Fast Food Nation.

Book review By Jane
This book takes a long, hard look at the fast food industry and how it has affected the general public. It also observes how the business structure of several industries have been entirely changed; namely, how the farms and slaughterhouses have been set up to produce precisely what McDonald’s and Wendy’s wants and in mass quantities, often at a high cost to workers’ safety. We all could guess quite easily that the young workers at the fast food chains are often exploited. But Mr. Schlosser finds some heroes in the midst of these workers; ordinary folks who do manage to climb the ladder and end up owning their own franchises. Actually, most franchised businesses often do not make a profit and barely pay the salaries of the employees and owners.

Mr. Schlosser goes into detail about the early times of the fast food business and its founders. I like how Mr. Schlosser is able to communicate the roles of these people, as well as contrasting several workers’ lives in several different fields (affected by or in the fast food industry). Mr. Schlosser is meticulous about his details on several different levels—historical facts, for example. He also reaches into the political implications of the fast food industry. Politics are manipulated for large corporations to profit, and also to impede upon changes to the way the corporations do business. He describes for one example, the shear power behind the slaughterhouses to keep lowering the regulations on their industry that are in place to protect both the worker and the consumer.

I could hardly keep from turning the pages in this book. I recommend the book to anyone who really would like an honest look at how our diets, lives, and country have changed since the advent of fast food restaurants. Wonder where that extra weight is coming from? On second thought, if you have a weak stomach or feel you are not ready to give up fast foods and hamburger meat after you read this book, maybe this isn’t for you. Of course, you may also find it could be safer to eat at your local fast food restaurant than at your neighborhood school. At any rate, it is an unsettling book to read.

Jane.