Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.88 You Save: $5.11 (34%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.99 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
Book Review: An eyeopener
Summary: 5 Stars
Eric Schlosser's Fast food nation is a very well researched book, a very good attempt at showing us the seedy, shady side of American Fast food business. It opens our eyes to the dirty, hidden costs of usually inexpensive meal we often grab at a tidy fast food place.
Try it and you might want to change your food habits!
Sample these for now.
Did you know..
1. Hamburgers weren't always considered safe and healthy food in America. White Castle had to do a Morgan Spurlock (with a totally opposite goal in mind!) in 1930s, sponsoring an experiment in which a medical student lived for thirteen weeks only on Whitecastle hamburgers and water, to change such notions?
2. Americans spend more money on Fast food than on new cars or higher education? Spending on Fast food jumped from $6b in 1970 to $110b in 2001.
3. 1980s is considered The decade of child consumer? Numerous industries started formulating their successful 'cradle-to-grave' advertising strategies during this decade. No wonder, the recall value of Ronald McDonald surpasses Jesus Christ (or George W. Bush, as Morgan Spurlock demonstrated in "Supersize me")
4. McDonald's American french fries at one time had more beef fat per ounce than their hamburger, and continue to do so in Canada, Japan, Mexico and Australia? In the US vegetable oil replaced beef tallow thanks to Harish Bharti's litigation (the seed of which was laid by Fast Food nation), but still have a hint of beef thanks to 'natural flavors'. In Britain and India there is no beef in McDonald's french fries.
5. McDonald's is more powerful than FDA or USDA in enforcing healthy food/work practices? Government regulations against food industry are either completely blocked or see the light of day as completely watered-down versions, thanks largely to the powerful lobbies.
6. Lack of funding for textbooks has been forcing many American Schools to rely on corporate sponsorships; and Corporates were too happy to oblige with their own material, their own slant? Case in point is P&G's "Decision Earth".
7. That bright red color (carmine/carminic acid) in sweet yogurt and beverages comes from insects? And 'natural flavors' aren't really better than 'artificial flavors'?
8. Dog eat dog is not just a figure of speech, animal carcasses were ingredients in pet food for a few years? And If Sanimal had its way, your pets would still be eating such food?
9. Fast food companies make good buck out of their high employee attrition rates too? (an aside; some like Subway make as much money opening new franchises - some that often eat into existing franchises' business - as selling sandwiches) The monetary incentive in the form of Employee training subsidies works well as employees quit frequently. So they do not have any incentive to hold on to their employees. That's one of the reasons why fast food company are frequently robbed by their ex-employees.
Interesting? You'll find many more eye-opening researched facts in the book. Go, get your copy!
Book Review: Corporatism at the worst
Summary: 5 Stars
In Eric Schlosser's first devastating book on the malpractices of the fast food industry, he pieces together history, facts, and numerous sources to reveal some disturbing truths about their nature.
Fast Food Nation is less an expose` on how unhealthy junk food is than a look into the operations of the food industry, specifically McDonalds. The book is divided into two sections: the first, "The American Way," is concerned primarily with the growth and development of the fast food chains, beginning around the 40s in southern California and soon burgeoning into multiple restaurants across the US. Schlosser details the rise of the Speedee Service System, advertising techniques the emphasis on conformity by the chains, and their consolidation of power. The next section, "Meat and Potatoes," details various specifics about the machinations of the incredibly powerful fast food corporations. To the terrible conditions of workers in filthy (and dangerous) slaughterhouses, the employment of thousands of illegal immigrants in these buildings throughout the Midwest, and the diehard attempts by the corporations against possibilities of lawsuits by these workers after receiving any number of injuries. The companies further fight against the right to unionize.
