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Summary: effects of corporate power borne out in personal portraits
Review: I hope 100 years from now, people will refer to the cultural impact of "Fast Food Nation" in the same vein as we credit today Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle." I could not put this book down. It is written with the thoroughness of a well-researched thesis, but with the readability and style of a well-crafted novel. Eric Schlosser has laid out before us the political and economic dynamics and the human toll of corporate fast food globalization. His sharp, clear analysis of the consequences of fast food corporate power are borne out in his personal portraits of individuals struggling - and often failing - to realize their own version of the American Dream. Capitalism in America has moved far astray of the family farm or small business that characterizes our nostalgic vision of American democracy -- independent enterprises which instead are suffering their demise under the corporate tyranny we still naively promote. But Schlosser offers us hope and reminds us of the influence we wield as consumers and voters. Hopefully, America will not only change the way it eats, but will also someday embrace a responsibility for the global consequences of taking its share of the pie. This is a wonderful book which bores through the free-market rhetoric to awareness of the catastrophic effects the fast food industry poses for our quality of life.
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Summary: Would make me a vegetarian if I weren't one already
Review: I lived in Japan a decade ago. Overweight people were very rare, and most of them were adolescents, who I regularly saw visiting McDonald's en masse and hanging out at Mr. Donut after school--that is, they were those Japanese who had grown up with fast food and had made it a regular part of their lives. Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation" is a wonderfully crafted, sober indictment of the fast food industry, an indictment that examines everything from bacterially contaminated meat to the demise of the family farm to corporate welfare (in the form of tax credits) enjoyed by McDonald's and its ilk to the semi-secretive companies that manufacture scents and flavorings, some of which make those super-sized fries taste so good. Most importantly, "Nation" shows that fast food's rise over the past decades has meant more than simply another meal option for hungry Americans; rather, fast food has radically altered not only what we have come to think of as food but also what we think of as work and community. But, refreshingly, "Nation" is neither preachy nor condescending. Schlosser writes not with the zeal of a true believer but with the level-headedness of the journalist he is. And he's also skilled enough to have made this a book difficult to put down. (I'd like to recommend to readers another even-handed book that is a nice companion to some of the themes, particularly that of corporate globalization, explored in "Nation": "No Logo," by Naomi Klein.)
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Summary: An excellent book
Review: An interesting and enlightening read. Although this book is ostensibly about fast food, the issues it broaches can be applied to many aspects of today's economy.
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Summary: HOW MCDONALD'S CHANGED AMERICA
Review: Same food, same look,marketing techniques aimed at children,part time low skilled workers unable to demand benefits; conformity--- the organization cannot trust the individual-- the individual must trust the organization. Eric Schlosser explores how these concepts applied by one successful fast food chain are rapidly being adapted by corporate America. Big companies merging with others; no employee is irreplacable. This "dark side of the all american meal" gives detailed accounts of how processed foods with chemicals are rapidly replacing fresh foods. The information on the meat packing industry, the impact on agriculture and the power over farmers and ranchers as well as the high obesity rate among children is startling. Read this book, and study the ingredient and percentage data given on the labels of the products you consume a little more carefully. Intense and revealing!
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Summary: Pay No Attention to that Slaughterhouse Behind the Clown!
Review: "We have found out ...that we cannot trust some people who are nonconformists. We will make conformists out of them in a hurry...The organization cannot trust the individual; the individual must trust the organization." Ray Kroc, quoted p. 5. "Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist." R.W. Emerson, Self-Reliance Eric Schlosser shows that little has changed in the meatpacking business since Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle in 1905. Indeed things have gotten worse. The book is very easy to read. If you don't already know what's in the meat, this book will tell you that very clearly. I would not call Schlosser a muckraker so much as a consumer advocate. In an area where the meatpackers exercise such incredible control of their own QC processes, logs, inspections, government regulation and press, the public needs to know what it's eating. Schlosser's not saying don't eat meat or fast food. He is saying, "think about where the food came from, about how and where it was made, about what is set in motion by every single fast food purchase, the ripple effect near and far, think about it. Then place your order. Or turn and walk out the door." It's your money and your health. It's your choice. But once you see the larger picture and how the fast food chain works, you can make an informed choice. And maybe save your life.
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Summary: Behind a funny cover lurks a scathing indictment of America
Review: It's not just about fast food, it's about America's heart and soul, history and politics. It's about this country's so-called progress after the Second World War. And it's a scathing indictment of the Republican Party and corporate lobbyists - how the two have rendered federal agencies who protect consumers and workers powerless. Whether you are a parent who cares for your kid's future, or a citizen who cares about urban sprawl and environmental protection, or a Democrat, or just someone who loves McDonald's, you have to read this appealing and caring book. Eric Schlosser does not pretend he is sitting on the fence, and this book is really a one-sided account. But it happens to be my side. Thank you for caring enough to write it, Eric S! There are not many journalists today who would.
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Summary: Beef has WHAT in it?!
Review: Wow. I just finished this book and I will never look at food the same way again. Only buy this book if you are prepared to know what you've been eating. From frightening accounts of what E. coli can do to the human body to stories of dehumanizing young employees in Fast food stores, this book is far more disturbing than anything that Stephen King has typed. Buy it. It might save your life.
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Summary: This book will change the way you look at fast food
Review: If you like fast food, read this book. If you don't like fast food, read this book. It will change the way you look at "America's Food".
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Summary: Living in America, in the 21st century? You must read this.
Review: This book is everything I would expect from a first rate investigative journalist (not a mere reporter). We need more writers of this caliber, waking Americans up to the fact that they are, literally, being killed by corporate greed. Not exactly what I thought it would be, a simple damning indictment of the fast food trash sold and eaten by millions daily, I was amazed by the depth and breadth of his research as well as his incisive analysis of the tragic ripples that the fast food corporate mentality has shot through the arteries of this country. I haven't willingly eaten at a fast food restaurant in over 15 years, simply because they are counter to many of my core beliefs regarding ever more pointlessly hectic lifestyles, a death of family culture, and decline of public health. This book seals the deal, validating my beliefs with hard, well laid out analysis and research. Schlosser doesn't make a claim which he can't back up with evidence. If I were rich, I'd send a copy of this book to everybody I cared about.
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Summary: Would You Like to Supersize That?
Review: Eric Schlosser is a brave man. He has written a tremendous book that has made him Fast Food Public Enemy #1. Why? Pick up a copy of "Fast Food Nation" and you'll discover exactly what you eat when you go to a fast food restaurant, where the food comes from, and under what conditions it is prepared. This information alone is worth the price of the book, but Schlosser gives us much more. I was saddened and horrified to read of the horrible working conditions that workers in the meat-packing industry must undergo. I was angry at some of the ways in which fast food restaurants treat their workers. But most of all, I was struck by how we as a society have literally swallowed the fast food concept, changing the lives of too many Americans for the worse in so many ways. My only complaint: I wish Schlosser had broadened his study to include more types of restaurants. (The main focus of his study is McDonalds.) Any American (and especially parents) concerned about the general health of the people of this country should read this book. A real eye-opener.
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