Rating: 
Summary: Ignoring the cow (and pig and chicken) in the kitchen
Review: This book documents how the American dream has turned into a planetary nightmare. It talks about the damage to slaughterhouse workers, the health damage to people who eat the stuff regularly (or even irregularly), the low pay of fast food workers, the great harm to the environment and the economy and cultural diversity, and the fact that fast food corporations are in bed with factory farming interests. But he fails to mention, except in passing, the damage to the genetically engineered animal slaves who have made it all possible. He even visits a slaughterhouse, watches cows being killed, wades around in their blood and feces, and doesn't seem to get it (or care about it). It's a serious omission in an otherwise thorough book. In his last chapter Schlosser presents solutions to the multiple problems caused by fast food. Quite bizarrely, he doesn't even mention the no-brainer solution: vegetarianism (and skip the fries). Lobbying fast food corporations to serve more vegetarian food, and boycotting them if they don't, is another way the consumer can change what they serve. BK now has a veggie burger, and McDonald's is experimenting with them in California. Instead Schlosser suggests that consumers support "organic" meat farmers, not for the possible lesser cruelty involved (if cruelty can ever be lesser), but rather to avoid the chemicals, antibiotics, and bacteria that are rampant in factory-farmed animals and possibly help the environment. Here's one factoid among many favoring vegetarianism: If everyone on the planet ate a meat-centered diet, the world's known oil reserves would last 13 years. If everyone ate veggie, they would last 260 years. Ingrid Newkirk famously stated, "When it comes to pain, hunger and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." Just because animals can't tell us, "Stop! You're hurting me!" doesn't mean they don't suffer. But humans are sentimental, almost religious, about what they eat, and conveniently ignore the agony that goes into each burger. What it will take to change the fast food industry is less emotional attachment to burgers and fries and fried chicken, and more courageous, clear-eyed realism about the incalculable harm this diet has done to the world and ALL its creatures.
Rating:
Summary: not very impressed
Review: I started reading this book for an English class. The assignament was to choose a book from the list of contemporary book list that was provided. I had heard a lot of things about this book. Such as "when you read it, it will make you never want to eat fast food again". That it really shed some light on the industry, and touched on things and questions that the pubic needed to know. I jumped at the chance to read it. IT starts out giving informantion on the beginings of the industry. I didn't really like it. It was slow and uninteresting. I took it as the author's way of introducing charaters or a plot. But as I read on that wasn't the case. There is no plot, no point, or story. As far as the information in the book I was really suprised at it. It was gross and almost obsene. I didn't really feel as if the author was using it to further the book or just create shock so people would want to read. I felt as if it was a text book of gross stories that was trying to be a novel. In my opinion he wrote it to appeal to middle-age to younger people looking for something to talk about and with 20 bucks to spend. Rather than for some greater purpose.
Rating: 
Summary: Thought -rovoking expose of the food industry
Review: Convinced me my suspicions of the food industry's manipulation of the public's food choices was right on. Moreover I will be eating organic as much as possible and thinking about the food I eat rather than buying something - anything to fill the craving for nutrition. For years I wondered why I was so hungry even though I thought I was well-fed. Now I know it was the nutritionally-challenged food I came to depend on. I am betting that smaller portions of organic foods will satisfy my need for better nutrition. Last, I mourn the demise of the West's farmers and ranchers taken over by food conglomerations and intend to support my local farmers and ranchers even if it is a little more expensive.
Rating:
Summary: Eye-opening, mouth-closing
Review: My God! I absolutely loved this book! Actually was assigned this book for a class and couldn't put it down- finished it in two weeks. My poor family and friends didn't hear the end of it for weeks! You will not regret reading this book. I can't wait to read Schlosser's next "Reefer Madness." Also, if you like this, I highly recommend "The Tipping Point".
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Read but be alert
Review: All and All I thoroughly enjoyed this read. I found it very inciteful to learn about not only the problems with fast food itself, but the community that must support it, the workers, farmers, and even whole communities which thier lifestyles have been somehow influenced by fast food chains.
HOWEVER, please read this book with a clear head. This book has a lot of muckraking. He has craftily written the book so the reader can get all work up about these travesties. Be wary when he pulls out percentages and statistics (in some cases they prove very little). He does a great job of writing a shocker, which in this time and age is needed once and a while. If you plan getting this book, don't take everything he says word for word, find some other materials to either support or dispute his ideas
Rating:
Summary: The Jungle, without the pretense of fiction
Review: It's infuriating, astounding and fascinating. I couldn't put it down. I almost wished that I hadn't read it, but the epilogue gave me hope. Reward this man for his incredible research and buy this book. And go to In-n-Out.
Rating:
Summary: Call me confused...
Review: I don't see why the author of this book should have such a chip on their shoulder about fast food. I'm guessing here of course, since I haven't actually read the book, but if the author had their way we'd all be waiting in line for food to be served at a relaxed, unhurried pace. In this day and and age, this is simply not going to cut it, since many people depend on being able to get their food as soon as they order it, sometimes even directly through the window of their automobile. I'm not sure if the author is aware of this. Call me confused, but if you take that away from people, they'll probably revert back to bringing packed sandwiches from home, perhaps with a flask of their favourite beverage, since they won't have the time to buy their food from the long-winded commercial outlets. Don't blame the food - it's just trying to keep up with the general pace of life nowadays...
Rating:
Summary: Where's The Beef?
Review: Interesting enough, as far as it goes. If you really care about fast food and really want to spend some time thinking about it, this might interest you. But then, we all sort of knew that fast food is a huge industry that exploits its labor and creates unhealthy food and has changed the face of the U.S. There's not much new here. Just kind of reinforces what we all knew anyway. Schlosser has done his homework. The research and interviews are impressive, but really, it's just a story about junk food. Where's the beef?
Rating:
Summary: Disgusting look at fast food
Review: This book was a fact filled piece of scientific writing. After reading it, my boyfriend and I were getting lunch. As he reached for a hamburger I exclaimed, "Do you know what is in that!?!" and proceded to scare him into buying some chicken (even though that isn't much better!) using some of the new facts that I had learned. If you cherish your fast food experience, don't read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Facts, Rambling Text
Review: There are some interesting facts throughout the book. The history of the fast food industry is rather interesting. However, some of the chapters read like a rambling, disconnected biased news article.
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