Rating: 
Summary: My Perspective has complettely changed...
Review: After reading Fast Food Nation, feelings of shock, betrayal, disgust, and beratement overcame me. I was angry at my parents for allowing me, during childhood to dumbly eat Happy Meals. I was outraged at the horrific treatment of the employees at the meatpacking plants. But most of all, I was horrified that something this huge had recieved so little media attention. I wanted to jump up on top of a building and scream at all of the naive patrons that continually and ignorantly purchase food at McDonalds. I wanted to buy a million copies of this book and hand them out to people below those golden arches. But, I knew that these fleeting ideas were more unrealisic than plausible. If there is one book that American's should be collectively reading, it is this one. Not only will I never eat fast food again for the rest of my life (I am 18) I will never allow my childeren to ever eat it. I'm embarrasssed for our country, the government, and all those who blindly continue to purchase fast food without realizing the far and wide implications of their actions.
Rating: 
Summary: burgerless from now on
Review: I was not particularly interested in this book when a friend recommended it. The genre of muckraking seems generally too tiresome for a person with a busy life to bother with - too much information to check, too many allegations to search through countless articles pro and con...it's so hard to get a thorough idea of how truthful a book like this is. I have to admit I was completely shocked to find that other articles and reports are out there with this same information, albeit less engagingly recorded or as aggressively marketed. I am quite surprised too that it wasn't MORE shocking to the American public. Did anyone's kids come home from school and say Is it true that they feed meat to herbivore animals? Did your parents call you on the phone and tell you cats and dogs were a part of your burgers' past life? How on earth did this escape the public's "yuck-o-meter" until Oprah? It's not like this is a religious question which could be debated forever without resolve: it's a public health menace. Are we all really so overworked we just hold out our money and ask for some food that reminds us of childhood past, even if we know it might kill us? It seems really creepy to me. I don't want to wake up any more; what if the rest of the things I take comfort in are all as black and ugly underneath? Maybe that's why these places still exist. I WANT a meal that makes me "happy". I NEED something in my life with a smile on it, even if the smile is not directed towards me in particular. I will even close my eyes when I eat and try to think of when my life is simple. But not with a burger, anymore.
Rating:
Summary: I could not stop reading
Review: This is the most fun book I have read in long time.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Hurts
Review: I have avoided eating fast food for some time now, but before reading this book I had opted for the quick stop for a bite to eat now and then; not only for myself, but also for my children.After reading this book, I have totally rethunk the quick stop that I may want to make on the way back from the mall for my kids and me to get a bite to eat. This book has also made me rethink buying ground beef, and I may be grinding my own in the future. I had never realized how archaic the practices at the slaughterhouses are and what really goes on at those places. My heart goes out to the people who work there and how much they have to suffer just so that line speeds of the slaughterhouses can keep up. The author has a great knack for giving you just enough information without flooding you with it. It is a great read! I would recommend it to everyone! We consume far too much junk and processed food here in the United States, and it is unfortunate that we parents are led to believe that giving our kids a burger from a fast food restaurant is really in the best interest of the kids. What are we really doing to our kids? I think we are setting them up for a lifetime of overeating and being overweight. Is that really in the best interest of our kids? I think not. Just read this book and see for yourself. You will see the meatpacking and fast food industries in a whole different light after reading this one. In fact, I am planning on reading it a second time so that I can pick up anything that I may have missed the first time.
Rating:
Summary: Cure Your Fast Food Addiction
Review: I read this book as part of my Turning 40 Gotta Get In Shape phase. Having gained a good portion of my extra pounds from my fast food tastes, I thought this book might turn me around. I was right. Every time I get the urge to turn into that drive-thru, I see passages of the book in my head. I could not put the book down. It was all facinating reading, from the trivia about the fast food founders, to the disturbing safety conditions of the meat-packing industry, to the chemical labs that produce our food flavorings, to political lobbying that protects money more than food consumers. The author does throw in examples of people and companies who do things differently (Inn-&-Out chains, environmentally friendly ranchers,etc)and does show how things could be different if consumers like us were more informed and demanded change. As for me, I've lost a few pounds and have even started thinking more about the choices I make in the grocery store and on the road. This book was one of those that had made me look at life differently than before I read it. Those are my favorite kinds of books.
