"If we eat McDonald's hamburgers and potatoes for a thousand years, we will become taller, our skin will become white, and our hair will be blonde."
--Den Fujita, President of McDonald's (Japan).
I have never been a fan of fast food, and God knows I have been struggling to eat healthy and right for years. I read the ingredients labels obsessively before I make a food purchase mainly to look for elements that are obviously not "halal":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal or "kosher":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher. I hold everything meat a suspect because I am not entirely certain what goes into the process of packaging, especially the machine-masticated meat-products. So, I was not shocked when reading the the pages where the author describes the additives mixed into the processed food common to all kitchens. The rest of the book, however, propelled me to a reality that shook me to the core, and turned my stomach inside out.
Mr. Schlosser does not seek to present the readers with unpalatable accounts and anecdotes, but the current state of the food industry is unfit for human consumption and there is no other way around it. He unravels what goes on underneath the burger wrappers, between the burger buns, and inside the meat patties. He carefully describes the birth and history of the fast food chains and how they turned into a powerful industry, powerful enough to dictate what goes on in all other industries in the chain of production. Mr. Schlosser then continues to describe the cattle and the meatpacking industries and the unhealthy and inhumane practices that they engage in from the farms all the way to factories and restaurants. He also touches briefly on the advertising and image-making industries where the manipulative strategies made no sense. In another chapter, the author discusses the dent the fast food industry has made on health: from obesity to outbreaks of E. coli and mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy - BSE). Finally, Mr. Schlosser expounds on the apparent and continuously damaging consequences of the industry abroad pushed forth by globalization.
Burger and fries have undeniably become a symbol of a culture, a metaphor of an ideology desired by many, and it is an icon of mass production and consumption. All of these mind-boggling practices of the the industry are generally motivated by unmitigated greed that defines the engine of the corporations, and they are connected in an intricate and interdependent web that impacts the society along the food chain. This book is not just about the dollar meal at the fast food restaurant, it discusses the industry and the culture engendered by the demand that we created, or were forced to create, for all things bigger, faster and cheaper.
It is easy to conclude that the book paints a dire and pessimistic picture of our current condition. But I would argue otherwise. As a reader, I am confronted with the question, "What next?" Knowing the unsettling truths about the food industry, it seems like I am confronted with a dead end. What should I do with this newfound knowledge? Everytime I sink my teeth into a morsel of beef that came from the path described in that book, I am taking pleasure in all that is against the grain of what I believe is ethical, healthy and lawful. Should I abstain from eating meat altogether? Or should I take the progressive route and demand better quality of my food by actively seeking all things organic. I think the book certainly provides food for thought, and encourages the readers to looks deeply into the industry and demand a change of course to a more ethical and healthier consumption.
A word of caution: some portions of the book may be unsavory and disturbing. So tread carefully if you cannot stomach the content.
"Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal":http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060938455/
by Eric Schlosser
Paperback with a new Afterword: 2002
ISBN: 0060938455