Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser   [Paperback 2005]

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Rave Reviews (30)*

• 1) I finally learned what I had been eating (and why)

  by J. Ryan Stradal on January 04 2001
    510+ helpful votes

  I picked up this book the moment I saw it mostly because I've always known that fast food is "bad for you" - but I've been both afraid to know why and curious at the same time. After all, I've been hearing the other side of the argument my whole life. I've been pummeled by fast food ads - and eaten plenty of fast food - for a ridiculously long time. Why do I want to stay ignorant about it?

  In his introduction to "Fast Food Nation", Schlosser says that he's interested in fast food "both as commodity and metaphor", and indeed, this well-written tome is as much an examination on the titular product as an able primer on the encroachment of large corporations into the lives of working Americans.

  Those of you expecting an update on John Robbins' "Diet For A New America" will be disappointed. Schlosser has not crafted a scientific slam against fast food joints, but rather a thorough examination of their motives and histories, with a strong emphasis on the people - from both sides of the coin. The time he devotes to the personal stories of those whose lives have been forever changed by fast food - from the rags-to-riches tale of Carl Karcher to the tragic story of a big-hearted rancher named Hank - are largely what keeps "Fast Food Nation" both emotionally provoking and tangible throughout.

  If this book were merely a saber-toothed diatribe against fast food corporations, it couldn't allow itself such concessions and would probably come across as socialist tubthumping to all but the converted. Instead, lengthy establishing essays on the history, ideologies, and present state of the communities and corporations discussed are a welcome introduction (and counterpoint to) the individual stories of struggle, greed, and survival.

  While he makes no secret where his sympathies lie, Schlosser often reminded me more of Wendell Berry than John Robbins, as he bravely attempts to "tell it like it is" from more of a "pro-human" as opposed to an "anti-corporate" perspective. In doing so, the dehumanizing aspects of all global corporations (and the effects of NAFTA and the Telecommunications Act of '96) are supplied a provoking reference point.

  By my standards, "Fast Food Nation" is a fine debut accomplishment for the author and a welcome book for our increasingly homogenized (and de-regulated) times. The story of fast food, a quotidian experience for many, has never seemed quite so impressive, scary, and profound. My education began here.

• 2) McInteresting Look at Fast Food

  by Jamie J. Bourgeois on May 05 2002
    270+ helpful votes

  I read this book knowing I was not going to learn any new and cheery anecdotes about how Ronald McDonald got his start..... instead I read this to solidify the notion that fast food was not a healthy choice. And boy, did this book give you reasons it is not, and I'm not just talking nutritional value here.

  I found this book fascinating for the detail was great, well researched, and given to the reader straight. It was an eye opening book. Who knew that due to the meat industry being run just by a few corporations, essentially we are eating the same meat from the same feedlots and slaughter houses whether we buy it at a fast food chain or the local supermarket, and perhaps even the nicer restaurants. I also found some of the content appalling. Cattle are fed cats, dogs, other cows, even old newspaper! If this doesn't outrage you enough, just wait to you get to how these same meat conglomerates treat the low paid, low skilled employees of the slaughterhouses.

  This book is insightful and unbelievable, and will make you question how the fast food giants sleep at night.

• 3) You can still have it your way

  by Mixmaster Mago on January 03 2001
    80+ helpful votes

  A fascinating, important book for everyone. Fast Food Nation doesn't take easy shots at the fast food and beef industry, it shows the whole story, shifting back and forth betweeen intimate details of real people (a meat packing plant worker, a franchise owner, several cattle ranchers), and the larger, global markets created by the fast food restaurants. The book achieves a kind of epic flow to it, full of interesting and infuriating information. Splendid reading.

• 4) Required reading for citizens of McWorld

  by Sean Montgomery on February 05 2001
    60+ helpful votes

  This is most compelling book I've picked up in years. Every chapter, filled with fascinating, eye-opening stories, could have become a separate book. This is the story not just of the fast food industry, but of corporate America, and its relentless pursuit of profit uber alles. Schlosser touches upon franchising; Disney; Coca Cola; corporate infiltration of schools; motivational speakers; the history of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Plauen, Germany; P.R. campaigns; the destruction of America's trolley car systems; the plight of traditional ranchers; lobby groups and the buying-off of politicians; how products get their flavours; international resentment towards American globalization; and corporate hatred of labour unions. And he manages to keep juggling all of these balls in a totally assured and engrossing manner. Be warned: cynics will be left feeling even more cynical. The chapters detailing how beef is brought to market are especially chilling, and will have you wondering about everything you eat. Schlosser also manages to accomplish all of this without coming across as a finger-pointer or ranter. He presents both sides of the issue (even the opinion of ranchers - really straight-up guys - who argue that cows not slaughtered are just picked off by coyotes and vultures anyway). But the information he conveys here is important. The world of consumerism seems to present limitedless choices, and yet we often don't know much about the products we're choosing. Which is how the producers want it, since they fear the truth would scare customers away.

  And this is where we come to the ultimate message of the book: however powerful these big companies may seem, consumers can bring them to their knees with the simple act of keeping their wallets shut. In an age where the power of governments has given way to the power of corporations, this is the most important political, democratic act available to us. And this is a message which everyone really needs to hear. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

• 5) Before your next meal, read this book

  by Melanie Gustafson on December 29 2000
    60+ helpful votes

  Every American, and increasingly everyone in the world, should have available to them the information presented in this excellent book about the methods of the fast-food industry. This is not a vegan or vegetarian slam against beef and poultry producers. Instead, it is a look at how the large fast-food industry has transformed our nation, and is transforming the world, as we enter a new century. Readers will love Schlosser's easy writing style, even as they grapple with what his information tells us about the food world around us. This is an especially important book for every parent. Even if parents do not take their children to the restaurants mentioned, they will surely find the information about what is happening in schools and on TV important to the life of their family.

