Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating---a Must read
Review: Schlosser's exploration of the fast-food industry will forever change the way you look a cheeseburger and fries---and those golden arches. I agree with the other reviewers that this book will radically change the way you view the consumer culture and 'service economy' we have so readily adopted in the US. A must read for anyone and everyone but especially business book fans.
Rating: 
Summary: lots-o-filler
Review: I should have known what I was in for when I grabbed this book off of the "best-seller" shelf at my local bookstore. While not set in stone, it can generally be accepted that whatever is popular is gonna be, well, kinda [dull]. Popular left-wing politics are not particularly thought-provoking, you know? You mean to tell me that the fast food industry has a... gasp... DARK SIDE? Get out! I'd have never thunk it! One could just as easily demonize the timber industry, all the way down to the paper books are printed on.For a book that is supposedly about the fast food industry, Schlosser certainly misses no opportunity to take pot-shots at all of his favorite "right-wing" targets, from Walt Disney to the supposed "Religious Right" to the Reagan and Bush administrations... I mean, it doesn't take long to see that this guy has an axe to grind. How all of these things tie together is a mystery to me. Beyond that, the book is more than a little, uh, boring. Each chapter starts off with a bang, then quickly devloves into a mere listing of statistical data. Yawn.
Rating: 
Summary: Credible work
Review: This was an interesting book that chronicled the evolution of fast food from businesses owned by hard-working entrepeneurs, to huge mult-national corporations. The best part of the book for me was that it offered solutions. The fast-food industry is extremely sensitive to public opinion. Want to see healthier menu options, higher quality meat, even safer working conditions in meat-packing plants? Put your money where your mouth is. As one of the biggest buyers of beef, chicken, and potatoes in the country, influencing the fast food industry can positively impact agri-business in this country.
Rating:
Summary: New religions
Review: This book is not just about fast food. It is about the new methods corporates use in order to increase their revenue. And what can be better than religion?
I was striked by the degree their methods are similar to the way religion is spread (especially how it is spread in my home country, Israel):
1. Gathering believers at young age (advertisment on TV, schools and so), with the good advice of developmental psychcologists and cultural antropologists.
2. Aiming to low classes of society by "community" programs (kid-caring and more)
3. Involvement in politics. Basically putting some of the financing load on the government (roads for cars, health programs and more) Americans new god is the capital and their religions are: McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell and more.
Rating:
Summary: I want a triple cheeseburger and fries with a pizza chaser
Review: FAST FOOD NATION is one of those true life tales that's as hard to put down as an edge-of-your-seat thriller. It's Eric Schlosser's detailed and eminently readable portrait of the American fast food industry: its founders (most notably Ray Kroc and Carl Karcher), its Southern California evolution, marketing strategy (especially as it targets kids), corporate alliances (e.g. McDonald's with Disney Corporation), hiring and employment practices, franchising structure, food product design, flavor and color additives, food growers and processors, meat packers, food contamination, job-related injuries, union relations, regulatory agencies, and overseas operations. Everything you're drooling to know - and then some. It sounds dry, but isn't. Did you know that Ray Kroc was so fastidious that he cleaned the holes in his mop wringer with a toothbrush? That the "smell" of strawberry results from the interaction of at least 350 different chemicals? That perfectly sliced french fries are formed by shooting the skinned spud from a high pressure water hose at 117 feet per second through a grid of blades? That none of the workers in McDonald's roughly 15,000 North American stores is represented by a union? Or that every day in the U.S. roughly 200,000 people are sickened by a foodborne disease, of which 900 are hospitalized and 14 die? The dominant tone of Schlosser's narrative ranges from neutral to strongly censuring. By my count, only thrice did he write something clearly positive about a fast food giant: the good wages paid by the In 'n' Out chain, the improvements in beef procurement by Jack In the Box following a 1993 outbreak of E. coli contamination at several of its outlets, and the current effort by McDonald's to clean up its meat suppliers' acts following some very bad lawsuit-generated PR. (Of course, the cynic will say it's only self-serving damage control.) So, either the industry is truly in need of reform, or the author is a closet anti-Big Business activist. You must decide for yourself. In any case, FAST FOOD NATION didn't turn me against fast food. Why, right now I'm endeavoring to keep the "secret sauce" from dripping onto my keyboard, and I can hardly see the screen for the smears of fried chicken grease.
Rating:
Summary: Gut-wrenching reality!
Review: I picked this book up after reading The Jungle for a school report expecting less tragic circumstances, and meat preparation that consisted mainly of occasional worker mistreatment, and occasional tainted meat. What I found was a book that brought out my hypocondriac nature, worker mistreatment beyond a little scandalouse, women increase their job position by sex acts,and the careless treatment of meat, which easily coudv'e prevented many deaths.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: I think everyone in America should read this book. It is an excellent account of the rise of fast food in America. It gives you a behind the scenes look at the quality of the food served at fast food chains, the corporate stronghold, the meatpacking industry, and many other insights into the business. The impact of fast food on our society and others is huge. The book was thought provoking and has definitely changed my viewpoint about eating fast food. America has to rethink it's eating habits, and eliminating fast food will certainly make all the difference in the world.
Rating:
Summary: Good Way To Make Yourself Think Twice....
Review: I read this book under the intentions of getting out of the world of mundane assigned reading books for my english grade. It turned out to be a, well, a fun educational reading experience. The section in which the author, Eric, describes her tour through a slaughter house made me, litteraly, become vegetarian, or as my friends call it "anti-cow". I truly savored this book which is amazing in itself becuase I do not particularly enjoy the company of a book in my spare time. Two thumbs up and five stars is what I respectively give this book. It is a wise investment for a headful of thoughts to make you think at least twice before ordering fries or a burger next time you're hungry.
Rating:
Summary: Title Misleads
Review: I loved the concept of this book because we get sucked into eating [bad] food just for the sake of convience. I was eating at a lot of fast food resturants at the time and the food made me feel fat and drained. I picked up the book for motivation to stop eating it. The book's title is misleading in that the second part of the book focuses not on the fast food industy, but the meat processing industry. (If you need further justification of being a vegetarian, this is it) My brother in law stopped eating meat "cold-turkey" (pardon the pun) after reading this, and I have boycotted Mikey D's since because of their business practices (based soley on greed) and their refusal to improve the quality of their food. For me the food is just [bad] and I am not going to give them my hard-earned money for .... I highly recommend the book for its eye-opening information on the food industry.
Rating:
Summary: Talk about Fast Food
Review: This book sure did the trick in changing my mind about Fast food and not wanting it anymore.
| 
