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{{Short description|2001 book by Eric Schlosser}} |
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{{Primarysources|date=February 2009}} |
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{{About|the book|the film|Fast Food Nation (film)}} |
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{{Refimprove|date=May 2007}} |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2018}} |
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{{Infobox |
{{Infobox book |
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| name |
| name = Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal |
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| image = Fast food nation.jpg |
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| title_orig the weakest animals are killed |
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= |
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| caption = First edition |
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| translator = |
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| author = Eric Schlosser |
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| image = [[Image:Fast food nation.jpg|200px]] |
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| illustrator = |
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| image_caption = Paperback cover. |
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| cover_artist = |
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| author = [[Eric Schlosser]] |
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| country = United States |
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| illustrator = |
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| language = English |
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| cover_artist = |
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| series = |
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| country = [[United States]] |
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| |
| subject = [[Fast food]] |
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| genre = [[Non-fiction]] |
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| series = |
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| publisher = [[Houghton Mifflin]] |
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| pub_date = January 17, 2001 |
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| genre = [[Non-fiction]] |
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| english_pub_date = |
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| publisher = [[Houghton Mifflin]] |
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| media_type = |
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| pub_date = January 17, 2001 |
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| pages = 288 pp |
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| english_pub_date = |
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| isbn = 0-395-97789-4 |
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| media_type = |
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| dewey = 394.1/0973 21 |
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| pages = 288 pp |
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| congress = TX945.3 .S355 2001 |
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| isbn = 0-395-97789-4 |
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| oclc = 45248356 |
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| dewey= 394.1/0973 21 |
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| preceded_by = |
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| congress= TX945.3 .S355 2001 |
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| followed_by = |
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| oclc= 45248356 |
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| preceded_by = |
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}} |
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'''''Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal''''' is a 2001 book by [[Eric Schlosser]].<ref name="isbn-978-0-547-51824-4">{{cite book |last1=Schlosser |first1=Eric |title=Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal |date=17 January 2001 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-547-51824-4 |language=en}}</ref> First serialized by ''[[Rolling Stone]]''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/fast-food-nation-part-one-the-true-cost-of-americas-diet-19980903|title=Fast-Food Nation Part One: The True Cost of America's Diet|last=Scholsser|first=Eric|publisher=[[Rolling Stone]]|year=1998}}</ref> in 1999, the book has drawn comparisons to [[Upton Sinclair]]'s 1906 [[muckraking]] novel ''[[The Jungle]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Jungle|last=Sinclair|first=Upton |url=https://wwnorton.com/college/history/america-essential-learning/docs/usinclair-%20the_jungle-1906.pdf |publisher=Doubleday, Jabber, & Company|year=1906|oclc=149214}}</ref> The book was adapted into a 2006 [[Fast Food Nation (film)|film of the same name]], directed by [[Richard Linklater]]. |
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{{About|the book|the film|Fast Food Nation (film)}} |
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'''''Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal''''' (2001) is a book by [[investigative journalist]] [[Eric Schlosser]] that examines the local and global influence of the [[U.S.|United States]] [[fast food]] industry. First serialized by ''[[Rolling Stone]]''<ref>{{cite book |title= Audio Interview: Eric Schlosser |publisher= The New York Times [http://partners.nytimes.com/books/01/01/21/specials/schlosser.html?scp=2&sq=Eric%20Schlosser&st=cse listen to audio file]}}</ref> in 1999, the book has drawn comparisons to [[Upton Sinclair]]'s classic [[muckraking]] novel ''[[The Jungle]]''.<ref>{{cite book |title= Exposés and excess: muckraking in America, 1900-2000 |last= Tichi |first= Cecilia |year= 2004 |publisher= University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn= 0812237633 |chapter=From the Jungle to Fast Food Nation: American Déjà Vu}}</ref> |
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== Background == |
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=== Growth of the fast food industry === |
