Review of 'Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book was very interesting and disheartening. I could only read so much of it before I ad to put it down and switch to something lighter for a time.
I thought this was going to be a disgusting portrayal of what is in fast food, and various stories I'd herd over the years about rats heads being found in big macs came to mind. But, even in the chapter titled "What's in the meat?", the author only talks about Ecolio 157,h7n, and the lack of regulation surrounding the recall of bad meat.
The author talked about the exploitation of workers, from immigran meat packers to teenagers manning the counters of fast food franchises.
Basically, in a nutshell, this book talks about how opportunistic businessmen created corporations that seemed to take on a life of their own after a while, and greed and money became more important than workers' or …
This book was very interesting and disheartening. I could only read so much of it before I ad to put it down and switch to something lighter for a time.
I thought this was going to be a disgusting portrayal of what is in fast food, and various stories I'd herd over the years about rats heads being found in big macs came to mind. But, even in the chapter titled "What's in the meat?", the author only talks about Ecolio 157,h7n, and the lack of regulation surrounding the recall of bad meat.
The author talked about the exploitation of workers, from immigran meat packers to teenagers manning the counters of fast food franchises.
Basically, in a nutshell, this book talks about how opportunistic businessmen created corporations that seemed to take on a life of their own after a while, and greed and money became more important than workers' or animals' rights.
I understand, though, that the objective of this book was to portray the absolute worst of the worst. I'm not saying any of it is untrue, and perhaps I'm being a little too optimistic, but I'd like to think that charities like the Ronald McDonld Children's Foundation help to balance some of the bad things McDonalds is known for.
It is sad, though, to see how industry can take on a life of its own and how it can gain control over the government that is supposed to protect the interest of the consumer. I live in Canada, and the book mainly talked about the FDA and various other administrative bodies located in the United States. But I'm sure things are pretty much the same around here as in other developed countries.
What really amazes me is thatmany people are so vocal about countries like China and their lack of human rights legislation when human rights are being violated and downright ignored in countries that pretend to know better. But that doesn't really have anything to do with this book. :)
Over all a good read Informative but depressing.
