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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-american Meal
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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-american Meal
Unavailable
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-american Meal
Audiobook (abridged)8 hours

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-american Meal

Written by Eric Schlosser

Narrated by Rick Adamson

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Fast Food Nation - the groundbreaking work of investigation and cultural history that has changed the way America thinks about the way it eats - and spent nearly four months on the New York Times bestseller list - now available on cassette!

Are we what we eat? To a degree both engrossing and alarming, the story of fast food is the story of postwar America. Though created by a handful of mavericks, the fast food industry has triggered the homogenization of our society. Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelling the juggernaut of 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 the California 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, even real estate. He also uncovers the fast food chains' efforts to reel in the youngest, most susceptible consumers even while they hone their institutionalized exploitation of teenagers and minorities. Schlosser then turns a critical eye toward the hot topic of globalization - a phenomenon launched by fast food.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 7, 2001
ISBN9780375419171
Author

Eric Schlosser

Eric Schlosser is a correspondent for The Atlantic. His work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, The Nation, and The New Yorker. He has received a National Magazine Award and a Sidney Hillman Foundation Award for reporting.

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Reviews for Fast Food Nation

Rating: 3.9316634378478668 out of 5 stars
4/5

3,234 ratings97 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Not just a great book, but a life-changing book. It's been several years since I've read it, but I still cannot bring myself to eat at a McDonald's-type fast food place, for health as well as moral reasons.Schlosser describes in great detail just what it is you support every time you give your money to a corrupt company as influential as McDonald's. I don't want to name all of the things, but the most important ones include:-the unhygienic treatment of cows and chickens (bad for your health and cruel to the animals)-substandard quality of food you put in your body (yes, there are feces in your hamburger)-dangerous and unsanitary working conditions at meat factories and slaughterhouses-pressure from food corporations on Congress to keep worker wages down and leave profits highReading this book made me realize how much damage I was causing in supporting fast food restaurants that utilize the infrastructure that uses poor people and forces low-quality food on us. McDonald's and the like will never get another dollar of my cash to damage this country further.I haven't given up on meat by any means, I just make sure that I'm eating animals that were treated well, fed real food, not pumped full of antibiotics, and handled properly when slaughtered to avoid contamination. To eat any other way is just scary to comprehend.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A reasonably decent look at the disposable nature of American society, especially in the approach to food. The author explores our passion for eating at fast food, for the ease and convenience, and the cheap deal. He looks at the downside of this sort of a life - what do we have to give up, and why don't we miss it? Could use a bit more critical thinking in some places.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Summary: In 2001, Fast Food Nation was published to critical acclaim and became an international bestseller. Eric Schlosser’s exposé revealed how the fast food industry has altered the landscape of America, widened the gap between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and transformed food production throughout the world. The book changed the way millions of people think about what they eat and helped to launch today’s food movement.In a new afterword for this edition, Schlosser discusses the growing interest in local and organic food, the continued exploitation of poor workers by the food industry, and the need to ensure that every American has access to good, healthy, affordable food. Fast Food Nation is as relevant today as it was a decade ago. The book inspires readers to look beneath the surface of our food system, consider its impact on society and, most of all, think for themselves.Thoughts: I'm going to be blunt about it: I don't read nonfiction much unless the subject interests me. This subject is not my top choice for most interesting. I honestly only picked FFN up because it was required for school reading. With all that out of the way, I was stuck for the first few pages trying to get into it. The pages took forever for me to turn, because I couldn't imagine the story in my head as well. Eric Schlosser, you are amazing. You took a subject that is HUGE in America today and you made it fascinating and horrific. I very much enjoyed this book. Schlosser, from page one, related really cool things to the fast food industry. He forced this book to be as interesting as it could be. I got to read about Las Vegas and super secret Air Force bases. I got to read really sad quotes and stories and I seriously almost cried when reading about Kenny Dobbins. There were parts that made me laugh. And you can be sure that there were parts that angered me. Ask anyone who knows me: during this book, I ranted daily about our fast food industry. The ending was perhaps the best part. That last paragraph is so awesome to me. And the new afterward is great to read. I feel so inspired by FFN. Like I never want to eat at a fast food place again (this was a problem during the long road trip to and from camping). I've actually boycotted McD's for almost two years now. I don't miss it. I'd like to do the same with other "restaurants". Rating: 4.5 stars I really did enjoy this book, but I had to take off 0.5 stars because of my lack of interest in the subject and the fact that I couldn't get into it for a few pages. I can definitely tell you, though, this book is worth the read. I absolutely can say without a doubt that I am glad I experienced it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    about time I read this book. I read it because the students on my boat are obsessed with fast food, and I've always known that it was bad for you - yet they keep going and going and going back for more. Unfortunately the MacDonalds here has free wifi, and is one of the only places I've found that has adopted that business idea. Bummer! Great book, I'm doing a book report soon. Have you seen the movies: They!, Soylent Green, or Rollerball ('75)? Sorta in the same vein and worth a watch.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If you are trying to avoid fast food, this is the book for you. Read it alongside Upton Sinclair's The Jungle if you're looking to really clean out your stomach. A mix of facts and stories of real people, this book will make you think twice about what we eat in America.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Valuable information, but nothing hippies and liberals haven't known for years. This is a great book to read if you're just getting interested in the politics and actual nutrient values of food, but if you've spent some time educating yourself on the subject this just states what you've known all along. Also, it's not very progressive--it mentions a few things that are wrong but doesn't get into anything radical. At least it's a step in the right direction!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I thought this book was almost perfect. It is a great read...no doubt. Eric Schlosser goes into tremendous detail on the fast food culture. I thought it was great that he made other parallels that are indicative of today's society. We like things fast and easy. I thought that his attention to detail and the research that he conducted was outstanding.