• 6) THERE'S *WHAT* IN THE MEAT?! TELL ME YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?

  by Claude Bouchard Jr. on April 05 2001
    40+ helpful votes

  Reading this exhaustively-researched book is an experience that is enjoyable, disgusting and infuriating all at once. Some of the stuff described in Schlosser's book seems to be so farfetched (can corporations really be that nasty?) that you'll initially dismiss it as being highly improbable. However, one glance at the unbelievably lengthy reference and note appendix and you realize with great sadness that none of it is fiction. To this extent, Schlosser stuffs an incredible amount of information in this book and, throughout, his writing style is easy and flowing. If only the shocking information he gives us was as smooth and easy to digest.

  An earlier reviewer dismissed him as being avidly anti-Republican. All of Schlosser's comments are factual (refer again to the note section in which you will find ample documentation). Though the subject matter would lend itself to such abuse, Schlosser doesn't push his personal opinion on the reader: he's there to give us the facts and allows us to make the decisions.

  You've probably read in other reviews some hints of the horrors described in the book: worker abuse, dangerous working conditions, tainted food supply, etc. The chapters on the meatpacking industry and the slaughterhouses are truly frightening. And these corporations' ability to evade the law and to control governmental agencies are even worse! Poop-filled meat and school lunches tainted with e.coli are only the beginning...

  This book will make you think twice about what you put into your body. Was it written to scare you off fast food? Not specifically, but its main purpose is to have you THINK. And this it does with excellence. A must-read for everyone.

• 7) Would you like to SuperSize that?

  by Donna Ancypa Holmes on February 08 2001
    40+ helpful votes

  My small town has a McDonald's - everyone I know has eaten there, even though they complain about how chain stores are homogenizing the world. Fast Food Nation throws our love/hate relationship with fast food into sharp relief, making a compelling case for being more thoughtful about what we choose to eat and even the type of society we want to promote. It's odd: you read the book and remember the taste of your last Big Mac and the smell of the fries even as you're tempted to swear off meat forever thanks to the shady practices Schlosser details (skip page 202 if you have a weak stomach!). The book is particularly strong because Schlosser never lets his opinion overwhelm the evidence, and the writing is clear and convincing throughout - he sustains his theories to the end. I couldn't put it down - you should pick it up!

• 8) "Happy Meal" is the biggest misnomer in history!

  by K. Hearne on May 30 2001
    40+ helpful votes

  This book is a stunning indictment not only of fast food, but of our entire economic and political system--a system which has many excellent qualities, but which also encourages the exploitation of our natural and human resources in the interests of short-term profit. What really disgusted me--even more than the meatpacking industry or how fast food targets children in their advertising--was the fact that the US government not only allows them to do all this, it HELPS THEM. Schlosser does a fairly good job of illustrating that most of the Republican party is in the pocket of the industry--so his book alone stands as an excellent argument for campaign finance reform. The abuses of the Small Business Administration and the futile efforts of the FDA, USDA, and OSHA to regulate the industry will continue as long as this country makes money its number one priority.Regardless of your political views, I urge you to read this book, for your own sake and the sake of your family.Then tell all your friends--a Happy Meal is probably the biggest misnomer of all time: it stands for exploited and injured workers, farmers reduced to sharecropping, a lifetime addicted to high-fat, high-sugar foods, environmental irresponsibility, and GREED. Beaucoup thanks to Eric Schlosser for writing this book: it questions not only the practices of an industry, but the practices (and values) of a nation.

• 9) The Hidden Costs of Mass Consumption of Fast Food

  by Professor Donald Mitchell on April 11 2001
    40+ helpful votes

  If you ever eat in fast food restaurants, you should read this book. It will fill your mind with issues that probably had not occurred to you before.

  The fast food industry today is the service equivalent of the harshest environments of industrial America. The industry's size creates behemoths among its suppliers who can be even more aggressive in cost-cutting than are the employers of your neighboring teenagers. This book recounts the many dangers and hidden costs this industry imposes on everyone in our society, and suggests some ways to improve. The best defense, however, is a discerning consumer. Read this book to help become one.

  Mr. Schlosser begins with the founding of the modern fast food companies, and traces them all back to Richard and Maurice McDonald's first hamburger parlor on E Street in San Bernardino, California. Carl Karcher (Carl's Jr.), Glenn Bell (Taco Bell), and the founder of Dunkin' Donuts all visited there and designed their stores to take advantage of those ideas about achieving higher throughput and consistency. Naturally, Ray Kroc later came along to refine the practices into the foundations of the modern McDonald's.

  With success came market power, and abuses of that power. The book looks at several ills that have resulted. For example, the cost of meat needs to be as low as possible. This has led to dangerous conditions where many people are injured in the slaughter houses. His story of Kenny Dobbins at Montfort will chill you forever. The industry has also succeeded in getting inspection standards reduced so more harmful bacteria are making their way into your meal, and more people are getting sick. The old and the young are most likely to be harmed by the rapid growth of E. coli 0157:H7. This hit home with me, having just suffered a bout of food poisoning after a fast food meal last week. The Federal Government buys meat for school children with lower quality standards for bacterial contamination than even the fast food people apply. Pressure from slaughter houses on ranchers has driven many out of the business. The human price can be high, as one story recounts here.

  The food is harmful in other ways. It is full of sugar and fat (that's what makes it taste good). The growth in obesity (what some people call an epidemic in America) closely tracks the expansion of fast food meals (25% of the population will eat at least one weekly). And the trend is getting worse, now that you can have unlimited refills of sugared soft drinks.

