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Summary: Fast Food Nation Dropout
Review: When I was in junior high school, I read "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. At that time I was developing my own ideas about diet and what I should (and should not) be eating. Sinclair's book detailing the failings of the processed meat industry at the turn of the century caused me to turn towards a diet based more on whole foods, and less on processed foods.I had thought, until now, that the American processed food industry had much improved since the time of Sinclair's writing. However, upon reading Eric Schlosser's book "Fast Food Nation" I realize that I have been duped. I am no vegetarian, although I respect those who are. I don't belong to any organized anti-business, anti-corporate or pro-environment group. But I am a consumer, who is very concerned about feeding her family healthy and safe foods. I had long ago given up frequenting fast food restaurants on a regular basis, but I thought that an occasional visit was still okay. What I found from reading Mr. Schlosser's book is that what we consumers had thought was safe, inexpensive "convenience" food is in fact oftentimes high-risk food that comes to us at great cost in terms of our health, the environment, and even our political, social and economic structures. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about not only what we and our families consume, but also what happens to those people who produce, process and serve our food and what happens within the larger environmental and economic arena where this consumption takes place.
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Summary: Shocked at what I've been eating
Review: As a mother of two who frequently takes her children to McDonalds, I was shocked and appalled to learn the variety of evils I've been unwittingly supporting in doing so. I found Schlosser to be a thorough reporter and a balanced journalist--and his skill made his message all the more powerful. I'm going to change my food buying habits as a result of this book, and voice my opinions to the fast food operators loud in clear in hope that Schlosser's proposed changes will become reality.
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Summary: Overreaches a bit but makes a great statement
Review: To use a food analogy, Eric Schlosser throws everything into his book "Fast Food Nation" but the kitchen sink. The book gives a brief history of how fast food empires like McDonalds and KFC were born and how they came to be the collosal international giants they are today. Schlosser then goes on to describe every possible social evil to which the fast food business is even remotely connected. Some of his points are dead on, like how the fast food industry would rather spend tens of millions of dollars in research to make its kitchen equipment even more idiot proof rather than paying higher wages and training its workforce. At other times, like when he bemoans the rapid growth of America's suburbs and how the national retail chains have made everywhere look the same, Schlosser comes off as a typical leftist with an anti-big business bias. Schlosser would like to blame the ills he describes in his book on "heartless corporations," but he forgets that with the rise of 401K plans and mutual funds, a large porportion of the population now has a stake in these big businesses. On balance though, Schlosser's book sounds a warning that needs to be heard. The problem is that the portion of the public most likely to read this book are likely to be those who spend the least amount of time in McDonald's in the first place. Getting the masses to say no to fast food seems about as likely as getting them to turn off their televisions. Schlosser has taken a good shot at the fast food industry, but I doubt that the industry will even notice.
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Summary: The Jungle of modern days
Review: Don't let this book's title fool you. It is not written for the so-called health nuts and it doesn't dwell on the nutritional aspects of fast food. This debutante grounded in thorough research deals with many complex issues of our present-day society - TV advertising (often targeted on very young children), food safety issues and lack of applicable laws in this country, exploitation of undocumented and recent legal immigrants - just to name a few. But the author's goal is not sensationalism. His aim is to awake us to the problems' existence while also suggesting the solutions. This is the time to finally become discerning citizens instead of gullible consumers lulled by the multi-billion advertising machine into buying without thinking. I was never a fast food fan and wasn't sure I'd be interested in the topic. But to my surprise, I couldn't put the book down. This one is destined to become a non-fiction classic, The Jungle of a new century.
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Summary: Fries with That?
Review: This is an extremely important book for all Americans to read. It is not just an updated "The Jungle," filled with page after page of details (although there is certainly some stomach-churning stuff in there). What this book is is a balanced, wide-ranging social history of all the facets associated with the fast food industry: automobile culture, the advertising industry's turn to children as targets, teenage work, migrant labor, the obese-ing of America, etc. The complete picture that emerges is of entire country's lifestyle gone wrong. The complex of factors that leads us to eat too much, to eat the wrong things, to exploit slaughterhouse and fast-food workers, to turn our land into strip-malls, and to treat living animals as assembly-line commodities must be overturned. It will be a virtually impossible task, but the first step is being aware of the problems. This book will jump-start our awareness.