    Yes, he does go into gross detail about the actual food. However, what I found most frightening is how big business has been conditioning us as consumers through out all these years.

    What I did not like about this book is that he did not keep a balance....politically. It was obvious to me that Mr. Schlosser is a card carrying Democrat. In his book, the Republican anything can be equated to Satan. The Clinton Administration can do no wrong. For the amount of detail that he researched about the industry it does not seem that he did objective research when it came to his political views.

    I highly recommend this book to anyone. It is a very fascinating read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was eye-opening; I haven't thought about fast food the same way since, which was the point, I suppose!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very informative book that takes you back to the very start of fast food history
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Bullshit. And cowshit. And it hits not the fan but the mincing machine. Bon appetite, America!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've used excerpts of this book to supplement the nutrition unit I teach during my eighth grade health elective. The facts and true stories he shares provide an important perspective on our country's obsession with fast food.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wow, if this doesn't open your eyes to the entire fast food industry and even grocery store meat, then munch blissfully away. The serendipitous thing about the timing of my listening to this book on CD is that I was headed for Colorado where one of the featured places in the book is located, and where the author may be from. I passed some of the places discussed in this book in Colorado and Nebraska. They look exactly as described. I haven't eaten much meat since I "read" this, and no beef. Even if you love meat, you should read this book.

    The first half or so discusses the history of the fast food industry, including politics and people, and how things got to the state they are now and why. The second half reveals what really happens behind the scenes in making all those Happy Meals, etc. This half is not just about production but about conditions and people and how warped things are and how much worse they keep getting. Yes, if you ever eat fast food, you are part of this. No, you can't avoid being part of it even if you never eat fast food if you still buy meat at grocery stores.

    I'm not a vegan or vegetarian by any means, nor do I advocate that anyone quit eating meat. I do think you ought to consume and prepare beef and other meat with your eyes open, with knowledge.

    The information contained in the book is something everyone should know about. The reader of the book on CD isn't all that riveting, so maybe it's better to read the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I put this book on the "sustainability" shelf although it's more about UNsustainability. It's a while since I read it, but I do know that it helped me cut way down on my consumption of fast food! (Even before I saw Super Size Me!)

    My real concern about fast food is what it may be doing to people in the lower socio-economic groups of our nation. In my previous life in the big city, I rode the bus a lot, and many of my fellow riders fell into this category. I overheard many conversations that showed the influence of fast-food advertising on them; as we'd pass billboards showing the latest sandwich from Burger King or MacDonald's there would be serious conversations about how they "had to get one of those." One could argue that fast food is perpetrating racial and economic genocide on certain populations by habituating them to salty, greasy, high-calorie foods. Everyone should read this book.


  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I drive by the Kroc estate every couple of days, so it was interesting to me to see how it all began. Fascinating read, and tended to focus on greed big business vs. fat calorie content.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was an interesting book. I learned a lot about the origins and machinations of the fast-food and meat worlds. Will this make a vegetarian? Nope. Will this change my current eating habits? Nope. Was I surprised about anything I read? Not really, except when it came to the lack of power the US Government has over the meat industry.