  Children are especially vulnerable, because advertising is so persuasive to them. As a result, they go to eat the meals in search of toys and games, and other novelties.

  Teenagers are often employed in fast food parlors in violation of the child labor laws, costing them sleep, exposing them to late night dangers, and leaving them too tired to focus on school. Those who deliver the food often create accidents and are at risk to be robbed.

  The physical appearance and culture of towns is brought to the lowest common denominator by the drive to produce these meals fast and cheaply.

  If the local management isn't very good, goofing off employees have been known to put noxious substances into the food. Franchisees often work long hours, costing them a normal life. Carl Karcher reported that he was still heavily in debt after 50 years in the industry. The main sign of progress he told the author was that the road outside used to be dirt, and was now paved.

  These ills are being transported around the world now, as fast food is globalized.

  Mr. Schlosser has several suggestions for improvement including tougher regulation of food, working conditions, and of advertising to children (he wants it banned). I thought his most realistic suggestion was that the fast food companies themselves lead the way by raising standards. McDonald's has done this in the past (to its credit), and could certainly do so again. After the facts in this book are more widely know, it is highly likely that there will be an interest in eating food from restaurants that provide these meals in more socially productive and humane ways. I know that I would shift my purchasing to reflect such improved standards.

  To me, the interesting part of this story is that the problems exposed here are not hidden. This book could have been written at any time in the last 40 years. Why do we turn a blind eye to the problems that fast food creates?

  After you finish this interesting and thorough book, I suggest that you consider where else problems exist that we do not pay attention to. For example, where does the sewage from your town go? What are the implications of how it is disposed of? Where does your trash go? What problems does that create? What are the pollution effects of your new SUV? How much more likely is your family to be injured or killed because it could roll over?

  Consider all the costs of the products and services you consume, not just the ones you pay for directly to the person who sells to you.

• 10) Extremely Important and Powerful Book

  by David Bornstein on April 08 2001
    30+ helpful votes

  Fast Food Nation deserves the widest possible audience. It should be assigned reading in every high school in the country. Parents of young children should also be encouraged to read it. Fast food chains, with their bright primary colors and happy faces, need to keep the truth about their products and practices well hidden. Otherwise their customers might think twice about coming back. Schlosser not only tells us what's in the food and how it gets produced, but he examines the depressingly one-sided business arrangements that run the gamut in this industry, from the way the chains control their own low-paid, low-skilled, no-benefit-receiving workers, to the downward pressures they exert on meat, potato and chicken producers, who work in dangerous, low-paid, unpleasant jobs with little control over their lives and livelihoods. This is a great book in the tradition of muckraking journalism. If readers take it seriously, hopefully, like Upton Sinclair's 1905 book "The Jungle," it will lead to major reforms.

• 11) $hit - If you eat fast food, it might be what's for dinner.

  by Adam F. Jewell on March 11 2002
    30+ helpful votes

  Fast Food Nation is a spectacular documentary on the fast food industry. It covers the origins, major players, and details the evolution of the industry; it's health consequences, deadly practices, and the methods used to set your kids on the path to obesity and heart disease at an early age. Despite the grim picture painted of the industry, Eric presents a fairly balanced picture that includes some positive steps taken by a number of small and large players in the industry to bring about change.

  Around the time the major US auto manufacturers were dismantling public transportation systems so you'd have to buy their cars and busses and sit in gridlock all day, fast food establishments began to spring up in California. At first they delivered food to cars in the parking lots, and later applied principles of scientific management (ala Fredrick Taylor) to speed up the delivery process, create uniformity, and take advantage of economies of scale.

  Since then, fast food establishment have spread like mad cow disease, first in the US, and more recently around the globe. In order to support and fuel this explosive growth, the industry has put a tremendous stress on the meatpacking industry and adopted brilliant, yet questionable marketing practices.

  Fast Food Nation exposes the meatpacking industry in detail. It exposes the industries' deplorable safety record, in terms of injuries including death and dismemberment of workers. Not only does the exclusive focus on efficiency and profits come at the detriment of meat packing workers, but the health and safety of the general meat-consuming public. Meat packing plants are routinely found to be in violation of basic heath standards and slapped with minimal penalties by the government, yet continue to operate. This makes sickness and death a possibility (to the tune of hundreds of thousands of E-coli and Salmonella infections each year) every time you or I eat beef or chicken to. Uneducated and immigrant workers within the US are literally sacrificing their bodies and sometimes their lives so that people can grab a burger on the go.

  To keep the street happy and analyst ratings on the up tick, the industry as a whole must find ways to grow. Within the US, fast food establishments as well as companies like Coke are becoming sponsors of cash starved schools. Sponsorships may include signs and billboards, skewed "educational" videos, and of course, fast food stands with continued sponsorship contingent on sales quotas within the schools. Is it any wonder America is becoming a nation of heart disease and gross obesity?

  This review only skims the surface of the book. You'll also learn about the manufactured tastes and smells associated with fast food ("natural" and "artificial" flavors), the stuff fed to the animals (FORTUNE did a feature article on zero waste farming several years ago, which detailed how livestock was fed its own excrement to achieve zero waste), and the inability of various government agencies to bring about change or even inform the public of contaminated meat recalls.

  As long as the status quo is maintained and the profits keep rolling in, neither the government nor the fast food industry is likely to change its ways... According the information presented in the book, Conway's Red Top and In-N-Out in the Western US have created successful, sustainable fast food business models. Even McDonald's has shown a willingness to change in response to significant pressure from the market.

  Read this book, it is informative, well written, and just may change your life and eating habits for the better - but only if you act on the information presented. Thanks for a great book, Eric!