While Schlosser doesn't focus on the naturally unhealthy nature of fast food, he does describe the abundant diseases that can be found in the meat, such as E. coli O157:H7. The causes for these pathogens are the environments in the above-mentioned slaughterhouses, particularly the fact that feces often finds its way into the processed animals, or sick cattle are used along with healthy ones. Near the end of the book, fast food's spread around the globe and its effects on the societies of foreign nations are described. This and much more are brought up and examined by the determined author.
As for the writing style, Schlosser has a great ability for scene setting, as in the first pages of the introduction where he describes the Cheyenne Mountain base, where it feels like it's some sort of sci-fi novel. This book never really drags, although in the epilogue his writing abruptly seems to become more lackluster. Other than that and repeating E. coli O157:H7 one too many times, this book can be a useful weapon against the fast food empire. I still plan to eat McDonalds, but I'll definitely be thinking more when I bite into one of their products.
A note: many people will likely believe this book to be biased against the Republican party. But the fact is that recently the conservatives have all to often aided the corporations in their power grabs and take over of rivals. The Republicans are always accusing the Democrats of striking down competition in the free market, but it should be blatantly obvious that by buying off their other powerful competitors the corporations suppress any "free market" activity.
Book Review: A Fine Social Thriller.
Summary: 5 Stars
Fast Food Nation is a fine "Social Thriller" bringing you to the edge of your seat right from beginning till the end.
If "Erin Brockowich" is for P&G, then "Fast Food Nation" is for MacDonald's.Author has not spared a single stone unturned to make this book an "encyclopedia" of fast food "facts"( read evils)
Going right into the production of raw materials,beef, french fries, potato farms, cattle feeds, workers apathy, production plants overseas, rules,legalities, food poisoning etc, Author has managed to bring the complete loop or lifecycle into this 300 pages "encyclopedia".Author has to commended for the way he has presented the topic to be an interesting reading and not a dull thesis.
And as a reader , I respectfully disagree with the author on the following areas :
Authors blatant attack on the low paid jobs - It is true that pay scales in fast food joints are going down, but we need to understand that fast food joints have created enormous amount of "low quality-high quantity"jobs that helps the economy. Do not expect any industry (even the government) to hire millions of employees even on short term contracts with zero to no skills at close proximity to employees homes at hours that are flexible. In fact America is called a "service economy" and a service economy is mostly nothing more than flipping burgers .
So many people read the book for sheer one reason:
How does it affect me and my children ?-
And that would have meant atleast some comparison to restaurent jobs, restaurant cleanliness etc outside the fast food world. This would probably have given the reader a more balanced view of the food industry as a whole( contrary to all "burger kings and MacDonald's are villains).
Author also fails to emphazise the bigger picture of the fact that "fast food" industries are an evolution of the "modern couch potato American" , "working moms", "single parent" culture. It was not the sheer marketing genius of MacDonald's that made it what it is today.Fortunately or unfortunately MacDonald ( and others )are adding value to the society by filling up a "dangerous need" in the society. "Low cost food" - fast and easy.
And the worst of all, the same need is getting slowly created in societies like India and China.
Read this book -
If you have a family
If you frequently grab a quick lunch at McDonald's
If you or ur friends have tried Lipitor and other weight loss medications
Read it - even if you read only fiction books!.It is about YOU AND YOUR LIFE.
One of the finest books that I have read in recent times on social themes. I always wondered this book has every quality to be a 'movie' and yes, it did become a movie. If you are averse to reading, watch the movie. For me , I enjoyed the literary richness of the book ,analysis and the content of the book
Book Review: The Great Darkness!
