That this book, unlike its spiritual ancestor The Jungle, has failed to kindle any noticeable change in public policy towards the production of meat in America is a grim reminder that today's meatpacking villains are even more vile, and have much more powerful friends, than Sinclair's. Just like Sinclair's novel, this book has also failed to spark even the tiniest bit of rebellion against the inherent injustice of industrial capitalism. I can't say you should read it because it will probably just fill you with bland liberal outrage, but it's a very good primer on the myriad ways in which a fundamentally amoral system allowed to run wild has devastated the physical health and economic well-being of countless Americans. In that sense, it dovetails very nicely with No Logo, and can be read as a detailed case study of Klein's thesis as it applies to the fast food industry.

Schlosser takes us on a crash course in American history, and it all starts with McDonalds. At the same time that Ray Kroc was envisioning how McDonalds could change the world (and make him rich), Eisenhower was overseeing the construction of the superhighway system. Almost immediately, fast food restaurants began mushrooming on the edges of freeway entrances, and America was never the same.

Fast food isn't just unhealthy, its destroying our culture. Instead of looking around at our beautiful environment, we see mostly urban sprawl: gigantic neon signs, and cookie-cutter subdivisions. Not only does this loss of beauty affect our souls, our standard of living has gone down. Gone are many good jobs. Meatcutter jobs that were part of the middle classes are now mainly occupied by illegal immigrants who are so desperate they will risk losing their fingers (or their lives) in these dangerous, difficult jobs. And what has happened to the livelihood of farmers is a national shame.

Being that this book is 20 years old, there is reason for optimism. Slow food has become a movement. Organic foods are sold in every grocery store. But we still have to make the choice. The choice of what world we wish to live in. The temptations to stop for fast food are still there. But improvements that Schlosser was dreaming of are happening, more and more.

I recommend this book because these gory details and tragic histories could freeze into our brains and be a fit reminder to bypass these common and convenient foods and begin to make changes in our lives. The history of these companies is important to know. They cared about keeping their pockets lined, at the expense of their workers. At the expense of peoples lives.

I read this back when it first came out, and then it was a major hit and it was really bringing something to the table. Now..I suspect its a bit dated, as with us all being very health conscious, hipster juice joints popping up all over the place like popping popcorn! This is great! I love hipsters! I love juice! But I'm gonna give it a 3 star as Its not fresh in my mind.

WARNING: Depiction of cruelty towards human and animal

I knew that fast food was bad, I just didn't realize how bad it was. It was not just that the food is bad for you, the fast food companies themselves (and the suppliers that cater to their whim) were rotten from top to bottom.

From the cattle that were fed abominable things (chicken manure, cattle and poultry body parts, even dead cats and dogs), to the slaughterhouse that care naught about the safety of the workers or of the hygiene of the process (resulting in meat sprayed with shit, etc), to the fast food joints that also care naught for the welfare of the workers or for the well-being of their customers, I really really underestimated the atrocities a businessman is capable of.

The author said that the CEOs were not evil men, only businessmen, I disagree. A decent human being would never enabled such atrocities, as a few good fast food chain that the author mentioned proved. As it seemed that the bigger the companies, the more amoral they become, it would be better to spend your money on small local business instead.

P.S. I'm pretty sure that fast food companies aren't the only one screwing us. Any suggestion on books shedding light on other multi-billion companies' evil doings?

Very readable non-fiction. Interesting, fascinating at times. Disgusting facts of reality at others, you'd rather not know, if you are a fast food eater ( as I have been for most of my adult life). Discusses much more than just the core of the fast food industry- the food & it's processing and implications for health. Looks at the impact of the industry on business models, working conditions, suburban sprawl, environment, etc. Lots of food for thought, pardon the pun.

Perhaps I am hard to shock. Perhaps it's a case of me having worked in the food production sector, as well as in food safety and in customer service. Perhaps I'm just a cynical bugger already, but this was mildly interesting as opposed to rocking my world in any sense

The author attempts to do a Naomi Klein 'No Logo' on the subject of 'Super Size Me' (which this precedes). It's well researched and generally comes over as convincing and properly grounded. By this I probably mean that the bias is subtle and not forced down the throat of the reader - the later sections on microbiology (about which I have expertise) contained a number of inaccuracies and assumptions which made me expect that the earlier chapters had also been slanted in the same manner. However, the key messages are pretty sound, and it was an interesting - albeit possibly now fifteen years further worse down the line in some areas and fifteen years better in others - read.

