Product Description

Eric Schlosser has visited the state of the art labs where scientists recreate the flavours and smells of everything from cooked chicken to fresh strawberries in the test tube and he has spoken to workers at meatpacking plants with some of the worstsafety records in the world. He explores the links between Hollywood and the fast food trade, and the tactics used to target ever younger consumers. In a meticulously researched and powerfully argued account, Fast Food Nation reveals the full price of our appetite for instant gratification.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19563 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser's disturbing and timely exploration of one of the world's most controversial industries, has become a massive bestseller in America and rightly deserves to be so this side of the pond. On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its cheapness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems harmless. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenisation and speediness has radically transformed the West's diet, landscape, economy and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways.

Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. However, he rapidly moves behind the counter to the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavour company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns". Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--faeces in your meat.

Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of regulation. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting and unsanitary practices that introduced E.coli and other pathogens into restaurants, schools and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young", insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behaviour", he writes. Where to begin? Ask yourself, is the true cost of having it "your way" really worth it? --Lesley Reed

Review
In the 1950s a burger and fries became America's quintessential meal. Now McDonald's has become the largest owner of retail property in the world. It's part of a wider corporate domination: one can, Schlosser argues, live from cradle to grave without spending any money in an independently owned business. But what are the repercussions of this economic sea-change, and what are the effects on public health, nutrition and safety? Schlosser's account is unashamedly a counter-blast against late-capitalist logic. The 'fast food' world depends on uniformity. Individuality is despised; obedience in the workforce is the primary virtue. The industry reduces humans to the level of the animals used to produce standardised reconstituted meat products. Meat-packing is the most dangerous job in the USA for its workers - but the whole process lends itself to the wider proliferation of disease. The most sickening scenes in this book are of E Coli poisoning caused by the ease with which the bug can transmit itself through slaughterhouses. Meanwhile 'cannibalistic recycling' - the practice of feeding animals with the remains of other dead animals - has led to the BSE outbreak in Great Britain. Schlosser knows the food as well as anyone; he even admits much of it tastes good - even though the taste is manufactured in a lab off the New Jersey Turnpike. But he insists the real cost of this supposedly cheap food is hidden, and his book attempts to uncover long-term, subtle effects. Brand loyalty begins as early as two; the major corporations seek to capture young hearts and minds. Fast food is the culinary form of dumbing down, and correspondingly easy to sneer at. What sets Schlosser's book apart is its vast range of detail that becomes a rolling thunder. His barrage of startling facts, and pen-portraits of victims of corporate culture, builds up a picture from which the reader can draw obvious conclusions, and make his own choice next time he passes McDonald's Golden Arches - a more recognized symbol than the Christian cross. (Kirkus UK)

About the Author
Eric Schlosser is a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly. He has received a number of journalistic honours, including a National Magazine Award for an Atlantic Review article, Reefer Madness. This is his first book.

Customer Reviews

Still want to eat fast food?
Still want to eat fast food after reading this book? I don't think so! Amazingly in depth study of the origins, industry, manipulations and consequences of the giant multinational corporations.
Take heed, the information on just how many cows contribute to the average burger patty is truly disgusting, not to mention the rest of the unlisted ingredients!

Frightening truths
Schlosser's exposé of the fast food industry makes for terrifying reading. Now that I am aware of the appalling corporate trade practices, I have been sure to avoid McDonald's (except in order to get hold of the complete Happy Meal collections of Hannah Montana and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- the mantelpiece would have seemed bare without them). However, it is equally worrying to learn about the produce found in major supermarkets. Chicken is frequently known to contain as much as 40% additives. If you ask me, 'chicken' should be just that and it should NOT involve added protein. It is for this reason that I must politely decline Uncle Bruce's invitations to dinner. Since I caught a glimpse of him through the kitchen window (engaged in the final throes of 'injecting' a chicken) I have felt little urge to join him for a Sunday roast.

You are what you eat!
This book should be included in high school educational reading all over the world.
It not only traces the history of origins and expansion of world-changing gigantic fast-food chains, but it gives a clear and well researched insight of how things work behind the scenes today.
In a reader-friendly, sometimes witty way Eric Schlosser takes you on a tour of a meal containing strawberry-less artificially flavoured shakes, meat-flavoured fries and contaminated hamburgers. Schossler also hits hard on the low pay and low security employment policies often endorsed by fast food chains and their suppliers, the most astounding of which are the slaughterhouses.
My only objection: health issues linked to the nutritional composition of many fast-food meals could have been deepened.
This book is great. You won't be able to stop thinking about it next time you bite into your burger...if ever you will want to eat a burger again!