Summary: 5 Stars
Fast Food Nation is for 21st century as The Jungle was for 20th century. I first read Eric Schlosser's book when I was a young college student as the book came out and found it an engrossing read. When as a kid, I used to love going to McDonald's and getting Happy Meals consisting of a hamburger, French fries, and a vanilla milkshake along with a special toy included. The love affair lasted until sixth grade when I started to get headaches all the time. One day, my doctor told me that drinking Coke and Pepsi caused them because of the caffeine (I was actually downing dozens of cans daily). Suddenly, I gave up sodas and stayed completely free of carbonated drinks since early 90s because I realized that what I put in my body affects my health. That's how I started to be health conscious and revamped how I ate and drank, so going out of the window was fast food. Over the years, the cleaner my body became, the easier I could taste the junk chemicals if I wished to indulge in sweets and unnatural foods. So, that's when I realized that there was something wrong with them, and my confirmations were met when I read Fast Food Nation. There is a lot of revealing details about how food is processed, how it makes people obese, how workers are treated like slaves, how towns after towns are tricked into footing the bill to pay for the wrongdoings committed by the companies, how those companies have absolute no loyalty except for profits, and how the immigration problem is created. Also, Eric Schlosser recreates the horrors of working in a meatpacking industry just like how Upton Sinclair did for his sensationally groundbreaking book. Although Schlosser tries to give some pointers in what people can do about the problem, there is really no easy solution except not to buy the products which is the most direct and the easiest way to show disapproval. That's exactly what I did for many years, keeping in mind of the company's disrepute. Then again, it's not always easy because I usually don't know the information since it's either they are usually hidden or there is a monopoly going on. Take chicken for example, I like eating chicken, but I can't really say that I know enough information on every brand the chicken is of; I just buy the chicken at cheapest price as possible as long as it looks as healthy as possible. I feel the same way when it comes to beef although I don't eat it very frequently. Having read Fast Food Nation for the second time, I can't help but wonder if things have changed now and if the malpractices of the companies have subsided or there are new regulations being put in to prevent further immoral favor of greed over safety. I guess that's the only warning to anyone who is interested in picking up Fast Food Nation for the first time as time passes on. Overall, it's a fascinating read with a lot of sadness. Just forget that crap film called Super Size Me and stick with the book.Book Review: We, the customers, are considered the enemies of the corporations...
Summary: 5 Stars
Copying Hitler's politics of solving the problem of unemployment with the construction of highways, the US did the same after the second world war. That's how the fast food nation emerged, providing food for the hurried car driver who has "no time to lose". Fast food became the new form of eating. Norbert Elias once thought that eating with cutlery was a proof of civilization. Welcome back to the past. As everybody knows fast food is eaten without tableware - per definition. This way there is no need for washing-up. Everything is thrown away : the paper used to pack the hamburger, the French fries bowl, the plastic cup... The American Way of Life. Fukuyama once thought of it as the "End of History"...
Fast food isn't good for your health. That's clear for most people. But have you ever wondered why fast food tastes so good ? It's weird, since fast food is made with deep frozen products as prime material. How does McDonald's manage to produce something tasty then ? The secret is in the added flavors. Not only McDonald's is to blame. You'll find those added flavors in anything you find on the shelves of a supermarket : soft drinks, marshmallow, popcorn, chips, snacks, ice cream, cookies, granola, bread, beer, ice tea, soya drinks, energy drinks, and even "100 % natural" fruit juices. Without those added flavors, nobody would buy this junk, let alone eat or drink it.
Another problem pointed out by the author is that our food chain is becoming more and more integrated in bigger and bigger corporations. Cargill is proud to say : "It's probably a rare day when you don't eat something that was originated, transported, processed or even packaged by Cargill." However, what's good for Cargill is not good for us, poor consumers. They don't only produce unhealthy food, they also impose the price they will charge for it. Now and then, something leaks. ADM made some price agreements with a Japanese "competitor" that was secretly recorded, in which the president of Archer Daniels Midland preached the virtues of collaboration. 'We have a saying at this company,' he said. 'Our competitors are our friends, and our customers are our enemies.'
Now, if the corporations think of us as their enemies, maybe it's time to fight back. Maybe it's time to boycott them. It will be good for your health, it will be good for your wallet, it's good for the environment, and it will be of great help to any organic farmer living in your neighborhood. This farmer will probably treat you nice, delivering you tasty food produced without pesticides nor preservatives, earning money in an honest way. Try it.