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Summary: Unbeliavable
Review: One word : Unbelievable
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Summary: A must read for anyone who eat fast food. And who doesn't??
Review: Anyone who has read this book has probably sworn off the stuff for good...Or at least until they try the new greatest sandwich someone is offering... I was thoroughly mesmerized by this book. It digs deep into the wretched things the fast food industry has created in our culture. From the largest class of underpaid workers, to the more disturbing aspects of "food preparation" the author tells all. I was shocked, spellbound, and horrified, and that was before I got past the first chapter!
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Summary: Should be a must-read for all people
Review: This book is well-written and heavily researched. Read it if you have any interest and/or concerns about what's happening to America's farmers, ranchers, meat-packing industry workers; exploitation of teenage and alien workers, urban sprawl, multi- national corporations, overweight people, chemical additives, unsafe food practices (i.e. corporate profits over sick and dead consumers), etc. If you're not angry, shocked, and moved to at least send some action emails after reading this book, you don't have a conscience - or a sense of right and wrong. I hope this book has an impact on us like Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" did. I thank Eric Schlosser for writing this book, and Houghton Mifflin for publishing it.
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Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: The journalist Eric Schlossers book about the Fast Food Industry is a reading that shakes you up. I am a PhD in immunology and already know everything about how unhealthy fast food is from a nutritious and immunological point of view. But this book takes it one step further. It penetrates the happy and cheerful front of the Fast Food Industry (FFI) and one by one describes the nasty things behind. It covers everything from the humiliating working conditions for the teenagers in the restaurants and the uneducated latinos in the meat factories to the effect FFI has on the agriculture in this country. FFI is about an industry that once was started by individualistic contractors (with almost no education) and today it is characterized by mechanic conformity. As Ray Croc put it "the company can not trust the individual, but the individual have to trust the company". I was not aware about the fact that the FFI is so totally dependent on its seasoning of the food with (artificial) flavoring. For example they have beef flavor in ChickenMcNuggets! The intensively processed food would not taste anything without these additives. The flavor expert can make a piece of paper smell just like a grilled hamburger. This makes it even worse because then you will absolutely have no clue about the presence of any nutrients in the food. If they could turn used tires into a chewable food item and then flavor it - how would we know the difference? Being a scientist I have read a lot of non-fiction books and they very seldom impress me. But Fast Food Nation is something as unusual as an intelligent book written in a thrilling way with an excellent language and a deep message. Don't miss it! This book is must-read that should be compulsory reading in all schools. Susanna Ehdin, Ph.D., San Diego ps. I predict that this book together with the mad cow-disease in Europe is going to have considerably negative effects on the FFI if they do not change attitude and take responsibility for their actions.
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Summary: Fast Food=Fast Demise
Review: If half of what the author asserts is true, it's nothing short of tragedy and the government should investigate the fast food industry immediately. Schlosser attempts to cover all aspects the industry's effect on society. He's taken on perhaps too much to do justice to any one aspect but if his goal was to get our attention and to see the breadth and persuasiveness of fast food (likely) then he's done a pretty good job. To convice us his allegations are true--for example, that a fast food restaurants are more dangerous than other workplaces for teenagers (p. 83-87), his evidence is sometimes less than convincing. What he says may very well be true, but the sources for his statements are often spotty. I also wish the sources had been footnoted in the text rather than at the end of the book. Of all the ills purported to fast food, I find the following the most appalling: 1. The workplace standards in the slaughterhouses. No one should have to work in such inhuman, dangerous environments. The death or maiming of even one worker bears full investigation-not to mention the death of many. 2. The apparent casual view of the industry toward e-coli and other pathegens--as children are dying. 3. The obesity epidemic. If you think this isn't true, visit any European or other non-U.S. country and note how few overweight people you see. I think it's especially tragic to see young children, say 6-14, as I sometimes do these days, with corpulent bodies similar to old fat men. I'm convinced fast food, including soft drinks, are, in good part, responsible for this. 4. The overlying sense that the fast food industry makes decisions based almost solely on profit rather than the well-being of the people who eat their products. Their marketing to children and the exportation of fast food culture to other nations is disgusting.
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