Do you want fries with that? (Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser)

Member Name: djdanny

Product:	Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
Date:	29/06/04 (230 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You learn what's really in the food you eat

Disadvantages: You learn what's really in the food you eat

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

I bought this book a while ago on recommendation from my old economics teacher at school. Knowing him, I expected the book to be mainly a 289 page McBashing, which would show horror stories of what has been found in fast food and dodgy ethics practised by the big fast food companies. However as I started reading I found there was far more to this book than I expected.

The focus of this book is much more on individual parts of the supply chain that are involved in creating the ingredients necessary for fast food restaurants rather than the restaurants themselves. Schlosser examines the farmers on whose ranches the cattle graze (well, that seems to imply eating grass, so maybe grazing in the wrong word?), the factories where tastes and smells are engineered and the meatpacking factories where cows are turned into mince, to name a few. There is also quite a bit of history of the fast food industry from the days when McDonalds was denied the chance to open a restaurant in Disney World, to the world of today where corporate images of these companies have spread so far that they are some of the most recognised in the world. On a personal note showing the change, my mum told me the other day when we were talking about the book that she remembers the first word I ever said in association to a picture was ?McDonalds? after seeing a picture of the Golden arches on the side of a van.

I think I need to apologise, I feel I?ve mentioned McDonalds too much already. Much of the book is about people, not companies. Real stories that illustrate how the industry works and treats its employees, showing they really do only seem to care about profits. Much of this focuses on the meatpacking industry, showing the shocking amount and scale of injury that occurs in these plants staffed by
a largely immigrant, illiterate workforce. With the industry employing some of the most vulnerable people in society who need a caring employer we find out that this is often not the case. According to official US figures, one quarter of workers in this industry (of one hundred and sixty thousand in total) need treatment beyond first aid every year, and many injuries go unreported, meaning the actual number is much higher. Schlosser?s use of many facts to back up his points have meant that, as he points out in the after-word, that although many critical reviews have been written, they fail to point out a single error in the book and merely dismiss it in a general way. I feel Schlosser?s style is quite balanced and the book is difficult to criticise in it being one sided. Throughout the majority of the book he lets the reader draw their own conclusions from the evidence and only at the end does he describe the changes he would like to see and compare the situation in the USA to that in other countries. He also shows how McDonalds and other large corporations can be a force for good if they want to (of course, this generally relies on doing something good for society coinciding with something that is good for their profits).

The only criticisms I would make of the book are these. Firstly, the workings of factories and their relationships with regulatory authorities and so on can get a bit too much sometimes and I found I couldn?t read it for too long in certain parts without thinking that I didn?t really care much about the details of what I was reading. Secondly, the book talks about the US industry and reading it in the UK it would be nice to know how similar or dissimilar the situation is here and I think this may be why I found myself not caring much about some of the details of how the American system works. Although I haven?t yet
read it, ?Not on the Label? by Felicity Lawrence might provide something similar if you want to read about the British industry. Both books are currently for sale for £3.99 each on amazon.co.uk so if you are interested this is probably the best place to get it.

I must say though, about a year before I read this book I had already decided I no longer wanted to eat at McDonalds or at similar places anyway so I can?t say it has affected my eating habits, but if you like fast food, you may not want to read this if you still want to enjoy your food!

Have a nice day!

Dan

P.S.
I don?t want to spoil people?s appetites, which is why I haven?t mentioned any of the shocking facts which some people might like to see here while others wouldn?t. However, if there are any vegetarians or Hindu?s reading, I think it is important you know that, according to the book (I don?t want to get sued here!), McDonalds fries, in some countries contains beef extracts for flavouring. This is not the case in the UK, but is in some countries (Canada, Japan, Mexico and Australia are cited in the book).

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