Rating:
Summary: Pass the frys please
Review: I have known for some time that eating a meal at a fast food drive through was not a healthy act. What this book added was the dimension I never considered, the use and abuse of people throughout the food processing chain. The loss of jobs, income, limbs and life to promote the goals of Adam Smith. I have always been a business owner, never an advocate of unions but after digesting this book I think the only help for not just the workers discussed but for our entire economy is more Unionization and more government regulation. I almost choked on those words but I think choking on the words is better than eating at McDonalds again. An excellent book a fast read with lots of information to digest and consider.
Rating:
Summary: Change your viewpoint
Review: This is an excellent book in that Mr. Schlosser has not only done extensive research on food topics, but he has gotten down and dirty - literally - in actually going to the places of which he writes and meeting the people who actually live the effects of our nation's demand for fast food. This book will change how you look at all food and the people who provide it to your table, either at home or elsewhere. That said, there are some minor problems I had with the book. It is suppose to be about "fast food" but is mostly about the terrifying beef industry. I felt that there were really two main points made by this book: 1) big business is squashing little business - kind of a 'duh' thing - and 2) the beef industry in this country is a very scary thing that needs a major overhaul. Also, McDonalds was singled out to the point of ridiculousness (many times I was left wondering what Burger King did, if anything in regards to the issues raised,) which seemed a little unfair because, after reading everything, if I was going to ever again eat fast food, I think McDonalds - who at least tests the meat they serve - is one of the safest (if not especially good tasting). Anyway, I give the book four stars because I definitely feel that I have a changed viewpoint, which is of tremendous value, and today on Amazon I am buying two books on food safety, which I would not have even thought to purchase were it not for Fast Food Nation.
Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading for all Americans
Review: First of all: Yes, technically, Mr. Schlosser DOES slant a little politically in this book -- but only in his exclusion of berating the Democratic administrations. However, he himself admits this in his afterword, and he also points out the more important fact: nothing in his book has been even remotely disproven.
This is pure, dirty, muckraking fact, folks. Some of the most informative reading you can get your hands on. I read this out of necessity, since I needed to perform a book review for my US History class; I am very glad I chose this, however, because it's well-written, deeply informative, and above all, easy to read. The pages turn themselves. Schlosser chocks the book full of information. There's well over a hundred pages just devoted to bibliographical annotations. Learn some truths, turn your stomach, become a vegetarian -- whatever this book does for you, it'll be worth your money, rest assured.
I have never found a muckraking/information book that was this interesting. Any slant is irrelevant, the information still matters - just take it into account. You'll probably be glad you read this; if not, you'll at least be thankful that you know a little more about the dangers and sources of your food than you did before.
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Summary: "The Jungle" for the 21st century
Review: This book provides an excellent view into the inner workings of the fast food, but mostly the meat-packing industry. This book is necessary for all Americans to read, become aware of what IS going on with big business and what our government is doing about it. If you are passionate about human rights, environmentalism or just democracy, you should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Tremendous
Review: This is an absolutely tremendous book. Schlosser takes on the fast food industry -- their marketing schemes, their labor practices, the monopoly-like operations -- and comes out a winner. His chapters on what the conglomorization of the agriculture industry has done to traditional farmers and ranchers made me sad. His chapters on how the fast food business regularly violates federal workplace rules, USDA safety standards, immigration laws, and federal tax statutes made me mad. His chapters on how fast food effects the American culture and landscape made me think. This is a great book. Pretty well written too, as Schlosser mixes careful analysis, polemic, and personal vingette (the story about the Colorado rancher who -- as he saw his own land disappearing right before his eyes -- took his life, really touched me) into a fine book. It's maddening how government is unable/unwilling to stop things from getting worse. If Schlosser is right, the fast food industry has a lot of explaining to do.
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