• 12) Yecchh- Eat More Vegetables

  by buddyhead on March 07 2001
    30+ helpful votes

  First of all, I was surprised by the scope of Schlosser's indictment of the fast food industry: I expected a harangue against the health implications about eating fast food, and maybe an aside about the shoddy way in which workers in the industry are treated, both at the restaurants and behind the scenes (e.g., at slaughterhouses). Schlosser presented so much more to think about, including questionable marketing campaigns targeted at children; the hammering home of American culinary culture upon unwilling customers abroad (including a fast food joint placed obscenely close to the Dachau concentration camp); the monopolistic practices of mega-corporations which are driving small ranchers and potato growers out of the business; and the efforts on the part of fast food management to discourage unionization and creativity among its workforce.

  The book was educational not only in terms of presenting the big picture, but also in terms of the data provided: research was clearly done, not to mention cited extensively. Schlosser seems to have paid his dues on the front lines as well, having visited slaughterhouses, potato fields and processing plants, farms, and countless restaurants. Interview excerpts abound, providing faces to accompany the facts. In many ways, that is where the real information lies: for example, canvassing the opinion of many teenagers working at fast food restaurants leads Schlosser to the logical conclusion that, all other concerns aside (e.g., regarding E. Coli, mad cow disease, atherosclerosis, etc.), the quality and purity of your fast food has a lot (too much!) to do with how much the employees like their manager (that is, how likely they are to sabotage your meal). I was impressed, too, with how Schlosser ended this book by offering suggestions about not only what needs to be done in terms of the big picture, but also what individuals can do (including (obviously) not eating the stuff).

  After reading this, I wondered how it is that more people don't get sick after eating this stuff. Obviously our immune systems are pretty robust, although the long terms effects of fast food diets seem to manifest new symptoms daily. There is a lot to be afraid of in this book, should the reader choose to accept all of it as truth, and it is an effective tool to influence people away from the cheeseburger and fries, and towards the salad bar or homemade turkey sandwich.

  The only criticism I had of the book was that Schlosser unfairly blamed everything on the Republicans. Politics inevitably enter the fast food arena, but the evils of this industry are due to both sides. It seems like Schlosser uses the information he has harvested to take digs at the right wherever he can, often in an anomalous fashion. As another reviewer put it well, "Last time I checked we had a Democrat President from 1992 to 2000."

• 13) Well documented facts and history -- you LEARN something!

  by Sohrab Ismail-Beigi on September 11 2002
    20+ helpful votes

  Frankly, this book is marvelous. Read it.

  The book is centered on the fast food industry: how it works, where it came from, where it is going, what it has done to American society (and now increasingly the global one), etc. The book is full of documented facts. In addition, it is full of great and fascinating history: the growth of the West on the 20th century, transformation of agriculture, food processing, potatoes, beef ranchers and processors, advertising directed at children, Disney and anticommunist hysteria, fast food franchising, labor relations, exploitation of child/teenage labor, where the flavor of most foods comes from, and so on. Each chapter deal with particular aspects but all chapters hang together nicely.

  I found two things to be quite impressive: (1) the clarity and depth of the factual documentation of what happened and is happening. This is simply a great book because you LEARN so many things. (2) The author is, in my opinion, balanced and not a whiner. This is particularly clear in his treatment of the historical aspects as the contradictions of US society are laid out in this particular case: the good and bad about private entrepreneurs, the pluses and minuses of a fast food system that provides unhealthy food and low wages but also provides playgrounds and toys and a social environment, the role of the government in subsidizing and/or regulating, etc.

  I felt the author tended to show some anger and frustration on a few issues: he takes sides against the fast food companies on issues regarding SEVERE labor exploitation particularly of the poor and immigrants, easily avoidable and extremely dangerous work conditions in meat processing, and grave lack of food safety and sabotaging of the food safety system by the companies and their hired politicians. I was hard pressed to disagree.

  Next time you go for a fast food hamburger, you'll ask yourself the questions whose answers are always hidden by corporations: where is the food coming from? How was it produced? Is the system humane or exploitative? How did it get to become the way it is? What are the costs and consequences of this system? The book provides excellently researched facts and an overall framework to address these questions.

  Did I mention you have to read this book?

• 14) It's time to wake up

  by Chuck Bowery on March 15 2001
    20+ helpful votes

  By far the most important book to hit the bookshelves in a long time. Written in a style that is both accessable and intelligent, "Fast Food Nation" will most definitly make you re-think what you put in your mouth. Eric Schlosser weaves the stories of the underpaid, under-educated, and mostly immigrant meat packing workers, with the underpaid and young restaurant workers, and the overzealous sickeningly wealthy proprietors of all this junk we so happily chomp down on in alarming amounts. Myself, a lover of meat, found my heart wrenching at the squalid living conditions and painfully tragic lives of the cattle and chickens which will become hamburgers and chicken sandwiches. Especially the story of one cow that somehow knew what he was about to face. My stomach churned at the process as to which these animals are turned from living things into mounds of meat. I was also touched by the lives of the farmers who are quickly being run off their property or risk becoming serfs in a "Corporate Farm" style of farming. I was also concerned with the way fast food chains are encroaching upon foreign nations eroding their sense of individualism. Invading even India where the cow is sacred! Schlosser includes some very frightening quotes in this section, including one very sad and discouraging remark by a Japanese franchisee. He also includes some interesting stories of how many people in these nations are turning against these chains, or being taken to court by them. This is a novel that needs to be read, not just for curiosity, but for your well-being. It is the perfect example of the death of the middle class, and the horrifying reality of homogenization. A book that shows just how oblivious we can all be. How an industry bent on profit strips away our identity simply by giving us what want.

