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Fast Food Nation
written by Eric Schlosser
Studio : Harper Perennial
by Harper Perennial
Release Date : 2005-07-05
Publisher : Harper Perennial
Released : 2005-07-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780060838584
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 1403 reviews)
List Price : $14.95
Our Price : $8.91
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Product Description |
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Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning. Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisions, where the business was born, to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike, where many of fast food's flavors are concocted. Along the way, he unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths -- from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate. |
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Americancivilwar.com's Best of 2001 |
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On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its thriftiness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems as American, and harmless, as apple pie. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenization, and speed has radically transformed America's diet, landscape, economy, and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways. Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. Quickly, however, he moves behind the counter with the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavor company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns." Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--feces in your meat. Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of federal oversight of a seemingly lawless industry. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting, and unsanitary practices that introduce E. coli and other pathogens into restaurants, public schools, and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young," insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behavior," he writes. Where to begin? Ask yourself, is the true cost of having it "your way" really worth it? --Lesley Reed |
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highest approval |
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received the book quicker than expected. the book was in excellent condition. I highly recommend this seller |
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One Fast Food National Under God ! ? |
The author offers reader a book behind the fast food industry which mushrooms around the county with their joints which the majority of working class rely on for their quick meals.
His research on the growers, suppliers, processors, laborers, politics and health issue behind the smiling teenager order takers leads reader to the composition of the hamburger in blood, tears and sweat from thousands of cattle, handled by the chain of workers before going to your mouth. It also makes you wonder who is eating the steaks and leaving the "residue of fats, noses, ears, trims" grounded into a mixture enhanced with artificial favor - a virtue"100% beef".
Does fast food industry cost you an arm and a leg? By eating the cheap fast food, we may pay a dear price for healthcare later!
This book illustrates the Tao of food: good and bad, healthy and junk, natural and artificial, slow and fast, traditional and modern, real and illusion.
Who program the population in acting "the allegiance to the flag of fast food industry, one fast food nation under God with franchises around 50 states in offering cheap hamburgers and freedom fries for all"?
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Corporatism at the worst |
In Eric Schlosser's first devastating book on the malpractices of the fast food industry, he pieces together history, facts, and numerous sources to reveal some disturbing truths about their nature.
Fast Food Nation is less an expose` on how unhealthy junk food is than a look into the operations of the food industry, specifically McDonalds. The book is divided into two sections: the first, "The American Way," is concerned primarily with the growth and development of the fast food chains, beginning around the 40s in southern California and soon burgeoning into multiple restaurants across the US. Schlosser details the rise of the Speedee Service System, advertising techniques the emphasis on conformity by the chains, and their consolidation of power. The next section, "Meat and Potatoes," details various specifics about the machinations of the incredibly powerful fast food corporations. To the terrible conditions of workers in filthy (and dangerous) slaughterhouses, the employment of thousands of illegal immigrants in these buildings throughout the Midwest, and the diehard attempts by the corporations against possibilities of lawsuits by these workers after receiving any number of injuries. The companies further fight against the right to unionize.
While Schlosser doesn't focus on the naturally unhealthy nature of fast food, he does describe the abundant diseases that can be found in the meat, such as E. coli O157:H7. The causes for these pathogens are the environments in the above-mentioned slaughterhouses, particularly the fact that feces often finds its way into the processed animals, or sick cattle are used along with healthy ones. Near the end of the book, fast food's spread around the globe and its effects on the societies of foreign nations are described. This and much more are brought up and examined by the determined author.
As for the writing style, Schlosser has a great ability for scene setting, as in the first pages of the introduction where he describes the Cheyenne Mountain base, where it feels like it's some sort of sci-fi novel. This book never really drags, although in the epilogue his writing abruptly seems to become more lackluster. Other than that and repeating E. coli O157:H7 one too many times, this book can be a useful weapon against the fast food empire. I still plan to eat McDonalds, but I'll definitely be thinking more when I bite into one of their products.
A note: many people will likely believe this book to be biased against the Republican party. But the fact is that the conservatives have all to often aided the corporations in their power grabs and take over of rivals. The Republicans are always accusing the Democrats of striking down competition in the free market, but it should be blatantly obvious that by buying off their other powerful competitors the corporations suppress any "free market" activity.
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The hard truth. |
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If you eat fast food, you need to read this book to understand what you're really putting into your body. Even if you don't eat fast food, this is an important read for the sake of understanding how the fast food industry has changed what we are as a country, and what we're becoming. It is a remarkable reality check. |
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And you thought McDonalds was bad for you! |
You might think you know what this guy has to say, but rest assured that this book as full of surprises! It is also very interesting in a way that makes you read deep into the night.
The book doesn't only cover what fast food is doing to our health and families, but also at how it is changing industries across the world. It contains a shocking section on how minorities are being exploited, especially in the US meat industry.
It becomes more and more obvious how much research must have gone into the book, and it is refreshing, and maybe a little ironic, to see a product into which a lot of care and time was invested, especially in this fast-everything culture.
I recommend this book wholeheartedly, because it is interesting, well-researched, well-written, relevant and good value for money.
You'll never look at McDonalds the same way! |
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