Throughout my life, I've eaten at fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Burger King because the food tasted good and it was cheap. I even remember, as a kid, begging to get happy meals at McDonald's because of the small toys they sell with every meal purchase. After reading Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal (by Eric Schlosser 2001), my opinion of the rapidly growing and increasingly influential fast food industry has changed dramatically. Eric Schlosser's effective writing style includes detailed imagery that has permanently burned into my memory. Showing the avarice of the largest fast food chains in America, the author explained how these companies try to keep material and labor costs as low as possible in order to increase revenues. Also, his investigative research and visits to slaughterhouses provides a vivid picture of how easily beef is tainted and unclean, and how substandard the working conditions are in such places. Schlosser also shows the atrocity of the fast food industry's targeting of children. By marketing unabashedly to children in both mass media advertisement and even in schools, the industry adds to the already alarming obesity rate in America. Eric Schlosser's journalistic writing style and effective use of anecdotes both effectively informed and influenced my thoughts. This book is easily one of the best non-fiction, informative books I've ever read and has profoundly influenced my opinion of the fast food industry. Now, I believe the industry masks it's immorality and wickedness with advertising facades and low cost food with great taste-- all in order to cheat the average consumer, and to single-mindedly increase profits. Anyone that is looking for a strong, informative, non-fiction read for any purpose should look no further than this.
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