Book Review - Fast Food Nation

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
By Eric Schlosser
Published January 2001

See synopsis and editorial opinions on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Investigative journalism has never been my thing. When Fast Food Nation was published, I heard snippets of controversy and outrage, but wasn't particularly interested. Books attacking specific industries are often sensationalist, one-sided exaggerations that select only facts that support their arguments. Kind of like Michael Moore in print form.

I decided to give Fast Food Nation a try, after discovering that Schlosser has written for various publications, such as The Nation and Rolling Stone. It made me think the guy might actually be a decent read.

The book does have some informative, objective observations on the influence of fast food companies on culture, business, and society. Though short, the section on globalization is nicely done, using the history of Plauen, Germany, to illustrate the rise of fast food overseas. I found his depiction of the internal workings of a slaughterhouse absolutely fascinating, in that morbid, Sinclair's The Jungle sort of way. I also enjoyed his insights into the lives of fast food chain founders and his explanation of the cycle from supplier to franchise to consumer. The prose moves at a good clip, mingling facts and anecdotes in an engaging manner. He even manages to make subjects like flavor chemistry and potato processing interesting.

There's definitely an overarching "corporations bad!" vibe. Linking fast food companies to shady lobbying practices, the plight of poor immigrant workers, the death of individualism, and rising American obesity is such cliche liberal soap boxing, that frankly, my eyes were rolling. Some of it is blatantly alarmist, such as a section warning of pathogens in beef and another devoted to the death of the great American icon, the traditional western rancher.

The writing is great and there is much I learned about the fast food industry's operations and history. But the call to arms against "Big Business" got on my nerves. I would have enjoyed this book much more if Schlosser had left out his political views. Let the content speak for itself - the data alone should be enough for people to form a similar opinion and change their consumer habits.