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''Rolling Stone'' asked Schlosser to write an article looking at America through fast food in 1997 after reading his article on migrants in ''Atlantic Monthly''.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/523/schlosser-food-finances.html|title=Q & A: Eric Schlosser, author of 'Fast Food Nation,' on the state of the American food system|website=www.pbs.org|access-date=2018-04-10}}</ref> He then spent nearly three years researching the fast-food industry, from the slaughterhouses and packing plants that turn out the burgers to the minimum-wage workers who cook them to the television commercials that entice children to eat them with the lure of cheap toys and colorful playgrounds.<ref name=":1" /> The experience enraged and appalled him.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-mar-14-fo-37251-story.html|title=The Hamburger Critic (and His Own Critics)|last=SAGON|first=CANDY|date=March 14, 2001|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2018-04-10|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref><ref name="bestnotes">{{cite web|url=http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Fast_Food_Nation/Fast_Food_Nation03.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615182804/http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Fast_Food_Nation/Fast_Food_Nation03.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 15, 2013 |title=Fast Food Nation, Analysis Book Summary Online Chapter Notes |date=May 16, 2008 |website=TheBestNotes.com |access-date=May 2, 2014 }}</ref> |
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==Summary== |
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Schlosser describes the growth of the fast food industry as being driven by fundamental changes in United States society. Since the 1970s there has been a steady decline in the hourly pay (adjusted for inflation) of the average United States worker. Additionally more and more United States mothers were working outside the home. In 1966, about 1/3 of United States mothers with young children held jobs. That ratio has risen to 2/3 at the beginning of the 21st century. A generation ago, three-quarters of the money used to buy food in the US was spent to prepare meals at home. Today, about half of that same money is spent in restaurants – mainly [[fast food]] restaurants. In 1969, McDonald's had 1,000 restaurants and today McDonalds have more than 30,000, with 2,000 new ones opening each year. |
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The book is divided into two sections: "The American Way" and "Meat and Potatoes". "The American Way" the first part, takes a historical view of the fast food business by analyzing its beginnings within post-World War II America while "Meat and Potatoes" examines the specific mechanisms of the fast-food industry within a modern context as well as its influence. |
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=== "The American Way" === |
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====[[McDonald's Corporation]]==== |
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The first section of ''Fast Food Nation'' opens with a discussion of [[Carl Karcher|Carl N. Karcher]] and the [[Richard and Maurice McDonald|McDonald brothers]], examining their roles as pioneers of the fast-food industry in southern California. This discussion is followed by an examination of [[Ray Kroc]] and [[Walt Disney]]'s [[Ray Kroc#Developing and purchasing McDonald's|complicated relationship]] before ending with the consideration of the intricate, profitable methods of [[advertising to children]]. Next, Schlosser visits [[Colorado Springs, CO]] and investigates the life and working conditions of the typical fast-food industry employee, learning how fast-food restaurants pay minimum wage to a higher proportion of their employees than any other American industry.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/11/17/where-near-minimum-wage-workers-work-and-how-much-they-make/|title=Where near-minimum-wage workers work, and how much they make|date=November 17, 2014|work=Pew Research Center|access-date=2018-04-10|language=en-US}}</ref> |
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=== "Meat and Potatoes" === |
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Schlosser provides the following information in his book: |
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The second section of the text begins with a discussion of the chemical components that make the food taste so good. Schlosser follows this with a discussion of the life of a typical rancher, considering the difficulties presented to the agricultural world in a new economy. Schlosser analyzes the meatpacking industry, which he tags as the most dangerous job in America.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/01/how-to-make-the-countrys-most-dangerous-job-safer/302395/|title=How to Make the Country's Most Dangerous Job Safer|last=Schlosser|first=Eric|work=The Atlantic|access-date=2018-04-10|language=en-US}}</ref> Moreover, the meat produced by slaughterhouses has become increasingly more hazardous since the centralization of the industry due to the way cattle are raised, slaughtered, and processed, providing an ideal setting for [[E coli]] to spread.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180312150520.htm|title=Water troughs are key to E. coli contamination in cattle|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=2018-04-10|language=en}}</ref> Additionally, working conditions continue to grow worse. In the final chapter, Schlosser considers how fast food has matured as an American cultural export following the Cold War and how the collapse of Soviet Communism allowed the mass spread of American goods and services, especially fast food. As a result, the rest of the world is catching up with America's rising obesity rates.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/overweight/en/|title=Overweight and obesity|website=World Health Organization|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-04-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/|title=Obesity and overweight|website=World Health Organization|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-04-10}}</ref> |
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==="Afterword"=== |
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* One out of every eight workers in the US has at some point worked at a McDonald's restaurant. |