• 15) The dark side, indeed

  by C. Brennan on March 07 2002
    20+ helpful votes

  Muckraker or hero? Schlosser has been called both by reviewers of this book. Personally, I think Schlosser has written a book that long-needed writing and confirms the truths we already knew but didn't want to admit: our comfort is killing us. This book isn't *just* about fast food and the perils of The Golden Starches: it is an indictment of our entire "gimme now, gimme cheap, gimme easy" culture. No one is exculpated: we are all in some fashion part and party of the McDonaldization of America.

  Schlosser looks unblinkingly at the meat packing industry; the impact of the fast food industry on our environment, economy and social custom; our gradual and apparently inexorable return to the "Robber Baron" days. Much of what he writes is uncomfortable to read. I know I revisited just about every Big Mac I've ever eaten while reading this book. Having done so, I can tell you that I will never eat another Big Mac, Whopper, Biggie Fry, Chicken Bucket or Taco Grande again. Ever. Neither will my kid, until he can buy his own Super Size Bucket o' Crud with his own money and by his own choice. I hope he makes better choices than that.

  As disturbing as the meat packing and food handling details are, the bit that resonates the most with me is the imperialist attitude of these corporate giants towards their workers. I was astonished to learn that these companies get tax breaks in the hundreds of millions of dollars under the aegis of "job training" when their goal is to have full automation in their kitchens. The only "job training" done in most of these places consists of knowing what button to push when a buzzer rings. Even basic literacy isn't a requirement for one of these jobs.

  Fabricated food is supplanting whole food in our nation's diet. The values embodied by fabricated food -- easy access, inexpensive, plentiful, homogenized -- are evident in every strip mall on every roadside nationwide. Is this what we really want? Is this what we truly value? What are the long term consequences? In short, what do we trade off in exchange for easier, cheaper, more? If we are more readily identified globally by Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse than by our ostensible values of freedom, democracy and individual liberty, what becomes of our credibility?

  Hats off to Schlosser for his book. If only it could be required reading for school kids and parents. If only the United States would start treating obesity with the same seriousness it does tobacco addiction, there might be hope for change. Ultimately, though, it comes down to you and me. What are we going to do about it?

• 16) Excellent Coverage of the Fast Food industry

  by mchenryed on May 15 2001
    20+ helpful votes

  Schlosser writes a gripping account of the societal effects of the plethora of fast food restaurants. While not vegetarian's book, a health book, or even an animals' rights book, it is rather a grim look at the impact on the nation by fast food chains.

  The start of the book covers the beginnings of McDonalds, Carl's Jr, Wendy's. and other now-famous chains. Reading the capitalistic accounts of the owners is truly remarkable in understanding how these people got where they are today. However, there is a dark side to their success, one that Schlosser reveals to the reader and reveals the true nature of the business: profits.

  Schlosser covers the non-unionized workers that run the stores. They are at risk to robberies and are underpaid and have no real benefits. They are also given no real job skills, yet the restaurants receive tax breaks for the high rate of turnover on their employees. Schlosser then takes the reader through tours of various slaughterhouses. He has personally interviewed workers who are forced to do rush jobs butchering animals and who have high rates of on the job injuries that are quietly swept under the carpet. Most of the workers in charge of the nation's meat supply are uneducated illegal aliens. Most of the food found in fast food restaurants has been overly processed and may contain fecal matter or other contaminants, according to Schlosser. The overworked and understaffed USDA is often at the mercy of the meat plants. Despite repeat violations, even the USDA continues to purchase meat for school lunches from cited meat plants.

  There are many throwbacks in this book from Upton Sinclair's, The Jungle (the book is dedicated to "Red"). From reading the book, one would guess we are only a little better than where we were in 1906. The book doesn't advocate vegetarianism, but does equate the working conditions for the delivery of the cheap burger to those of the sweat shop workers. I found the book extremely compelling and factual, one that made huge amounts of sense to me as I see trend of homogenizing America, and the world.

• 17) You had to know fast food was bad... but not this bad...

  by A. Stefanski on January 04 2002
    20+ helpful votes

  Telling someone that fast food is unhealthy, that the production methods for the ingredients was a little distasteful, that the proliferation is affecting the culture, and that the employees weren't paid or treated well, would be restating the obvious. We all knew that things weren't all rosy.

  But this book shows you how deep, how bad, it really all is. The anecdotal stories about employees picking up dropped food and serving it, about them not washing their hands... after working on their car, and so on, may not be too suprising to anyone who's known someone who worked there, but are still sad to see. It's common knowledge that fast food places routinely violate labor laws with the teenagers working there, as apparently the fines are cheaper than complying with the laws.

  Where it really gets you is talking about the industries that supply the ingredients. That not only are meat-packing plants not the wonderful places we might wish, but that the extreme demands for beef are causing the owners to not even be concerned about the safety of workers (it's easier to hire a new worker than add safety precautions to prevent injuries.. and deaths), or the quality of our food. (Apparently as much as 50% of ground beef from the big plants contains E. Coli - which is only spread from feces) Even worse is that their government lobbying prevents a lot of regulation that seems common sense... and allows them to police themselves, most of the time.

  It was enough to almost entirely prevent me from ever eating fast food again - and the rare times I do, I feel horribly guilty the entire time. This book is seriously eye-opening, and don't read it if you believe that "ignorance is bliss".

• 18) Fries with That?

  by Jeremy Raymondjack on March 30 2001
    20+ helpful votes

  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.