    One of the things I took away from this was although the fast-food industry is pretty evil they aren't the worst. The meat industry is the true evil behind it all. I think it is rather ironic that the safest meat one can eat would be that sold by a fast-food chain. You are more likely to get bad meat from a supermarket or a real restaurant. It also makes me wonder how it compares to the Australian meat industry. I want to know if the conditions at home are much better where we have tougher laws on food safety, higher minimum wages and more workers rights.

    But like Schlosser wrote in his new afterward, written last year for the 10th anniversary, I'm part of the new food culture. We try and eat organic. We look for grass-fed. Once winter is over we'll start going to the farmers markets. We exercise regularly. And though I might partake of something fast-food once in a while the key has always been moderation. So while the big corporations have used every dirty tactic they could it still all comes down to people do this to themselves.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book will horrify you with descriptions of corporate abuse of the Meatpackers who spoke up for research for this book. Definitely one that will get you into 'In and out burgers and Red Top' Burgers in USA rather than Mcdonalds and it's counterpart Burger King.
    A disturbing portrait food wise how Corporate branded fast food is changing the known universe and imposing its own unhygenic uniformity on us all. It's enough to make you go organic and free range meat wise.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Alright, I'll admit it. I still eat meat. Heck, I still eat at McDonald's. I cringe but I still succumb. The book was an important one for me to read. I certainly work harder now at providing healthier foods for our family. It did make a difference.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser is a perfect nonfiction book. In fact, it's so good that it is one of "Time's 100 Best Nonfiction Books". The book let's us take a look at "the dark side of the All-American meal". Many parts of this book can be disturbing to read either emotionally or if you can't handle some pretty gross facts. Schlosser shows us where all parts of your fast food meal comes from, which will definitely change your views on eating it. I know it did for me, I have not eaten fast food since reading this. The book shows us the history of fast food, the making of it, the meat packing industry, and the business end of it. My favorite parts were the ones with the descriptions of the meat packing industry and hearing stories of workers in this terrible industry. This part was a huge chunk of the reason of why I no longer eat fast food and try to steer from certain meats. No, the book has not turned me into a veterinarian but it did change my eating habits substantially. This is not the only interesting part, trust me, it's jammed packed with more jaw dropping facts and stories. Almost every page will have you thinking "No way!" or "I can't believe that." I recommend this book to everyone. The reading is not too hard, maybe junior high levels and up. However if everyone can read this then maybe we will all change like I did, and we can put a dent in this horrible industry. I guarantee that you'll love this book and that if you really care about this topic it will change you. If you were thinking of purchasing of this then I suggest that you do. You won't be disappointed.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    From the very first chapter of Fast Food Nation I felt as though I had been slapped upside the head with a whole bunch of really disturbing facts about the country in which I reside. Schlosser doesn't leave a single aspect of the fast food industry untouched or without scrutiny. To use a bad pun, he devours it all and then spits it back out. At us. From the historical humble beginnings of the hot dog cart to the corporate conglomerates of tomorrow Schlosser covers it all. It's fascinating and yet distracting. Fast food Nation took too long to read because I kept rereading passages out loud to anyone who would listen.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book will make you re-think your fast food choices. I didn't eat meat for almost two years after reading it. I found the expose on the treatment of workers in slaughterhouses and franchisees (naughty, naughty Subway) enlightening. Now if I would do more with my knowledge and disgust - the world would be better and I would be less cynical.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I haven't eaten fast food since I read this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A reasonably decent look at the disposable nature of American society, especially in the approach to food. The author explores our passion for eating at fast food, for the ease and convenience, and the cheap deal. He looks at the downside of this sort of a life - what do we have to give up, and why don't we miss it? Could use a bit more critical thinking in some places.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Allrighty then. You may gasp; I know that I am perhaps *the* last individual in the book world who has read this book, if you initially planned on reading it. Which I did. This has been on my TBR list for-EVER and purchased collecting dust for about half of that time. I don't know what caused the delay, but finally I had enough and picked up the darn book.Now, peeps, as you must know this is an important book to read: human neglect, animal abuse, food disgust, it's all there. Researched and well written. Still, I was partly bored. But not because of this book. If you haven't read it and know little about factory farming, then you should definitely pick it up. Me? I was raised by a low-level PETA momma. One of our first bonding moments that I recall, when I knew I was growing up, was at a protest for animal rights.You see, the meat industry is truly horrible. There are very few laws and they use the cheapest labor possible. People are injured and the corporations and government and everybody else turns the other way:"At