I just found some of the criticisms of the industry a little assuming. Lots about the dangers (obesity, working conditions) and not so much about the benefits (convenience, employment) and an almost complete lack of acknowledgement of free will and choice. Yes, it's not great that kids are exposed to adverts, but there is money for schools from these companies. Teenage staff are poorly paid and have a hard introduction to working life, but if they didn't have these jobs they wouldn't earn a bit of money and get a bit of independence. Fast food businesses puts huge demands on food processors who cut corners to keep it cheap, but that's because consumers put huge demands on fast food businesses to cut corners and keep it cheap. If you eat too much crap you will be unhealthy, but if you didn't know that then you deserve to get spotty and fat. There is such a thing as choice and this means parents can be responsible about what their kids eat, and be responsible about their own diets too.

Something occurred to me while finishing this book. While I was reading Fast Food Nation, I was also finishing the seventh Harry Potter. Everyone who had already read HP told me how good it is, how they cried, etc. And yes, HP was endearing. But FFN was to an even greater extent I feel.

While most readers engage themselves in fiction, nonfiction is highly ignored—and I’m guilty of this maybe more than anyone else. But reading FFN gave me all of the same strong emotions that reading fiction does. I am angered at the villain (in this case large corporations that will do anything for money, including lie to their clients), and I feel emotionally attached to the victims—the rancher, the meatpacker, the fast food franchisee, and the consumer of this meat. But then the realization hits me—this is real.

These huge corporations are really recruiting poor, unskilled laborers, often immigrants to perform very dangerous jobs, refusing them decent wages, insurance, or worse yet, workers compensation when they hurt themselves. While it is true that the evidence is anecdotal, it is perhaps the only evidence that will ever be available, since these companies have a long unpunished history of lying. Lying to their workers, lying to the government, and lying to their customers.

At first I was simply horrified by the human aspect. How terribly these companies treat their workers. It is extremely despicable, but even I cannot capture all of the terrors. You’ll have to read the book to understand.

But after the human aspect, FFN took a twist toward The Jungle. Sinclair would be truly pleased. The fact that these companies are so powerful, they don’t have to test their meats for salmonella or e. coli is awesome: unless you’re one of the millions of unsuspecting meat eaters in the world. It’s truly sickening how much power these companies have. The government has the power to recall all kinds of defective merchandise, but not potentially lethal meat.

Obviously this book has a very liberal bias. But so do I, so I don’t mind much. It took a LONG time to read, but is worth it I feel.

First published in January 2001, "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal," by Eric Schlosser, is a nonfiction work detailing the history of the fast food industry: how these chains came into existence, and the corporate and government choices that have completely overhauled Big Ag in the process.

A large section of this book examines the modern meatpacking industry, the impacts of moving plants into areas without unions, making sure unions cannot form, and then hiring undocumented illiterate immigrants to work jobs that regularly maim and kill people, all without any government oversight and zero consequences.

"Fast Food Nation" is an examination of modern food industries that lack humanity at every level, companies that put out products contaminated with fecal matter (and many other adulterants), which sickens and kills people each year.

The USDA and the FDA allow this to happen. Over twenty years later, this is still happening. The unchecked power of these multinational, monopolistic corporations has gotten nothing but stronger.

I absolutely loved this book. This is one of the very best books I've ever read in my life.

Five million stars.

This book was SO much better than I was expecting it to be! I mean, I went into it figuring I would learn something but I was NOT expecting it to be so entertaining and have so many facts and anecdotes that were literally jaw-dropping. There's a good amount of history in the book which I wasn't expecting but found really interesting. Fast Food Nation is hugely informative and eye opening and I truly truly recommend it to everyone.

An interesting take on how evil “big corporate food is”. I assume in America, because I have heard of so many that have had the exact opposite happen to them in Canada.

People who have had the “Fast food” joint endure they were well cared fir after an accident. I have dealt with 100’s of claims against insurance companies (and workers comp) that deny the workers claims and often I am paid by the employers.

"Are you eating? Don't start reading this book. The inside track on all things fast food from the marketing tricks to get kids hooked on the food (toys in happy meals), all of the way through to some of the REAL nasties. Minute changes between rat poison and flavouring for strawberry thickshakes, cow carcasses not properly cleaned before being shipped off to be processed - I told you not to eat!! See the power these major companies have to squeeze every dollar out of producers, read about the humble beginnings and how corporate greed drove the market. And what is the most complained about fast food chain in the whole of the U.S.A?? Hint - it's not McDonalds or KFC - you'll be surprised. An amazing book for of facts and horror stories, w
ell worth a read."

After reading this book, I gave up all fast food in the likes of McDonalds, Wendy's, etc.
TONS of info that can be quite difficult and boring to get through, but still very eye-opening. The author goes into extensive detail about the workers in the meatpacking industry. He presents the inhumane treatment of animals as a parallel to the degrading, dangerous, unhealthy jobs of the humans who are slaughtering and processing these animals.
Overall, this is a worthy read if you are leery of anything involving the American food industry.