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In the 2012 edition, Schlosser published a revised edition that included an afterword. In the afterword, he looks back at the relevance and criticism of the first edition and how it inspired other works as well as how the fast food industry has evolved in the ten years following the book, including its effects on policy and childhood obesity rates. He concluded that, given the swift, decisive and effective action that took place as a result of this interest and intervention, many of the problems documented in the book are solvable, given enough political will. The afterword can also be read in an article penned by Schlosser at ''[[The Daily Beast]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/12/still-a-fast-food-nation-eric-schlosser-reflects-on-10-years-later|title=Still a Fast Food Nation: Eric Schlosser Reflects on 10 Years Later|last=Schlosser|first=Eric|date=March 12, 2012|work=The Daily Beast|access-date=2018-04-10|language=en}}</ref> |
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* It is the nation's largest purchaser of [[beef]], [[pork]] and [[potatoes]] and second largest of [[chicken]] (KFC is number one); |
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* It has replaced [[Coca Cola]] as the world's most famous [[brand]], but serves Coca Cola in its establishments; |
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* It operates more playgrounds – designed to attract children and their parents to its restaurants – than any other private entity in the US; |
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==Reception== |
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Schlosser quotes the farm activist [[Jim Hightower]] who, in the early 1970s, warned of "the McDonaldization of America": "He viewed the emerging fast food industry as a threat to independent business, as a step toward a food economy dominated by giant corporations, and as a homogenizing influence on American life." In ''[[Eat Your Heart Out]]'' (1975), he argued that "bigger is ''not'' better." Schlosser says that much of what Hightower feared has become a reality. He believes that the centralized purchasing decisions of the large restaurant chains e.g. McDonald's, [[KFC]], [[Burger King]] and [[Pizza Hut]] now have an unprecedented degree of power over the nation's food supply, as well as "wiping out small businesses, obliterating regional differences, and spreading identical stores throughout the country like a self-replicating code."<ref>Eric Schlosser, ''Fast Food Nation'', pp. 4–5, Penguin Books, 2002</ref> |
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[[Rob Walker (journalist)|Rob Walker]], writing for ''[[The New York Times]]'', remarks that "Schlosser is a serious and diligent reporter" and that "''Fast Food Nation'' isn't an airy deconstruction but an avalanche of facts and observations as he examines the fast-food process from meat to marketing."<ref name=":2">{{cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Rob|title=No Accounting for Mouthfeel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/01/01/21/reviews/010121.21walkert.html|access-date=February 22, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=January 21, 2001}}</ref> Walker however does raise concerns about the data on which Schlosser bases his claims.<ref name=":2" /> For example, Schlosser suggests that hundreds have died from E. coli infections as a result of eating fast food. However, as Walker points out, “[Schlosser] extrapolated his figures from an annual total in a report on food-related illness, which itself relied on a good deal of extrapolation. Moreover, that report doesn't address fast food specifically (and in fact Schlosser builds his numbers from figures including E. coli cases that are not even food-borne), which is relevant because fast-food outlets are hardly the only places where processed meat is sold."<ref name=":2" /> |
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Julia Livshin, writing for ''[[The Atlantic]]'', believes "Schlosser's book is not just a compendium of kitchen horror stories. In clean, sober prose packed with facts, he strips away the carefully crafted feel-good veneer of fast food and shows how the industry's astounding success has been achieved, and is sustained, at an equally astounding cost—to the nation's health, environment, economy, and culture."<ref>{{cite interview |last= Schlosser |first=Eric |interviewer-last=Livshin |interviewer-first=Julia |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/12/unhappy-meals/305425/ |title=Unhappy Meals |date=December 14, 2000 |website=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=April 17, 2024}}</ref> |
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== Soft Drinks == |
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''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' wrote, "While cataloguing assorted evils with the tenacity and sharp eye of the best investigative journalist, [Schlosser] uncovers a cynical, dismissive attitude to food safety in the fast food industry and widespread circumvention of the government's efforts at regulation enacted after Upton Sinclair's similarly scathing novel exposed the [[meat-packing industry]] 100 years ago. By systematically dismantling the industry's various aspects, Schlosser establishes a seminal argument for true wrongs at the core of modern America."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-395-97789-7 |title=Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal |work=[[Publishers Weekly]] |date=January 15, 2001 |access-date=April 17, 2024 |language=en}}</ref> |
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Schlosser also provides information about the three largest US soft drinks companies, [[Coca-Cola]], [[Pepsi]] and [[Cadbury-Schweppes]]. These companies spend large sums on school funding programs to increase the amount of their products consumed by American children. Americans drink soft drinks at an annual rate of about 56 gallons per person (approx. 600 twelve ounce cans of soda). Coca-Cola has set its goal of raising this consumption of its products by at least 25 percent. As the adult market is stagnant, selling more soft drinks to children has become the easiest way to meet sales projections. "Influencing elementary school students is very important to soft drinks marketers," an article in the Jan. 1999 issue of ''Beverage Industry'' explained, "because children are still establishing their tastes and habits ... eight year olds are considered ideal customers as they have about sixty-five years of purchasing in front of them." "Entering the schools makes perfect sense," the trade journal concludes. |
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The book won the 2002 [[Firecracker Alternative Book Award]] for Nonfiction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.readersread.com/awards/firecracker.htm|title=Firecracker Alternative Book Awards|work=ReadersRead.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304133738/http://www.readersread.com/awards/firecracker.htm|archive-date=Mar 4, 2009}}</ref> |
