Are You a Vegetarian Yet? Fast Food Nation
Written: Nov 15 '02 (Updated Nov 17 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: In-depth investigation of the fast food industry
Cons: Can be very graphic, but is that bad?
The Bottom Line: An interesting look at the fast food, meat packing and food industry that most of us are not exposed to.
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Coming back from Spokane, Washington this summer, I needed a book to read on the plane. The magazines seemed a waste of $4 and would provide little long-term reading material for the money. This is the book the flight attendant noticed and wanted to look at when I was seated on the plane.
The book starts out with a forward and overview of the industry. Author Eric Schlosser introduces you to Colorado Springs, CO, the home of the Los Angelinos who have fled Los Angeles, only to recreate a new town with the same problems. We also get introduced to the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and the men who order pizza delivered to them on a regular basis.
This sounds innocent enough, correct? The author then tells is about fast food restaurants, the details of the food, such as Taco Bell beans are actually flakes that are reconstituted (but I thought they had real bean lumps in them). It goes through the industry, giving accounts on how present and former employees are usually the culprits behind robberies and other assaults to their stores. He noted one in his book, that happened in our community a few years back and he probably has fodder for his next book. Recently a fast food manager or former manager allegedly set fire to his store purposely in our community.
He gets into fast food franchises and how they are more likely to falter financially than a private businessman. He also talks about fast food employees' attempts to unionize over the years and how it is unlikely in an industry where the job pool is so fluid. He also tells how management has successfully stopped it for so many years.
He goes behind the scenes and tells us why our food tastes the way it does. It is no accident! There are plants in the Eastern US that do nothing but create flavors to put in our food. You can take a bit of scent on a Q Tip or stick and actually smell a freshly fried hamburger!
He finally gets into the meat industry and the poor, dedicated folks who work within. Folks are recruited in South America and Mexico by the big U.S. meat manufacturers as a source of cheap labor. He tells of their peril in a grossly displeasing work atmosphere with amputations of workers because of unsafe working conditions.
He scrutinizes the cattle industry and what it has done to the ranchers of our nation. He examines the potato and onion industries and how the fast food culture has affected their bottom line.
Reflections
I found this 363 page paperback book most interesting! The last 70 pages or so are filled with notations of his sources on a page-by-page basis. There is also an index to reference your favorite topic at the back of the book. To make sure you have space on your bookshelf, the dimensions are about 5.25" x 8".
I felt the book gave valuable insights into the food that most of us eat on at least a monthly if not weekly basis. There were times when reading this book I felt that I'd already eaten my last piece of meat. The parts about the packing plants were particularly unappetizing. One felt sorry for the meat packers of this nation, how they provide such a valuable service, yet are tossed away like scraps of fat off a side of beef. Yes, I even felt sorry for the cattle.
The reading was comfortable. There may have been one or two words I wasn't familiar with. The book is written for those on a junior high or high school reading level.
Recommended reading for:
Fast food workers
Fast food managers
Folks considering buying a fast food franchise
Ranchers
Farmers
Packing plant workers
Vegetarians
Folks considering becoming vegetarians
People who eat
Recommended:
Yes
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