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

Great read. It's "The Jungle" for the late 20th / early 21st century. This book has spawned many other looks into the fast food craze along with the movie "Super Size Me" and another great book, "The China Study". They made a film adaptation to this book that I thought was awful. The book is much more engaging. For those that thought it was dry, well, I've plowed through a lot of text books that almost burned my eyes out, so this book kept my interest throughout. I too, have not eaten fast food since 2003, when I read this book. Over four years ago now. Worth reading!

Written by Eric Schlosser, noted for his journalistic work on NPR, he does an amazing job at uncovering the hidden truths about our food system in the United States, its lack of regulation and safety measures, and how fast food is the cumulation of this food epidemic. You'll never look at hamburger or a food recall the same way again. Our government, with legislation and enforcement heavily based on powerful lobbyists, has done a fantastic job at putting the public at ease to think they are in control. However, you will quickly discover that we are barely a half-step away from Sinclair's Chicago meatpacking horrors depicted in "The Jungle". This book is one not to miss!

This book is not for everyone. When I received it as a wishlisted book I skimmed it, questioned it, looked up some editorial reviews (where some reviewers believe some of the facts are skewed) and sent it on to the next person in queue. I would have preferred a book that was more balanced and not leaning toward one specific political side--not to mention the fact that I couldn't get past the slaughter stories.

I'm interested in the food industry and in the politics of food, so I guess I was predisposed to like this book. Although I consider myself a relatively well-informed food consumer, Schlosser goes into a level of detail that surpassed my casual reading so far. I learned about some of the history of the food production industry, such as the industrial trusts that conspired to end small businesses in the 1920s, and had to be broken by government action -- only to replaced almost a hundred years later by a few gigantic companies that have a near-monopoly on the industry. I learned about food flavour additives, and the real difference between natural and artificial flavours. I learned about how dangerous meat processing really is for the people who work in the plants. Most of what Schlosser researched is, obviously, relevant to all the food that most people eat through all channels, not just fast food. This book is more of a study of modern food science and the food industry than it is of fast food specifically (although the chapter on the effects of the largest restaurant chains on the labour market did apply mostly to fast food chains).

If we are going to compare this book to other works that came after it (most reviewers compare it to Supersize Me), I would compare it to The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which picks up where this book leaves off. I like this book more, personally, because of the level of research. Because I already don't eat fast food, this was a good review of the effects of capitalism's dark shadow, monopoly, on the food chain. Pollan's book takes this idea even further, exploring the same trends as they influence even seemingly healthy foods. Recommended.

This book was nothing like the movie! It was much better. It contained a historical perspective on fast food and proceeded from the first drive-ins on to mega factory farming and its results. This was one of the best books I've read and highly recommend it to anybody interested in non-fiction and improving the way we as a society eat.

Frighteningly eye-opening. A must read.