While cataloguing assorted evils with the tenacity and sharp eye of the best investigative journalist, he uncovers a cynical, dismissive attitude to food safety in the fast food industry and widespread circumvention of the government's efforts at regulation enacted after Upton Sinclair's similarly scathing novel exposed the meat-packing industry 100 years ago. Throughout, Schlosser fires these and a dozen other hair-raising statistical bullets into the heart of the matter. In harrowing detail, the book explains the process of beef slaughter and confirms almost every urban myth about what in fact 'lurks between those sesame seed buns.' Given the estimate that the typical American eats three hamburgers and four orders of french fries each week, and one in eight will work for McDonald's in the course of their lives, few are exempt from the insidious impact of fast food. The second half looks at the product itself: where it is manufactured (in a handful of enormous factories), what goes into it (chemicals, feces) and who is responsible (monopolistic corporate executives). The first part of the book details the postwar ascendance of fast food from Southern California, assessing the impact on people in the West in general. Schlosser's incisive history of the development of American fast food indicts the industry for some shocking crimes against humanity, including systematically destroying the American diet and landscape, and undermining our values and our economy. Schlosser is a talented storyteller, and his reportorial skills are considerable. At the very least, Schlosser makes it hard to go on eating fast food in blissful ignorance.įast Food Nation should be another wake-up call, a super-size serving of common sense.įast Food Nation presents these sometimes startling discoveries in a manner that manages to be both careful and fast-paced. A fine piece of muckraking, alarming without being alarmist. Schlosser is a serious and diligent reporter. Fast Food Nation provides the reader with a vivid sense of how fast food has permeated contemporary life and a fascinating (and sometimes grisly) account of the process whereby cattle and potatoes are transformed into the burgers and fries served up by local fast food franchises. Eric Schlosser's compelling new book, Fast Food Nation, will not only make you think twice before eating your next hamburger, but it will also make you think about the fallout that the fast food industry has had on America's social and cultural landscape: how it has affected everything from ranching and farming to diets and health, from marketing and labor practices to larger economic trends.

Food nation book