Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal Book

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by: Eric Schlosser

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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - Vital reading for all Americans This book changed the way I live and eat, and I have urged everyone I know to read it and consider the facts it lays out so compellingly. First of all, Schlosser writes in a clean, matter-of-fact style, without shrillness or bias, although it is clear he cares about working conditions and food safety and is rightly shocked by what he sees. Apparently many reviewers are bothered by the inclusion of the meat-packing industry. This is ridiculous. The book sets out to explore the entire process involved in fast food and the meat-packing industry is just one part. From farm to Happy Meal (tm) the book exhaustively details the process of how we get our fast food, and its revelations are horrifying. It is sadly typical to see so many reviews toss the "left-wing bias" accusation at this methodically researched and documented book. As the author himself points out, while politicians of both parties are compromised by fast food and meat-packing industry money, there is ample proof that Republicans are worse when it comes to, for example, fighting meat-packing safety regulations. The charges Schlosser levies against both politicians and corporations are so serious that it is not surprising to see so many of them attempt to discredit this book. Do not believe them. I grew up just a few miles from a meat-packing town Schlosser focuses on, and have witnessed the damage he describes. I can verify many of his facts and his anecdotes. As a hunter and farmer I feel I cannot be accused of tree-hugging liberalism, yet this book has made me give up feedlot meat. Please, read this book. Rating: - The Culinary ¿Pentagon Papers¿ Daniel Ellsberg has nothing on Eric Schlosser, who in this hard-hitting exposé reveals countless previously unuttered truths that were veiled for decades by an ingenious web of disinformation spun by the fast food industry. Newly excavated facts that eluded crusading journalists for generations include: 1)Fast food is generally unhealthy 2)Fast food workers are not very well paid 3)Fast food restaurants are run by multi-national corporations - ones whose very reasons for existence appear to revolve around chalking up profits Fast food regulars who dined for years under a happy cloud of lies, thinking that their meals were high-fiber low-fat treats, and that their remittances were being directed toward women's shelters, exploited seals, and the fat bank accounts of their servers, will be aghast at every page. We have significantly reduced our patronage of the Golden Arches of Doom since I finished reading this horrifying chronicle, however we have not ceased it entirely as the twins continue to extort regular visits for the purpose of acquiring Happy Meal add-in toys. Even Priscilla - already a budding Socialist (or worse) at four - is unmoved by our patient explanations of how this habit is adding to the plight of migrant workers. Rating: - Not just another Left Wing critique of popular culture I devoured Schlosser's book after hearing him interviewed a couple of times. Search on his name at the Atlantic Monthly's web site and you will find several intriguing articles by him. I am a shameless carnivore: I love meat. I also love fast food, and Schlosser explains how the food is engineered to be universally appealing at a visceral level. This book doesn't make you feel guilty for loving those awesome fries or those tasty burgers. He is very frank about the dangers of food-born illness, but he recognizes that the ground beef that you eat at a Jack-In-The-Box is more highly scrutinized than much of the ground beef in your local supermarket. More than anything, Schlosser does a great job of understanding how the fast food industry itself wields tremendous power across many horizons of the American food production system. If he avoids giving you a guilt trip, he nevertheless gives you a lot of food for thought as he outlines what the industry could do to make its food as politically and socially palatable as it is delicious to eat right now. Apart from the content, however, I would also say that Schlosser is a talented writer- the book is actually a bit heady, but it reads like a good novel. Those who enjoy reading for entertainment as opposed to information will be surprised at how satisfying this "infotaining" book is.

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal Book

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