McGarbage, McSweatShop and McGross: Why do we eat this stuff up?
Written: Jun 29 '02 (Updated Jun 29 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Well written expose on the fast food industry
Cons: Only scratches teh surface of how reader can change things
The Bottom Line: Read this book if you care about your health, the environment or mistreated workers.
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| jasonkirk's Full Review: Eric Schlosser - Fast Food Nation Tie-in: The Dark... |
Eric Schlosser follows in the well studied and oft quoted footsteps of Upton Sinclair and his groundbreaking exposure of the horrors of the meat packing industry in The Jungle nearly 100 years ago. He deconstructs the fast food industry and culture while unabashedly attributing many modern day woes, from obesity to low wages on our fascination with, reliance on and submittal to fast food.
I have to think Joseph or Janine Anybody eat out occasionally at McDonald's or Wendy's or In-N-Out and enjoy their cheap, quick meal with only the faintest hint of apprehension. Where does this food come from? Why is it so cheap and quick? Why are these fries and nuggets so damn tasty? In the end, the people who want the quick meal and the easy solution don't listen to these questions. Who has time to ponder such dull questions?
In Fast Food Nation Schlosser doesn't allow the reader an escape from the answers and the information. He takes these faint whispers and broadcasts them over a speaker much more resonant and loud than the one that takes our BigMac extra cheese, garbles it and spits it back out as a SuperSize Extra Value meal with extra sauce. The relentless inundation of facts and hidden truths make Schlosser's work powerful, if at times overwhelming.
The power of The Jungle is lost today save the historical relevance. The problems were fixed and we can now chow down on our hamburgers knowing that the cows aren't being tortured and the meat packers aren't being treated similarly. This is the power of ignorance and optimism. Fast Food Nation pulls back this curtain and shows the reader that little has changed as the fast food industry has required the meat packing industry to increase production, efficiency and decrease cost. He reveals that the cost not seen in that hamburger value meal is taken piece by piece from the maimed meat packers, the minimum wage paid franchise employees and the raped environment that supports large agro-business.
I will admit I was a complete fast food junkie before I read this. Getting a burger and fries is so easy . . . too easy it appears. Depending on how health conscious I was, I would order my fair share of greasy fast food and I will admit that I enjoyed it. It does taste good.
And then I read this book. I was looking for a book on Disney and this is the closest the person at the bookstore could come (there are some references and correlations drawn between fast food and Disney in this book). I figured it would be an entertaining historical read on the rise of KFC and include happy stories about the enduring capitalistic spirit. How wrong could I have been?
It has been about a month since I finished this book. I have yet to go back to any fast food chain. This book made it impossible to even think about scarfing down a BigMac and not think of the potential e coli or fecal content in the patty. It made avoidance of the underpaid workers, from cow to wrapper, who are treated as little more than economic slaves impossible. Whereas before all I could use to avoid that tasty burger was an ounce of care for my own health, I now knew my money was furthering an institution that really seems to be more a symbol of the degradation of our society than a shining beacon of western triumph recognized and franchised the world over.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jasonkirk
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Member: Jason Kirk
Location: Charleston, SC
Reviews written: 111
Trusted by: 101 members
About Me:
Seattle transplant living in the deep south . . .
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