• 19) Most Important Book on Food Safety & Labor since THE JUNGLE

  by Calvin93 on January 28 2002
    20+ helpful votes

  FAST FOOD NATION will blow you away with a well-researched and reasoned indictment of the fast food & meatpacking industry. The book appeals to you NOT through rhetoric or hysteria, but rather, through carefully documented reality which screams for itself. The book begins with the history of some of the famous fast food chains - which is an interesting slice of Americana - but leads into a review of labor practices, worker safety, and food content that make up today's meals. It is hard not to recoil with shock when you learn how today's children and adult consumers are eating "affordable" fast food which they pay for with their health, and how the large food and beverage companies have corrupted Washington to avoid any responsibility for worker safety and community relations. Read about the tour of an unclean and unsafe slaughterhouse before you eat your next Whopper, or how McDonalds lied to vegetarians and promoted their french fries as a vegetarian dish even though they are cooked in beef extract, or how Pepsi has taken over the public schools and replaced milk with soda as our childrens' nutritional beverage. Worst of all are the health hazards of e-Coli and mad cow disease, which the meatpackers have tried to ignore at YOUR expense. An excellent book that reads like a thriller and teaches you maybe more than you wanted to know. The paperback edition has an afterword that includes events from late 2001.

• 20) You will never eat fast food again

  by Anonymous on February 27 2001
    20+ helpful votes

  After reading this book I will dramatically reduce my fast food intake - not that it was high to begin with. The best parts of the book, for me, were the history of how McDonald's began and the desciption of the slaughterhouses in Greely CO. I believe the treatment of the workers in these slaughterhouses seemed to be the biggest crime along with how contamination of the meat with E Coli could occur. It was also amazing to read how little the government really does to inpsect these slaughterhouses.

  I very much enjoyed this book but I thought that, at times, the author could have gone into more detail or made a better connection to the idea he was trying to bring across. For example, the author met with an independent cattleman. They rode in his truck over his ranch and discussed briefly how his methods were better for the envirnoment. There was also a discussion about how the beef industry could shut out the out-of-favor small cattlemen by simply not buying their cattle. I wanted to know more about the problems of this cattleman. Could he pay his bills? Did he have any run-ins with the big beef industry? ... etc. This rancher actually seemed fairly successful yet later had some tragedy. So how did this all tie in together?

  The author also steals his way into a slaughterhouse but, I believe, is a little lean (pun intended) on describing what he actually sees.

  This book could have been a little longer. Also, the book was a little light on how the fast food industry affects the environment.

  Overall it was a very good read but sometime left you wanting to know a little more.

• 21) Much to ponder here.

  by Jim Toms on July 19 2002
    20+ helpful votes

  With a fast food restaurant on just about every corner in any town with a population over 5,000 (barely an exaggeration), this is a book that was long overdue. With newspaper articles and television news stories about obesity, child obesity, and hypertension becoming almost a weekly occurrence, some in-depth reporting regarding much of the source of these problems was greatly needed. But who does Schlosser roast and who does he leave alone?

  The early chapters are mainly devoted to the history of the fast food restaurant and the men who created and later "perfected" the industry. The "founding fathers" as Schlosser calls them are not looked on with contempt by the author. Rather, I sensed admiration for the McDonald brothers who began using "speedee service" at the first McDonald's restaurant in San Bernadino, California in the early 1950's. The same holds true for other early fast food entrepreneurs including Carl Karchner (Carl's Jr. and Hardee's), J.R. Simplot (the Idaho french fry king) and even Ray Kroc who made McDonald's the behemoth that it is today.

  One enlightening section focuses on the flavor industry. Didn't know there was one? Neither did I. According to Schlosser, there are a myriad of plants in the New Jersey area who do nothing but concoct flavors for the vast majority of processed foods and drinks that we drop down our throats. Frequently in the past I had wondered what "natural flavor" on the side of food labels meant. Now I know and I feel somewhat cheated.

  The fast food industry as a whole does take a hit from the author for low wages, and poor safety training. The point is made that the industry actually wants a revolving door for teens to go continually through. Teens are willing to accept lower wages when living at home because to them, it's pretty much all disposable income. They also don't expect health insurance or other benefits. Schlosser also puts to bed the myth that "worker training" funds are beneficial to the workers themselves. Too often the money allocated for fast food businesses to train employees is money simply pocketed by the franchise or by corporate. The workers aren't employed for very long and a study was undertaken that determined that the vast majority of the workers hired with the funds would have been hired any way.

  Most of the author's contempt is reserved for the meat-packing industry and the federal government which, he says, fails to pass laws that would better regulate packing and slaughterhouses. Basically, the industry is fraught with environmental and food safety violations. In addition to that they are constantly on the prowl for illegal aliens who will work dangerous jobs for little money, but is considered a pay raise by the worker (five bucks an hour for cutting meat? great!) Due to a lack of proper regulations, e-coli is a major problem, as the author aptly demonstrates.

  I can't say that I agreed with every thing the author has to say about the fast food industry, but I certainly agreed with the bulk of it. For example, he would like a ban on all advertising by fast food establishments during children's televison programming. That may sound admirable, but at the same time seems a slippery slope that I'm not sure we want to undertake. What would be considered children's programming? Would McDonald's be considered unacceptable but Cracker Barrel deemed okay? I do, however, agree with him that the federal government should enact whatever laws necessary to ensure that meat is handled, stored, shipped, prepared, etc. properly. Protecting the public from food-borne illness is not and should not be a political issue. It's just common sense and the right thing to do.

  One will definitely learn a lot here. One doesn't have to agree with everything said to appreciate gaining new knowledge on an important topic. Schlosser even admits to eating fast food himself, although he says he now has given up ground beef. Moderation is key here I think. Perhaps this book would serve best those who have a tendency to make fast food their meal at every meal (believe me, there are some doing just that).

