Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser

Advantages: Will put you off fast food for life
Disadvantages: Possibly biased in that it does not mention anything positive about the fast food industry

...documentaries. Apparently we eat more fast food than any other country in Europe. But we are still nowhere near as fat as America. I believe one half of Americans are now overweight or obese. This situation has resulted from a massive shift in lifestyle involving eating more and worse foods and exercising less. And the prime culprit is fast food. My own personal experience of driving through America is being able to find nothing but fast food joints ...
...account of this all-embracing unavoidable fast food industry. The result is a fascinating (and horrifying) study covering a wide range of issues and subjects. The book is not a narrative but the juxtaposing of the many different aspects that together make up an argument. Schlosser himself admits, “It was hard. In trying to tie together all these different threads there was a huge risk that it would be a total mess” (powell.com – author interviews). ... Read review

Advantages: It is a thought provoking read..
Disadvantages: It can get quite heavy in places

...rumours at McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants, however it goes a lot deeper than that. If you want to give up junk food and make a step towards a healthier eating plan,start by reading this book, as it will no doubt put you off for life fast food places for ever. Although a good deal of the book refers to the Golden Arches, the other fast food giants are also mentioned, and the front cover shows the Supersized chip portion with a logo that ...
...Americans spend £110 billion on fast food, which is more than they spend on higher education, and more than they spend on movies, books, magazines, newspapers and music combined. It could be argued that McDonalds is making a positive contribution to the American economy, with 1 in 8 Americans having worked there at some point, and the organisation being responsible for a large portion of new jobs created. However, as you read deeper, you begin to ... Read review

Advantages: Will put you off unhealthy fast food for the rest of your life.
Disadvantages: Maybe a bit one sided.

...of one of the popular fast food 'restaurants'. It's busy, there are lots of people around from all walks of life. Businessmen in suits, mothers with pushchairs and screaming children, men with big muscles and tattoos, adolescents with green hair and rings through every conceivable part of their body. You approach the counter and join one of the fast moving queues. No need to look at the menu - you already know what you want. Finally it's your turn ...
...Fried Chicken or any other fast food outlet, either. That was before I read 'Fast Food Nation' by Eric Schlosser. But, he's a journalist by profession, I hear you say. He's bound to write things that will grab your attention and make you want to read it. Surely a journalist wouldn't think twice about using a bit of artistic license, twisting the truth slightly - we all know what they're like. Maybe. But remember the McLibel case? It was where McDonalds ... Read review

Advantages: A fascinating expose on an eating phenomenon
Disadvantages: You'll have to change your lifestyle if you have any morals at all!

...Schlosser carefully dissects the fast food industry piece by piece. The book is in sections, and each section is then sub-divided into chapters. These look at the origins of this way of eating, and every other possibly factor - farming, processing, workers, advertising, franchising and many more. The first thing that you'll notice is that the effects of fast food are not just on what people eat. They are far, far more wide-reaching than I had ever ...
...meat-packing industry that supports the fast food giants, business monopolies and hundreds of other shocking stories all linked to, or caused by, fast food. This is not just a list of facts and statistics - the author focuses heavily on the human side of the industry - the people affected by it - meaning that it's far more compelling than any other similarly-themed writing I've seen anywhere else. Nor it is a book only about food. Well, okay, that ... Read review

Advantages: This book dishes up food for thought
Disadvantages: You'll get indigestion

...Eric Schlosser saying about the fast food industry that sets it apart? The main factor, he says in his introduction, is that "Unlike other commodities ... fast food enters the body and becomes part of the consumer. No other industry," he says "offers, both literally and figuratively, so much insight into the nature of mass consumption". He starts by tracing how today's fast food empires - Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell and, of course McDonalds ...
...franchising system, by which the fast food companies expand fast for minimal outlay, is as exploitative of franchisees as their employment practices are of their unskilled, minimum-wage teenage staff. Fast food companies, says Schlosser, are symptomatic of, and contributors to, the creeping urban sprawl that characterises American cities and ruins the landscape. He uses Colorado Springs - one of the fastest-growing US cities - to exemplify the social ... Read review