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=== "Liquid Candy" report === |
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=== Industry response === |
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Schlosser quotes a 1999 study by the Centre for Science in the Public Interest. It describes how US children are affected by the [[beverage]] industry. Some of the main points that Schlosser includes are: |
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Terrie Dort, president of the National Council of Chain Restaurants, the trade association representing many of the country's major fast-food chains, released this statement about Schlosser and his book: "It is unfortunate that Mr. Schlosser's book, 'Fast Food Nation,' categorizes the entire fast-food industry in such a negative light. The restaurant companies that comprise the industry provide employment to hundreds of thousands of workers across the country and offer consumers a wide variety in menu options and prices. We take exception to the characterization in this book."<ref name=":1" /> |
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Lester Crawford, director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Georgetown University and a former meat inspector for the USDA, says he has read only "snippets" of Schlosser's book but calls it "well-intentioned criticism."<ref name=":1" /> |
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* In 1978, the typical teenage male in the US drank about seven ounces of soft drinks daily. Today he drinks nearly three times that amount, deriving 9 percent of his daily caloric intake from [[soft drinks]]. |
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==''Chew on This''== |
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* Soft drinks consumption amongst teenage females has doubled within the same period, reaching an average of 12 oz. a day. |
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{{anchor|Chew on This}} |
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An adaptation of ''Fast Food Nation'' for younger readers titled ''Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know about Fast Food'' was published in May 2006 by [[Houghton Mifflin]]. ''Chew on This'' was first published in 2006, is an adaptation of the main work created by Schlosser and Charles Wilson for younger readers.<ref>{{Cite journal | date=January 2007| title="Chew on This": An Interview with Charles Wilson, Curriculum Review, 2007-Ja| url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ754937| journal=Curriculum Review| language=en| volume=46| issue=5| pages=14| issn=0147-2453}}</ref> This book follows the general plot structure of ''Fast Food Nation'', but simplifies its predecessor's original content to make it more readable for younger children. |
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=== Reception === |
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* A significant number of boys are now drinking five or more cans of soft drinks a day – each can contains the equivalent of about 10 teaspoons of [[sugar]]. |
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Some critical reception has been positive.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Chew on This, Eric Schlosser & Charles Wilson| url=https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/321/chew-on-this-eric-schlosser-charles-wilson| access-date=2021-04-14| website=KQED| date=May 9, 2006| language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last=Larsson| first=Minna-Leena| date=2008-09-22| title=Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want To Know About Fast Food| url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=00094056&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA188352685&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs| journal=Childhood Education| language=English| volume=85| issue=1| pages=56–58}}</ref> [[Common Sense Media]] gave the book 4/5 stars, but writing that "...the photographs seem randomly placed throughout the book, and the narrative can wander a bit. Even so, teens probably will be inspired to rethink their habits."<ref>{{Cite web | last=Pavao| first=Kate| date=2010-03-30| title=Chew on This – Book Review| url=https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/chew-on-this| access-date=2021-04-14| website=Common Sense Media| language=en}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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* Soft drinks like Coke, Pepsi, [[Mountain Dew]] and [[Dr. Pepper]] provide empty calories and have replaced far more nutritious beverages in the American diet. Excessive soft drinks consumption in childhood can lead to calcium deficiency and a greater likelihood of bone fractures. |
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* [[The Corporation (2003 film)|''The Corporation'' (film)]] — a 2003 Canadian documentary film critical of the modern-day corporation and its behavior towards society |
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* [[Labor rights in American meatpacking industry]] |
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==References== |
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* Twenty years ago, US teenage males drank twice as much milk as soft drinks; now they drink twice as many soft drinks as milk. |
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{{Reflist|refs= |
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}} |
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==External links== |
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* "About one-fifth of the US's 1 and 2 year olds now drink soft drinks." Michael Jacobson, the report's author, describes the marketing practice of licensing manufacturers' logos to [[Munchkin Bottling Inc.]], a major manufacturer of baby bottles. A 1997 study, published in the Journal of Dentistry for Children, found that many infants were being fed soft drinks in those bottles.<ref>Eric Schlosser, ''Fast Food Nation'', p. 54, Penguin Books, 2002</ref> |
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* [https://www.c-span.org/video/?164691-1/fast-food-nation Presentation by Schlosser on ''Fast Food Nation'' at the 92nd Street Y, May 31, 2001], [[C-SPAN]] |
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* [https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/01/01/21/specials/schlosser.html Audio Interview with ''The New York Times''] |
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{{Food industry criticism}} |
