When reading this book I briefly contemplated becoming a vegetarian until I realised the author also had a political message to go along with the gross out factor he was aiming for. This book is about the fast food giants, mostly focusing on MacDonalds, and how that mega giant company has changed the USA, not only with eating habits, but the practices of the beef and chicken suppliers.

There is a history of MacDonalds, rhetoric about the demise of unions, unfair labor practices, dangerous conditions, discussions about the way fragrances and flavors are developed, marketing to children, and very little about the actual way fast food is made (maybe because the authors were not allowed to see the plants). There is a great picture of a mouth after sucking on a baby bottle filled with Coke, that will put me off soda for ever!

You will learn about the history of MacDonalds, the meat packers, the plight of the workers and the animals, and how the family farm has been swallowed up by huge corporations.

I thought this book would have more science in it, and less politics.

Not drink soda (I don't), eat meat (I will) or chicken (I probably will)

Eric Schlosser also wrote "Fast Food Nation". He and his coauthor are journalists.

If you live under a rock, and don't understand that fast food is dirty food, or you don't know that huge corporations change everything for the worst, then you need to read this book.

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Created Mar 31, 2007 at 5:52am • Submit your own review...