he did was not focus on the animals that the food is made from. This has been done already numerous times prior to his book, and very well I might add. Instead he focuses on the humans who work throughout the industry. However, there are a couple of points, and I know I'm probably nitpicking here, that I disagree with. The main point everyone else has pointed out is how hard he is on the Republicans. I agree that at times he mentions that "Mr. X, who is a Republican..." without really having to mention that he is a Republican at all. He addresses this in the Afterword in the paperback edition. Other points: He interviews the teens working at McDonald's who buy all this expensive stuff. Well guys, maybe you wouldn't have to work so many hours if you didn't buy the name brands. Also he mentions about how all these farmers have been run out of business. While I never want to see anyone unemployed, those people chose to be farmers in a society that continues to be more and more suburban and urban every day. Like I said these points are pretty minor and didn't take away at all from the impact of the book. ... To sum up: This is a very interesting book that isn't dry at all. I would recommend this to anyone interested in where exactly their food comes from and how the fast food industry treats its employees. Its a pretty fast read and well documented with footnotes and bibliography as well.
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