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The fast food chains run advertisements on [[Channel One]], the commercial television network whose programming is shown in classrooms in almost every school, to eight million US middle, junior and [[high school]] students. Schlosser further points out that the chains promote their products by selling school lunches, accepting a lower [[profit margin]] in order to create [[brand loyalty]]. |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fast Food Nation}} |
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For example: |
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[[Category:2001 non-fiction books]] |
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* At least twenty school districts in the US have their own [[Subway (restaurant)|Subway]] franchises; an additional 1,500 districts have Subway contracts; and nine operate Subway sandwich carts. |
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* [[Taco Bell]] sells products in about 4,500 school cafeterias. Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza and McDonald's are now selling food in US schools. The [[American School Food Service]] estimates that about 30 percent of the public high schools in the US offer branded fast food. |
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* Elementary schools in [[Fort Collins, Colorado]] now serve food from Pizza Hut, McDonald's and [[Subway (restaurant)|Subway]] on special lunch days. "We try to be more like the fast food places where these kids are hanging out" a Colorado school administrator told the ''[[Denver Post]]''. "We want kids to think school lunch is a [[cool]] thing, the [[cafeteria]] a cool place, that we're with it."<ref>Eric Schlosser, ''Fast Food Nation'', p. 56, Penguin Books, 2002</ref> |
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== US slaughterhouses == |
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[[Slaughterhouses]] are discussed at length in the chapters, "Cogs in the great machine" and "The most dangerous job". |
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Schlosser describes a visit to a [[slaughterhouse]] in [[Lexington, Nebraska]]. According to one resident, there are three odors that pervade the town, "burning hair and blood, that greasy smell, and the odor of rotten eggs." Schlosser describes how [[hydrogen sulfide]] is the gas responsible for the rotten egg smell. It rises from the slaughterhouse wastewater lagoons, causes respiratory problems and headaches, and at high levels can cause permanent damage to the nervous system (in Jan. 2002 the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] sued [[IBP, Inc.]] for violation of the [[Clean Air Act]] at its Dakota City plant). |
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On another occasion he visits a slaughterhouse "somewhere in the High Plains" which is one of the nation's largest. He is shown around by someone with access to the plant who is upset by its working conditions. About 5,000 head of cattle are slaughtered there every day. Schlosser describes in graphic terms the different jobs involved in turning a steer into packaged meat, of which one of the most graphic are the "sticker" and the "knocker." The sticker severs the [[carotid artery]] of a steer every ten seconds. The knocker stuns cattle on arrival to the slaughterhouse by shooting them in the head with a [[captive bolt pistol|captive bolt stunner]]: |
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{{cquote|The animals keep strolling up, [[oblivious]] to what comes next, and he stands over them and shoots. For eight-and-a-half hours, he just shoots. As I stand there, he misses a few times and shoots the same animal twice. As soon as the steer falls, a worker grabs one of its hind legs, shackles it to a chain, and the chain lifts the huge animal into the air. I watch the knocker knock cattle for a couple of minutes. The animals are powerful and imposing one moment and then gone in an instant, suspended from a rail, ready for carving. A steer slips from its chain, falls to the ground, and gets its head caught in one end of a conveyor belt. The production line stops as workers struggle to free the steer, stunned but alive, from the machinery. I've seen enough.''<ref>Eric Schlosser, ''Fast Food Nation'', p. 171, Penguin Books, 2002</ref>}} |
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As an [[investigative journalist]], Schlosser also interviews some of the [[migrant workers]] who make up the majority workforce of these slaughterhouses. In this regard, Schlosser links the rising trend in migrant workers from [[developing countries]] (and by extension the social issues this creates) with the expansion of the US fast food industry. |
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One IBP Lexington worker describes her journey from [[Guatemala]] in search of work. Others talk about the relentless pressure resulting from the speed of the work. The faster the cattle are packaged, the greater the profitability of the slaughterhouse (the three meatpacking giants – [[IBP, Inc.]], [[ConAgra]] and Excel – try to maximize their profits by maximizing the volume of production at each plant), but also the greater the likelihood of [[industrial injuries|injuries to the workers]]. Whereas the old Chicago meatpacking plants slaughtered about 9.99 cattle an hour, the modern plants slaughter up to 400 an hour. As injured workers are a drain on profits, many of these injuries go unreported – injured workers who cooperate are shifted to an easier job to have time to recover, or they are sent back to their home country to recuperate and later return to work in the US. Injured workers report being given the most unpleasant jobs and their hourly wages are cut. As one former [[Iowa Beef Processors|IBP]] worker explains, "They're trying to deter you, period, from going to the doctor."<ref>Eric Schlosser, ''Fast Food Nation'', pp. 174–175, Penguin Books, 2002</ref> |
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== Marketing == |
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In the chapter entitled "Your Trusted Friends," Schlosser takes a critical look at what he claims is a deliberate targeting of children by fast food and soft drinks companies. He describes an explosion in [[advertising]] to children that occurred in the 1980s. Schlosser describes how many working parents felt [[guilty]] about spending less time with their kids, and started to spend more money on them. One marketing expert has called the 1980s "the decade of the child consumer." The majority of advertising directed at children today aims to achieve the immediate goal of a purchase. As one marketer explained in ''Selling to Kids'', "It's not just getting kids to whine, it's giving them a specific reason to ask for a product." The sociologist Vance Packard described children as "surrogate salesmen" who had to persuade other people, usually their parents, to buy what they wanted. The aim of children's advertising, as Schlosser points out, is straight forward: get kids to [[nag]] their parents for [[final goods|consumer goods]]. |