• 22) Fast food will never get my money again

  by Anonymous on April 10 2001
    20+ helpful votes

  I found Mr. Schlosser's book highly enlightening and extremely well researched. I have never been a big fan of fast food; it's too greasy, it makes me feel sluggish after I've eaten, and I never know what chemicals I may be putting into my body. I'm no saint, I've eaten McDonalds, Burger King, Carl's Jr. in the past, but this book was the final push I needed to give up fast food for good. I grew up in the generation targeted by these corporations, I've heard the many and varied jingles and catch phrases, and I've participated in the mad rush caused by the Teenie Beanie Baby, Pokemon, and the dozens of other toy promotions put on by these corporations every year. After reading this book, and being enlightened to their marketing schemes, the goals and quotas they set, their targeting of the teenagers, pre-teens, and children of this nation, I am horrified, mad, and extremely disappointed with these fast food giants. I have vowed neither myself nor my children will ever spend another cent at any of these "restaurants."

• 23) Vital reading for all Americans

  by Jack Gillibrand on February 12 2003
    20+ helpful votes

  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.

• 24) Highly recommended!

  by Susanna Ehdin on March 25 2001
    10+ helpful votes

  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.

• 25) Not just another Left Wing critique of popular culture

  by Marc A. Healy on November 09 2001
    10+ helpful votes

  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.

• 26) An eye-opening exposé of the fast-food industry

  by Imran Khan on January 17 2003
    10+ helpful votes

  Eric Schlosser's book is a particularly timely, relevant commentary on one of the most pervasive sociocultural and economic phenomena in North America today, namely fast food. Our lifestyles are busy, characterized by the two-working-parent, latchkey-kid family. When we want to treat ourselves for lunch, we go out and grab a burger. When a bunch of us are working late, we pitch in and order a pizza. On the way home from the kids' soccer/baseball/whatever practice, we treat the team to a trip to McDonald's, Burger King, or wherever the kids are whining to us to take them. Maybe when the kids get a little older, their first part-time job will be with one of these establishments. In the meantime, with our relatively sedentary lifestyles, many of us are literally growing fat off the rich, fat- and calorie-laden offerings of the fast-food industry, contributing to the increasing incidences of obesity, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and other diet-related illneses. As we patronize fast-food restaurants more and more, they continue to sprout like mushrooms at every major intersection, near every freeway exit, and in every major shopping mall food court, offering meals in only a few minutes and minimum-wage job opportunities for young people and immigrants of varying degrees of legality. Fast food is an increasingly important part of the economy and, indeed, an important part of the culture.

  Schlosser has compiled a fascinating collection of anecdotes and informative tidbits that are eye-opening, sometimes funny, and sometimes disturbing. His observation that the fast-food industry both feeds and feeds off of children is particularly penetrating. As for his revelation as to why the fries at McDonald's taste so good, let me just say this: if you are a vegetarian and you've been specifically ordering the fries to avoid eating meat, your reaction to the relevant chapter in the book will be much like that of Charlton Heston's character at the end of the early-70s sci-fi film "Soylent Green".

  On the other hand, Schlosser's book seems rather uneven due to its largely anecdotal nature. The book concentrates on the plight of workers, neglecting to point out that for many of them, there would be no other work available were it not for the industry, certainly not for first-time workers. The book also does not give sufficient credit to the industry in generating small-business opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs. A number of other reviewers have also pointed out how the abuses of the meatpacking industry have been unfairly lumped in with the fast-food industry. The problems with meatpacking are separate and affect not only the burger you buy at McDonald's but also the ground beef that you buy at the supermarket, thus deserving a separate treatment altogether. Obviously, Schlosser has somewhat of a left-wing bias, which is why I gave only 4 stars instead of 5.

  Nevertheless, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a good survey of how America has truly become a "Fast Food Nation".

• 27) What happened to the American dream?

  by Quaker Annie on April 23 2002
    10+ helpful votes

  "MacDonald's has the best hamburgers in the world" -- so says my youngest son, still a picky eater ate age 10. He's a big MacDonald's supporter, a fan who begs to eat there on special occasions. And so he stepped up to defend them when he overheard a conversation I was having with someone about this book.

  "Who is the person who wrote this book?" -- he demanded.

  "Where did he get his information?" he looked scornful.

  "What proof does he have?" (my son, the detective)

  and last

  "What is he getting for saying these things?" my son, the cynic.

  All good questions, and more than most of us ask about the principles, practices and food sources of fast food restaurants.

  You'll find the answer to my son's questions in the book -- this is a well researched, well documented and fairly presented study of the fast food industry in America. The author targets no particular chain of restaurants, but presents us with questions we need to ask before blindly stuffing ourselves and our families with fast food.

  Eric Schlosser covers how employees are handled, not just at the restaurants themselves but at companies whose main income is comes from supplying these chains with what they need. He focuses on the meat industry, from ranchers to the migrant workers in the slaughterhouses.

  His writing on the actual handling of the beef from birth to death requires a strong stomach. I'd like to point out that we didn't become vegetarians after reading this, 'though we gave some serious thought to it. Instead, the next hamburger we ate was homecooked, the meat from a company who handle beef in a different way -- all because of this book.

  Schlosser talks about the people who work in the restaurants, what they are expected to do and how their treatment can affect consumers. He explores the reasons why fast food workers are not paid enough to survive (employees used to be mostly high school kids, housewives and the retired, who are looking for supplemental living -- but many employees are now men and women needing to support a family.)

  His documentation of common management practices light up some painful realizations about what life is like for the workers along the line. Money saving practices are used to cut paying workers 'too much' -- although the cuts are being made into salaries and benefits where there is little money to give.

