Fast Food Nation

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001) is a book by Eric Schlosser, first serialized by Rolling Stone in 1999. The book examines the fast food industry in the United States and its global effects. Noted for its "muckraking" techniques in the tradition of Upton Sinclair, it is a work of polemical journalism.

Summary

Schlosser examines how the increasing dominance of fast food and the industry, which supports it, have led to changes in American society. In particular, Schlosser argues that the fast food industry has used political influence to increase profits at the expense of human health and the social conditions of its workers.

In his brief introduction, Schlosser describes Cheyenne Mountain, a military base in Colorado. He establishes a connection between fast food and the military base through a hypothetical nuclear war. After such a war, anthropologists of the future would discover remnants of American society, such as fast food wrappers from the base's employees. Schlosser argues that these discarded fast food wrappers might be more indicative of American society than much of American literature.

The book continues with an account of the evolution of fast food and how it coincided with the advent of the automobile. He explains the transformation from countless independent restaurants into a few uniform franchises. This shift led to a production-line kitchen prototype, standardization, self-service, and a change in marketing demographics: from teenager to family-oriented.

Regarding the topic of child-targeted marketing, Schlosser explains how the McDonald's Corporation modeled the marketing tactics of The Walt Disney Company, which inspired the creation of advertising icons such as Ronald McDonald and his supporting characters. The theory behind this shift to child-targeted marketing was that it would not only attract children but also their parents and grandparents as well. More importantly, it would instill brand loyalty in them, which would persist throughout adulthood through nostalgic associations to McDonald's. Its ills are discussed: the exploitation of children's naïve, trusting nature and that the average child watches 21 hours of television per week.

Schlosser states that corporate tax cuts that have compromised school funding have presented many corporations with the opportunity for sponsorship within those same schools. According to sources, 80% of the sponsored textbooks contain material that is biased in favor of the sponsors, and 30% of high schools offer fast foods in their cafeterias. Furthermore, high school student Mike Cameron was suspended from school for an incident on "Coke day"; during a promotional event, the student exhibited a Pepsi t-shirt while he and other students clad in red and white formed the word 'Coke' in the football field that was to be photographed aerially.

In his examination of the meat packing industry Schlosser finds that it is now dominated by casual, easily exploited immigrant labor and that levels of injury are among the highest of any occupation in the United States. Schlosser discusses his findings on meat packing companies IBP, Inc. and Ken Monfort. Also, Schlosser retells the disastrous steps of meat processing, and reveals the shocking truths about the typical beef and chicken patty, which are believed to be based on cattle and poultry who eat things such as manure, dead cats and dogs, and themselves.

Schlosser notes that there are more robberies at fast-food restaurants than at banks, gas stations or convenience stores.

In the later section of the book, the fast food industry's effect role in globalization is discussed, linking increased obesity in China and Japan with the arrival of fast food. A summary of the McLibel case is included.

In later editions, Schlosser has added a final section, including reviews of his book, counters to some critics that emerged since first publication, and then discusses the effect that the threat of BSE had on Federal Government policy towards cattle farming. He concludes 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 soluble, given enough political will.

Trivia

The book is mentioned in "Franco Un-American," a song from NOFX's album The War on Errorism in the lines "I'm eating vegetation, 'cause of Fast Food Nation; I'm wearing uncomfortable shoes 'cause of globalization."

Film adaptation

A film adaptation of Fast Food Nation was filmed on locations in Mexico, and the United States (in Texas and Colorado) under the codename Coyote.^{^*} It was produced by Participant Productions, and directed and written by Richard Linklater. It was premiered on May 19, 2006 at the Cannes Film Festival. It is scheduled for a fall 2006 theatre release.

The movie uses a fictionalized approach instead of being a documentary, telling the story from the point of view of people involved in the industry. The ensemble cast includes Greg Kinnear, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ethan Hawke, Luis Guzman, Patricia Arquette, Kris Kristofferson, Lou Taylor Pucci, Ana Claudia Talancon, Esai Morales, Wilmer Valderrama, Bruce Willis, and Avril Lavigne.

Young Adult version

An adaptation of Fast Food Nation for younger readers entitled Chew On This was published in May 2006 by Houghton Mifflin. It is co-authored by Charles Wilson.

ISBN numbers

ISBN 0060938455 (paperback edition 2002, 400pp.)
ISBN 0713996021 (paperback edition 2001, 368pp.)
ISBN 0141006870 (paperback edition 2002, 400pp.)
ISBN 0395977894 (hardcover edition 2001, 288pp.)

External links

Online study guide for Fast Food Nation
Read an excerpt of Fast Food nation here
Fast Food Nation movie site
In May 2006 Eric Schlosser debated McDonalds live on television. A video of the debate can be found at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dclZxxaB6XE