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Book Review: Fast Food Nation (Schlosser)

I had heard a lot about this book, including lots of interviews with the author, before I read it. It got put on my list of books that I should read some day, but I didn't actually read because I figured I understood its point without having to read it. Yes, the fast food industry has made our culture less diverse. Yes, the beef industry is terrible towards its workers and towards health concerns. A friend had the book, though, so I decided I would borrow it and give it a go. I took away more than I thought I would. I don't like reading very anecdotal books, which this was (although there is documented research in the footnotes, it doesn't seem like an academic analysis), because I know that anecdotes can be very misleading. But reading chapter after chapter of these horrible stories, including such a wide range of bad things, really did leave an impression on me. I am very glad I haven't eaten beef in a long time. I'm glad I have stopped eating at fast food restaurants. My horror at the evils of government regulatory agencies run by people who don't believe in government regulation has increased greatly. Look at the active recalls from the FSIS and note the slow response time from when the samples were taken to when the meat was recalled. Sure, some of the cases are small, but some are huge (19,000,000 pounds of ground beef?). I know it probably isn't the greatest danger people face, but it seems like it is so easily preventable. In any case, the book is good, although if you don't want to read about the history of fast food restaurants, you might just want to skip to the beef industry chapters. They probably leave the most impact.