  I personally love reading about (in other books, too) stories of Americans who had a dream -- the founders and early promoters of fast food chains usually came from humble beginnings, taking an idea that was theirs, using their own hard work, smart minds and taking use of technical improvements to make their visions and dreams come true. Most of us have bought the fast food industry's promotional pitch -- they really love us, they do it all for us, they are a great place to work, and they are still just folks like us, taking pride in their dream coming true.

  This book made me wonder if it hasn't all gotten out of hand, if perhaps we've forgotten that those small dreams are now mega-businesses, not small family businesses, and that if these dreams of old were dreamed today, they would be dreams that could not so easily come true. There is little argument that today's business practices result in more profit for top of the line execs, and less pay, benefits or concerns for the seemingly interchangeable frontline workers. The only arguments these days are about whether this is a good thing, a bad thing, or just the way things are.

  Schlosser presents information so we can reach our own conclusions. Of course it leans toward the humane side, rather than the profit margin side. This book isn't just talking about the quality of the food, but the quality of life for most of us.
  I especially liked the end of the book -- where most leave you wondering, in frustration and hopelessness, what to do, he offers steps to take to begin to cause some change.

  An easy, but painful read!

• 28) We Are What We Eat

  by Thomas Magnum on March 21 2001
    10+ helpful votes

  Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser is an interesting, revealing and thought provoking look at the fast food industry. The book opens with Mr. Schlosser detailing the origins of fast food restaurants that began in Southern California. He spends a good deal of time with the leader in fast food chains, McDonald's. One would think that Ray Kroc actually founded it, but he didn't. It was actually started as a lone restaurant in San Bernadino, CA by two brothers named McDonald. Mr. Kroc was a salesman who took the idea of the chain and franchised it throughout the nation. But the book isn't just about the restaurants themselves, but the industries that supply them with their meat, potatoes and the like. Mr. Schlosser focuses in on the meatpacking industry and he artfully skewers the almost medieval work environments that the industry leaders allow to exist. You read about the startling callousness that the industries have towards their employees. Mr. Schlosser also comments on the influence that the fast food industry has over our culture as a whole. He has a mixed view of what the fast food industry is. He respects and admires what the founders of the various chains and other industries did in their starting up of their companies. They were inventive, industrious and determined to succeed. But somewhere along the line, greed and the bottom line crept in. After reading Fast Food Nation, you may think twice about the next time you step into a McDonald's or buy a piece of meat from the supermarket.

• 29) Want Fries With That?

  by Bonnie Burton on April 25 2002
    10+ helpful votes

  When you're trapped on a plane for 5 hours, sometimes you just need a good book to read so you don't go nuts when the person in the seat in front of you decides to recline as far back as possible onto your already-cramped legs. Once I was done memorizing every page of the latest issue of ReadyMade, I started to read Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser.

  At first I was hesitant in reading this book. I'm a big fan of fast food and I didn't want to hear any true-yet-disgusting stories about Big Macs and Whoppers. (I had already heard the story about formaldehyde, aka a "brine solution," in maraschino cherries while I was on vacation in Hawaii, as I was gulping down a Chi Chi.) But this book was so engrossing and interesting, I forgot about the food and read about the companies themselves.

  Did you know that Ray Kroc (McDonalds) and Walt Disney (Disney, duh) knew each other during WWII? Or that they had a long-standing grudge between them? I discovered that many of these pioneers in fast food were mostly high school dropouts who had more business savvy than most Harvard business grads of today. It's not easy to go from pushing a hot dog cart to heading a multi-billion dollar corporation. Heck, I could barely handle selling Girl Scout cookies.

  Journalist Eric Schlosser did his research. He dug up the histories of everyone behind giants such as KFC, Taco Bell, Carl's Jr., McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Wendy's and more. Plus the more you read the more you wonder why most of the facts in this book aren't common knowledge. Like the fact that many fast food workers are so frustrated with the job environment (low pay, not much chance of moving up the ladder) that they often rob the place later after work. In 1998, more restaurant workers were murdered on the job in the U.S. than police officers. Leading fast food chains often spend millions for extra security measures and cameras, but perhaps if they treated their workers with more respect (instead of someone they can instantly replace) and gave them a wage you could actually pay rent with, they might not have to fear their own employees. Schlosser talks extensively about how the fast food companies are so rabidly against unions that they often close down an entire store and fire all the employees when they suspect union activity.

  Fast Food Nation encompasses so much more than legendary food giants and the teenage employees who are often exploited to save a few dollars. Schlosser shows you the truth behind starting a franchise, dangers on the job (besides being shot by coworkers), the behind-the-scenes info on food flavorings and additives, the global impact of the fast food industry on the environment and politics and even an an epilogue regarding Mad Cow disease.

  Before you jump on your right-wing horse [...] about journalists who often write scathing commentary about big business without backing it up, think again. At the end of this book is a hefty chunk of notes listing where Schlosser got all his info so you can do some fact checking on your own.

  I'm only halfway through the book, but I highly suggest you read it whether you love to eat fast food or not. It may help you gain a bit of perspective about your consumer choices. I might actually go eat at some mom and pop Mexican food joint instead of Taco Bell. Then again, those supreme chalupas sure do taste yummy. Hmmmmm...

• 30) Response To Reviewer From Portland

  by sean on January 05 2004
    10+ helpful votes

  Arby's is mentioned in this book, on page 222.

  Overall, this is an outstanding book. Some of the stories will actually make you cringe, particularly about they way workers in the slaughterhouse are treated. Almost as bad as the way publicist Michael Levine of Los Angeles treats his interns. Let's hope he doesn't read this book or he'll get some good ideas on how he can cheat people even further.