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This competition for young customers has led fast food chains to form [[marketing]] partnerships with toy companies, sports leagues and [[Hollywood]] studios. McDonald's has staged promotions with the [[NBA]] and the [[Olympics]]. [[Yum! Brands|Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC]] signed a three year deal with the [[NCAA]]. Burger King, [[Nickelodeon (TV network)|Nickelodeon]], McDonald's and the Fox Kids Network have formed partnerships that mix advertisements for fast food with children's entertainment. Burger King has sold [[chicken nuggets]] shaped like [[Teletubbies]]. |
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== Global expansion == |
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Schlosser states that, just as in the United States, "the fast food companies have targeted their worldwide advertising and promotion at a group of consumers with fewest attachments to tradition: young [[children]]." |
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His research reveals that: |
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* In [[Australia]], where the number of fast food restaurants roughly tripled during the 1990s, a survey found that half of the nation's 9 and 10 year olds thought that [[Ronald McDonald]] knew what kids should eat. |
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* At a primary school in [[Beijing]], it was found that all of the children recognized the image of Ronald McDonald, saying that "... he understood children's hearts." Coca-Cola is now the favorite drink amongst Chinese children, and McDonald's serves their favorite food. |
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* [[Germany]] is now one of McDonald's most profitable overseas markets, with more than a thousand restaurants. "The [[Golden Arches]] have become so commonplace in Germany that they seem almost invisible," Schlosser notes. McDonald's Deutschland has put restaurants in new Wal-Mart stores because the latter expects the kiddie factor to create an upsurge in customers.<ref>Eric Schlosser, ''Fast Food Nation'', pp. 232–233, Penguin Books, 2002</ref> |
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== Fast Food and Obesity == |
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The relationship between a nation's fast food consumption and its rate of [[obesity]] has not been definitively established through any long-term [[epidemiological]] study. However, Schlosser contends that "it seems wherever America's fast food chains go, waistlines inevitably start expanding."<ref>Eric Schlosser, ''Fast Food Nation'', p. 242, Penguin Books, 2002</ref> |
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Schlosser argues that the United States has the highest [[obesity]] rate of any industrialized nation. More than half of all American adults and about one-quarter of all American children are now classified as obese or [[overweight]]. Those proportions are believed to have increased dramatically during the last few decades, along with the consumption of fast food, with the rate of obesity among US children twice as high as in the late 1970s. |
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An obese person is someone with a [[Body Mass Index|Body Mass Index (BMI)]] of 30 or higher. Today about 44 million American adults are considered obese, with an additional 6 million so-called super-obese i.e. they weigh about a hundred pounds more than they should. Schlosser comments that "No other nation in history has gotten so fat so fast." In simple terms, Schlosser argues, when people eat more and move less, they get fat. In the US, people have become increasingly sedentary and consume more restaurant meals, including fast food. As people eat more food outside the home, they consume more calories, less fiber, and more fat.<ref>Eric Schlosser, ''Fast Food Nation'', pp. 240–241, Penguin Books, 2002</ref> |
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== Editions == |
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*ISBN 0-06-093845-5 (paperback edition 2002, 400pp.) |
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*ISBN 0-7139-9602-1 (paperback edition 2001, 368pp.) |
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*ISBN 0-14-100687-0 (paperback edition 2002, 400pp.) |
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*ISBN 0-395-97789-4 (hardcover edition 2001, 288pp.) |
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*ISBN 0-06-083858-2 (paperback edition 2005, 383pp.) |
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== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
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==See also== |
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*''[[Super Size Me]]'' — a similar 2004 documentary by [[Morgan Spurlock]]. |
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*[[Caesar Barber]], an American man who sued several fast food companies. |
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*''[[The Corporation]]'' — a 2003 Canadian documentary film critical of the modern-day corporation and its behavior towards society. |
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*''[[The Jungle]]'' — a 1906 novel by [[Upton Sinclair]] on the meatpacking industry. ''Fast Food Nation'' makes various references to it. |
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*[[Reefer Madness (2003 book)|''Reefer Madness'']] — a 2003 book by Eric Schlosser examining [[migrant labor]] and the [[pornography]] and [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] businesses in America. |
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*''[http://www.spannerfilms.net/?lid=161 McLibel: Two Worlds Collide]'' — a 2005 extended update of film by [[Spanner Films]] documenting the [[McLibel]] Trial and Campaign. |
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*''[[Jennifer Government]]'' — a 2003 novel by [[Max Barry]] set in a hyper-corporate world, where schools, health care and almost everything else are run by major corporations. |
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*''[[My Secret Life on the McJob]]'' is a book by Jerry Newman, a college professor, about low-wage work in fast-food outlets undercover. |