a National Beef plan in Liberal, Kansas, Homer Stuff climbed into a blood-collection tank to clean it, a filthy tank thirty feet high. Stull was overcome by hydrogen sulfide fumes. Two coworkers climbed into the tank and tried to rescue him. All three men died. Eight years earlier, Henry Wolf had been overcome by hydrogen sulfide fumes while cleaning the very same tank; Gary Sanders had tried to rescue him; both men died; and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) later fined National Beef for its negligence. The fine was $480 for each men's death." (178)I mean really? REALLY? It's good to know that a person's life is worth $500. It's awful to hear the stories of factory workers who are maimed while at work but are to scared to report it because they don't want to lose their job. Since I'm moving in a non sequitur manner, the beginning part of the book focuses how the large fast food chains became the conglomerate that they are. Schlosser does a really good job of getting a lot of information in bite sized, easily digestible thoughts. Had I not gone through a few years in college reading as many anti-establishment books (I still love you No Logo!) I would have been more shocked, I think. What can I say, I'm slightly jaded with what our country does behind close doors.I do recommend this book. If you're like me and have continued putting it off, or unlike me and never had any intention. It's definitely the sorta book that should be assigned reading.And finally, I watched the movie this book was based on long before I read the book. I highly recommend reading the book first, although the movie does do it justice.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was definitely hard-hitting(at a popular and largely readable level at least) approach to an industry that is so embedded in the fabric of America. While I can't say there were many surprises by this it was still so fascinating to hear about something that is so inherently American. I really appreciated that he took a pretty level approach and didn't come at it with a huge chip on his shoulder and a mission to destroy fast food, etc. He was honest and straight forward and didn't overstate his relationship with food. The honesty shone through and it made this a very enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A critical look at America's food industry and the huge role fast food has in shaping it. It's provocative and illuminating.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a well-researched and very readable volume. The book isn't just about how a fast food diet is bad for you (well, duh, that much is obvious), but it also about all the processes that go into getting that Big Mac on your plate from the immigrant labor in beef factories in Colorado to the chemical flavors made in labs along the New Jersey Turnpike and so on. It's not all facts and figures; the book also full of individual's stories. It really makes you stop and think about the food you eat -- and it's not just for McDonald's customers. The movie of the same name is a fictional account of the facts contained in the book and also worth checking out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There are a lot of facts within this book that I think most Americans already know. Fast food workers are underpaid and unskilled, the meat that makes up our hamburgers isn't very sanitary, and the high-fat content of cheap and easy meals is one of the big reasons why the country's obesity rate is climbing at an alarming rate. But when all of these facts are presented together, it really made me think about what I was eating and what effect it was having on farmers, factory workers, and others who are involved in the fast food industry.I think this book is a good way of challenging yourself to learn what exactly you're eating, and maybe that "cheap" hamburger isn't really so cheap when you look at the social, health, and economic effects. After reading Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle," I was horrified by the conditions described in the book. It's sad to see that we haven't really changed all that much, with downer cows, rotten meat, and cattle covered in abscesses being thrown into the hamburger grinder, only to be slapped into a bun at your nearest fast food restaurant. I'd been considering giving up fast food for a while now for health reasons; after reading this book, I won't be eating at a fast food establishment again. The problem is, however, that it's not just the fast food. Fast food has so transformed how our country's food is packaged and delivered that you're likely getting the same beef at your local grocery store. I'm definitely going to be checking into more organic, locally-grown products now.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    To me, this book said little more than "Fast Food Corporations are also Corporations." Granted, it puts a lot of well-researched and well-written facts and stories in between, but it said nothing that truly surprised me. Isn't this how all big, multi-national corporations run?I admit that this book just isn't what I expected it to be, and that this has more to do with my expectations for a great expose than Schlosser's execution. As far as I'm concerned, though, the book really just addresses the issues of Corporate America by focusing on a particular industry. By the end, if you are mad, be mad at the corporate model. You are unjustly limiting your wrath if you can only be mad at McDonalds and friends.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is one of those books that I think everyone should read- we honestly know so little about how our food is produced, it's disturbing. This has joined "Food Inc." and "Fresh: The Movie" in my personal journey to know more about my food choices. Yes, I gave up McDonalds, and no, I don't feel any loss. One thing I've definitely gotten from this book is a sense of how our government is so in control of special interests.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Great insight into the fast food industry in the US. After reading this book you will think twice before getting that Big Mac.