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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 394.10973 EAN: 9780060838584 ISBN: 0060838582 Label: Harper Perennial Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 416 Publication Date: July 01, 2005 Publisher: Harper Perennial Release Date: July 05, 2005 Studio: Harper Perennial Editorial Review: Amazon.com's Best of 2001: 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 Product Description: 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. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - highest approvalreceived the book quicker than expected. the book was in excellent condition. I highly recommend this seller Rating: - 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 ... Read More Rating: - Corporatism at the worstIn 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, ... Read More Rating: - The hard truth.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. Rating: - 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 ... Read More |