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*''[[Fast Food Nation (film)|Fast Food Nation]]'' A movie of the same name, based on the book. |
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*''[[Chew on This]]'' A young readers' adaptation of the book. |
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*''[[Food, Inc. (film)]]'' A documentary film based on this book. |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.editurl.com/xz Book Summary] |
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*[http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/mcds/theguardian0704011.html Excerpt from ''Fast Food Nation''] |
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*[http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/rollingstone1.html Original articles from which the book evolved] |
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*[http://www.democracynow.org/2009/8/3/arun_gupta_on_bacon_as_a "Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction"] – video by ''Democracy Now!'' |
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*[http://www.stuffednation.com/ Stuffed Nation | Food Industry, Food Policy, and Solving Obesity] |
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*[http://www.stuffednation.com/blog Stuffed Nation blog] |
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[[Category:2001 books]] |
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[[Category:Current affairs books]] |
[[Category:Current affairs books]] |
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[[Category:Books about the United States]] |
[[Category:Books about the United States]] |
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[[Category:Business books]] |
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[[Category:Fast food]] |
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[[Category:Health and wellness books]] |
[[Category:Health and wellness books]] |
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[[Category:Rolling Stone articles]] |
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[[Category:Criticism of fast food]] |
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[[es:Fast Food Nation (libro)]] |
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[[Category:Books about food and drink]] |
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[[fr:Fast Food Nation]] |
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[[Category:Houghton Mifflin books]] |
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[[ko:패스트푸드 네이션]] |
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[[Category:Non-fiction books adapted into films]] |
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[[ja:ファストフードが世界を食いつくす]] |
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[[Category:Books by Eric Schlosser]] |
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[[fi:Pikaruokakansa]] |
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Latest revision as of 02:28, 15 August 2024
 First edition | |
| Author | Eric Schlosser |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Fast food |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
Publication date | January 17, 2001 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 288 pp |
| ISBN | 0-395-97789-4 |
| OCLC | 45248356 |
| 394.1/0973 21 | |
| LC Class | TX945.3 .S355 2001 |
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal is a 2001 book by Eric Schlosser.[1] First serialized by Rolling Stone[2] in 1999, the book has drawn comparisons to Upton Sinclair's 1906 muckraking novel The Jungle.[3] The book was adapted into a 2006 film of the same name, directed by Richard Linklater.
Background
[edit]Rolling Stone asked Schlosser to write an article looking at America through fast food in 1997 after reading his article on migrants in Atlantic Monthly.[4][5] He then spent nearly three years researching the fast-food industry, from the slaughterhouses and packing plants that turn out the burgers to the minimum-wage workers who cook them to the television commercials that entice children to eat them with the lure of cheap toys and colorful playgrounds.[4] The experience enraged and appalled him.[4][6]
Summary
[edit]The book is divided into two sections: "The American Way" and "Meat and Potatoes". "The American Way" the first part, takes a historical view of the fast food business by analyzing its beginnings within post-World War II America while "Meat and Potatoes" examines the specific mechanisms of the fast-food industry within a modern context as well as its influence.
"The American Way"
[edit]The first section of Fast Food Nation opens with a discussion of Carl N. Karcher and the McDonald brothers, examining their roles as pioneers of the fast-food industry in southern California. This discussion is followed by an examination of Ray Kroc and Walt Disney's complicated relationship before ending with the consideration of the intricate, profitable methods of advertising to children. Next, Schlosser visits Colorado Springs, CO and investigates the life and working conditions of the typical fast-food industry employee, learning how fast-food restaurants pay minimum wage to a higher proportion of their employees than any other American industry.[7]
"Meat and Potatoes"
[edit]The second section of the text begins with a discussion of the chemical components that make the food taste so good. Schlosser follows this with a discussion of the life of a typical rancher, considering the difficulties presented to the agricultural world in a new economy. Schlosser analyzes the meatpacking industry, which he tags as the most dangerous job in America.[8] Moreover, the meat produced by slaughterhouses has become increasingly more hazardous since the centralization of the industry due to the way cattle are raised, slaughtered, and processed, providing an ideal setting for E coli to spread.[9] Additionally, working conditions continue to grow worse. In the final chapter, Schlosser considers how fast food has matured as an American cultural export following the Cold War and how the collapse of Soviet Communism allowed the mass spread of American goods and services, especially fast food. As a result, the rest of the world is catching up with America's rising obesity rates.[10][11]
"Afterword"
[edit]In the 2012 edition, Schlosser published a revised edition that included an afterword. In the afterword, he looks back at the relevance and criticism of the first edition and how it inspired other works as well as how the fast food industry has evolved in the ten years following the book, including its effects on policy and childhood obesity rates. He concluded that, given the swift, decisive and effective action that took place as a result of this interest and intervention, many of the problems documented in the book are solvable, given enough political will. The afterword can also be read in an article penned by Schlosser at The Daily Beast.[12]
