Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

The book, Fast Food Nation, is a non-fiction novel written by Eric Schlosser. It is a factual book about the fast food industry’s mark on American society. It goes on to prove how Americans are dependant on the fast food industry, targeting toddlers and teens. Children are still establishing their tastes and habits so eight-year-olds are considered ideal customers. They still have about sixty-five years of purchasing in front of them. This was a quote given by a fast food chain director in my book, Fast Food Nation. They are trying to back up the argument it is okay to put ads for fast food and soft drinks in schools. This whole book has interesting facts and statistics about our growing obese society. The author did an amazing job giving the reader stunning facts about the fast food industry’s effect on society. It started out with the background of how the first fast food franchise was started. It all began with a small hot dog stand on the west coast and grew into a multi-billion dollar franchises world wide. He also touched on how the workers are treated. The low wage, long hour jobs millions of Americans have to endure on a daily basis just to keep food in their family’s bellies and clothes on their backs. He shows how poorly the workers are treated on the job and what some workers have to go through in some of the bad neighborhoods. In all, I thought the author did a good job. Some of the chapters were a little boring to me and I had a hard time getting through them because it seemed as if it was just fact after fact. That does not keep my interest. I would recommend this book to anyone, male or female, young or old. It has a lot of interesting facts about our society. If you are interested in the well being and history of how fast food franchises became to be in American society, this would be a good book for you to read.

Christine A.