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Summary: My Book Review
Review: This was a really good book. It really went into a lot of detail when talking about the fast food industry. It was very descriptive and really made me think twice when I think about going to Mc Donalds. I really recommend this book to anyone whos loves to eat at any fast food place.
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Summary: I'll never eat a big-mac again!
Review: We all know what fastfood means: fatty, greasy, salty, cheap food that's bad for you in a million ways. Fastfood Nation reminds you of all that, and goes further. What kind of people work at these fastfood jobs? What happens to workers in the slaughterhouses that provide for the fastfood chains? Where do those french fries come from? Why do people enter franchise agreements with these big corporations?
The book suceeds at being alarming without preaching. In a nation where 1/3 of the population is obese, it's time to look at our eating habits. In a place where the poor often have no voice, it's important to see what happens to them when they work for these fastfood chains. And in light of growing concerns over corporate corruption, we should look at how responsible these corporations are - to the public, and to the franchisees who go into business with them.
The book has a feel very similar to Michael Moore's story-telling - personal, sometimes funny, and always eye-opening.
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Summary: informative overview of the industry & our acceptance of it
Review: FFN is a very good look at many aspects of the fast food industry, such as its history, business practices, employees, politics, expansion, and public relations. The book is full of information that probably won't sit easily with a lot of readers. I can believe just about everything I read in it, for I'm a microbiologist and have first-hand experience with some of the topics. It's made all the worse by the fact that, as I write this, Pilgrim's Pride/Wampler Foods is recalling 27.4 million pounds of meat to test for Listeria. The most disturbing part (and I already felt this way, the book just affirmed it) was how these businesses (I can't even call them "restaurants") portray themselves as our friends, part of what makes America great, and then feed us absolute garbage; garbage which becomes part of us. Would you do this to your friend? Hopefully not. Of course, in the end, you have only yourself to blame for eating this junk, especially with the abundance of information out there that says to stay away from it.The book is well-written and researched, and the historical information was fascinating. It's interesting to learn how Ray Kroc, JR Simplot, and others built themselves up from humble beginnings into millionaires, but then you see the results of their combined success, and you can only shake your head. The end notes, while essentially supporting the text, are very informative on their own and should not be ignored. While the bulk of the chapters are fact-based, the endings of some sections get a bit dramatic at times, as if the author is trying for that final emotional bomb before moving on to the next topic. Overall, it's a recommended book. Schlosser has inspired me to reread Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". Maybe that reading combo wouldn't be a bad idea for all of us.
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Summary: If you give more than two flips about what you eat
Review: This book will give you an insight into the dark and disgusting underbelly of modern meat processing. After reading this book, nobody in their right mind will ever eat fast food again. Fast Food Nation confirms all of your suspicions about fast food and the meat packing industry with well laid out and thoroughly documented facts. But, the best thing about this book.....as you near the end, you wonder, "When....How can I ever eat meat again? There's got to be some clean, safe, meat somewhere!!" Eric Schlosser points you in the right direction to find it.
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Summary: there's more secrets than the sauce!
Review: I'm shocked to see only one review for this book. I guess the truth is hard to swallow, especially when Eric Schlosser spells it out so clearly. We are turning into a nation of homogenized and apathetic fat people. Maybe the fact that no one's bothered to read this book and write a review says it all. We ARE doomed. If you eat fast food on a regular basis, or at all, do yourself a favor and read this book. One word of warning, I was a vegetarian and then went back on meat for my "health". This book has me thinking meat might not be so healthy after all.
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Summary: A must-read for all Parents and all Adults
Review: 5 Starts. Buy "Fast Food Nation" AND read it. This book is one that every adult and every parent or grandparent and any one involved in city planning should read. Did you know that there are 7 types of whining children do? The fast food industry exploits one or more of them. This book is a real eye-opener as pertains to our potatoe, meat, and chicken food industries. The author does a superb job of revealing the goals of the food industry in America and of showing how they changed the way food is produced and handled and how those changes changed our lives. I was particularly interested in two chapters that dealt with minors: how the industry targets children and why they employ them when they are older. I also loved the portions of the book that revealed how the food industry deals with the public on a psychological level. What I found most fascinating was information on "added" flavors. Even if you don't use fast-food, you need to read this book because it exposes a great deal about the packaged meat and chicken industry. Once upon a time, my uncle was a chicken farmer for a major chicken-user, so I know what is said about that is true. Overall, this was a great book. It informed, educated, and entertained. The author uses real stories to emphasize his points. Personally, I believe every city council member and all of Congress needs to read this book, too. This book might not change your eating habits, but at least after you read Fast Food Nation, you will eat with your eyes open.
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Summary: Eye opening
Review: This book describes all aspects of the fast food business, from the potato fields to the plastic playgrounds. Schlosser details the stories of the founding of the big fast food chains in California in the 1940s and 1950s, noting the reasons why the concept of assembly-line food took off there and then. He then continues by describing the modern companies that the early fast food chains have developed into. He investigates who minds the herds, slaughters the meat, peels the potatoes, and fries the burgers. He paints a very frightening picture, which includes slaughter houses filled with homeless, uninsured migrant workers from Mexico, under-aged teens at the fry-olators whose "training" minimum wage is subsidized by taxpayers, and franchising systems that border on pyramid schemes. And then there are all those ads aimed at children, hoping to get them hooked on the fast food habit early and learn successful techniques to manipulate their parents into taking them to fast food restaurants as often as possible, keeping those seats warm. It's been about 10 years since I last set foot in a McDonald's. After reading this book, it'll be at least 100 more before I would ever consider visiting again. Overall, the book is very well written. Interested readers will find Schlosser's sources documented in notes at the end of the book, as well as an extensive bibliography.
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Summary: to eat or not to eat?
Review: Eric Schlosser wrote a very interesting book about the effects of the fast food industry on our society today. Schlosser gathers many facts from inside sources to show the most disgusting details of what nearly 90% of our society consumes daily. Schlosser goes above and beyond the normal writer. He actually went into a slaughterhouse and saw "what's in the meat." The images that come to the readers mind while reading this is what makes this book so interesting. It definetly makes you question whether or not to eat at another fast food restaurant.
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Summary: McDump
Review: Good book. I will never eat at McDonald's again. Period.
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Summary: Every high school student should read
Review: This book is very informative and should be required reading for every High School student. I live in Colorado Springs where many of the author's examples are drawn. His attention to detail is notable. Unfortuantely, the author uses his platform to attack and blame the Republican Party just about all of America's woes. If you can take his comments with a grain of salt, it is still worthy reading.
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