Reception
[edit]Rob Walker, writing for The New York Times, remarks that "Schlosser is a serious and diligent reporter" and that "Fast Food Nation isn't an airy deconstruction but an avalanche of facts and observations as he examines the fast-food process from meat to marketing."[13] Walker however does raise concerns about the data on which Schlosser bases his claims.[13] For example, Schlosser suggests that hundreds have died from E. coli infections as a result of eating fast food. However, as Walker points out, “[Schlosser] extrapolated his figures from an annual total in a report on food-related illness, which itself relied on a good deal of extrapolation. Moreover, that report doesn't address fast food specifically (and in fact Schlosser builds his numbers from figures including E. coli cases that are not even food-borne), which is relevant because fast-food outlets are hardly the only places where processed meat is sold."[13]
Julia Livshin, writing for The Atlantic, believes "Schlosser's book is not just a compendium of kitchen horror stories. In clean, sober prose packed with facts, he strips away the carefully crafted feel-good veneer of fast food and shows how the industry's astounding success has been achieved, and is sustained, at an equally astounding cost—to the nation's health, environment, economy, and culture."[14]
Publishers Weekly wrote, "While cataloguing assorted evils with the tenacity and sharp eye of the best investigative journalist, [Schlosser] uncovers a cynical, dismissive attitude to food safety in the fast food industry and widespread circumvention of the government's efforts at regulation enacted after Upton Sinclair's similarly scathing novel exposed the meat-packing industry 100 years ago. By systematically dismantling the industry's various aspects, Schlosser establishes a seminal argument for true wrongs at the core of modern America."[15]
The book won the 2002 Firecracker Alternative Book Award for Nonfiction.[16]
Industry response
[edit]Terrie Dort, president of the National Council of Chain Restaurants, the trade association representing many of the country's major fast-food chains, released this statement about Schlosser and his book: "It is unfortunate that Mr. Schlosser's book, 'Fast Food Nation,' categorizes the entire fast-food industry in such a negative light. The restaurant companies that comprise the industry provide employment to hundreds of thousands of workers across the country and offer consumers a wide variety in menu options and prices. We take exception to the characterization in this book."[4]
Lester Crawford, director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Georgetown University and a former meat inspector for the USDA, says he has read only "snippets" of Schlosser's book but calls it "well-intentioned criticism."[4]
Chew on This
[edit]An adaptation of Fast Food Nation for younger readers titled Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know about Fast Food was published in May 2006 by Houghton Mifflin. Chew on This was first published in 2006, is an adaptation of the main work created by Schlosser and Charles Wilson for younger readers.[17] This book follows the general plot structure of Fast Food Nation, but simplifies its predecessor's original content to make it more readable for younger children.
Reception
[edit]Some critical reception has been positive.[18][19] Common Sense Media gave the book 4/5 stars, but writing that "...the photographs seem randomly placed throughout the book, and the narrative can wander a bit. Even so, teens probably will be inspired to rethink their habits."[20]
See also
[edit]- The Corporation (film) — a 2003 Canadian documentary film critical of the modern-day corporation and its behavior towards society
- Labor rights in American meatpacking industry
References
[edit]- ^ Schlosser, Eric (January 17, 2001). Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-547-51824-4.
- ^ Scholsser, Eric (1998). Fast-Food Nation Part One: The True Cost of America's Diet. Rolling Stone.
- ^ Sinclair, Upton (1906). The Jungle (PDF). Doubleday, Jabber, & Company. OCLC 149214.
- ^ a b c d e SAGON, CANDY (March 14, 2001). "The Hamburger Critic (and His Own Critics)". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ "Q & A: Eric Schlosser, author of 'Fast Food Nation,' on the state of the American food system". www.pbs.org. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ "Fast Food Nation, Analysis Book Summary Online Chapter Notes". TheBestNotes.com. May 16, 2008. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
- ^ "Where near-minimum-wage workers work, and how much they make". Pew Research Center. November 17, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ Schlosser, Eric. "How to Make the Country's Most Dangerous Job Safer". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ "Water troughs are key to E. coli contamination in cattle". ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ "Overweight and obesity". World Health Organization. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ "Obesity and overweight". World Health Organization. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ Schlosser, Eric (March 12, 2012). "Still a Fast Food Nation: Eric Schlosser Reflects on 10 Years Later". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ a b c Walker, Rob (January 21, 2001). "No Accounting for Mouthfeel". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- ^ Schlosser, Eric (December 14, 2000). "Unhappy Meals". The Atlantic (Interview). Interviewed by Livshin, Julia. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal". Publishers Weekly. January 15, 2001. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "Firecracker Alternative Book Awards". ReadersRead.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009.
- ^ ""Chew on This": An Interview with Charles Wilson, Curriculum Review, 2007-Ja". Curriculum Review. 46 (5): 14. January 2007. ISSN 0147-2453.
- ^ "Chew on This, Eric Schlosser & Charles Wilson". KQED. May 9, 2006. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
- ^ Larsson, Minna-Leena (September 22, 2008). "Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want To Know About Fast Food". Childhood Education. 85 (1): 56–58.
- ^ Pavao, Kate (March 30, 2010). "Chew on This – Book Review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved April 14, 2021.