Summary Of Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation

Throughout the best selling non-fiction novel, Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser dissects McDonald's and the food industry that supplies these corporations. He explains how the company came about and the influences it has on us socially and economically. His book was published in 2001, and gain critical acclaim for being “excellently researched… peppered with acerbic commentary and telling interviews… Highly recommended - Liberty Journal”. Schlosser himself visited a meat packing facility, interviewed many in the industry, and uncovers secrets as he dissects each aspect of the fast food industry. The book starts off with humble beginnings, a classic rags to riches story, where a person has a simple idea that explodes and becomes the new trend.
It is used to establish the credibility of the author or group. Throughout the book, Schlosser attacks the credibility of the fast food industry, by exposing their flaws, their methods used to raise profits, and the ways they control the market. He doesn’t just tell the reader about the issues, he shows the reader so they can see with their own eyes. One such method, is child manipulation. Large corporations currently spend billions on advertising and have divisions solely for advertising to children. Their belief is that the children bring parents, and the parents bring money. They are “hoping that nostalgic childhood memories of a brand will lead to a lifetime of purchases, companies now plan ‘cradle to grave’ advertising strategies” (42). The intention is brand loyalty, they want a consumer to eat or suggest eating a particular food establishment, because they have happy memories of the place. In addition, McDonald’s is hoping when these children have matured, they expose their children to the establishment. So they can create a never ending cycle of cash flow. This form of manipulation lessens the credibility of the industry, because they have resorted to manipulating children in order to bring in revenue. In addition, the fast food industry has a reputation of being unhealthy and unsafe for consumption. However, the industry has so much power by buying off politicians. Issues like “efforts to prevent the sale of tainted ground beef have
It pulls in the audience's emotion by try and making them feel a certain way by displaying sadness, confidence, or happiness. The author makes the reader feel sorry and disgusted with the industry and what they do to cut costs. He explains that fast food workers have had one of the highest murder rates, second only to police officers! As officers responded to a robbery they saw, “the bodies lay in an empty restaurant as burglar alarms rang, game lights flashed, a vacuum cleaner ran and Chuck E. Cheese mechanical animals continued to perform children's songs” (87). These are jobs that a majority of young adults, teens, apply for and yet they have one of the highest death rates, for simply serving food. Even after this example, Schlosser in gruesome detail, explains other examples of young fast food workers getting killed or hurt on the job. Also, he visits a ranch where he meets a man named Hank. He sells his cattle to the meat industry. Hank seems like a happy person in the beginning and took charge of his business. But, Hank commits suicide a few months after. There maybe multiple reasons why he took his life. It could have been caused “by the consolidation and homogenizing influence of the fast food chains, by monopoly power in the meatpacking industry, by depressed prices in the cattle market” (146). Because of the multiple factors that Hank had no control of, he took his life. He had two kids and a wife, but the pain he felt was too great to