Fast Food Nation

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Katie Lowry
Professor Jen Day
Nutr 1020
14 April 2021
“Fast Food Nation”

“Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser describes the unseen sides of one of America’s
biggest industries. Fast food restaurants began sometime around the 1950s and were very
different from what we know them as now. They were brightly colored car stops were
waitresses, often underpaid, would deliver professionally cooked burgers, fries, and hot dogs
on roller skates to waiting customers. That is until the Mcdonald’s brothers joined the business.
Their goal was to make food fast. They began their business serving food on nice plates with
cutlery, until they found this to be slowing down their progress, and found that people were
stealing these items at an alarming rate. They then scrapped this idea, completely revising their
menu, taking out anything that needed to be eaten with cutlery. Instead, they served their food
on paper plates, in paper raps, and having all drinks in paper cups. They also began the use of
the assembly line in the kitchen, this allowed for more “unskilled” workers to be hired. Anyone
could learn how to do one thing in the kitchen, like flip patties or pour drinks. This made it so
they were no longer paying large amounts to skilled cooks, and it was taking a lot less time with
all those hands in the kitchen. They also began to market items to kids, something that had
never been done before. This was called “The act of persuasion” but was really used to make
kids whine enough to parents until parents finally gave in. Many fast food places (Wendys,
Burger King, Taco Bell) adopted these techniques to help them to serve as much food as the
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Mcdonald’s company was. Now it is commonplace to see these techniques used. Eric Schlosser
also went into the marketing techniques used by these fast food joints, how they would
advertise in schools, sometimes even trying to convince high school kids to skip class to come
and work for them.
I chose to read “Fast Food Nation” because I have always been very interested in the
societal impacts that these seemingly run-of-the-mill companies have. If you think about it, in
our world today you can’t go a mile without running into a fast food place. Oftentimes if you
are looking for somewhere to eat, you are faced with too many options more times than not
any at all. This all seems completely normal to us, but really it isn’t.
Eric Schlosser is an American Journalist, born in New York City in the 1960s. Schlosser
attended Princeton, where he studied history and literary journalism. After Princeton, he spent
three years studying imperial history at Oxford. Along with “Fast Food Nation” he has written
many award-winning books, such as “Reefer Madness” and “America.” He describes his work
as, “an alternative history of the United States.” Schlosser did seem to put much time and
research into this book, spending over a year researching and writing it, though he does not
appear to have any nutrition background or nutrition education.
“Fast Food Nation” came out on January 17, 2001. While this is a while ago, the things
that Eric Schlosser and those he interviewed, predicted would happen, have seemed to come to
pass. Especially with the continuously rising numbers in fast food consumption and growth. If
anything, I believe his work is more applicable today than it was before. It is very alarming to
see what he has warned us about in our everyday life right now.
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“Studies have found that preparing your own food is usually healthier and less
expensive than buying fast food. But most people just don't have the time.”(Eric Schlosser) We
studied in class and in our textbooks how cooking your own meals are healthier and less
expensive, and applying it to our daily lives. Schlosser echoed this sentiment many times
throughout the book. Many times we will instinctively buy fast food when we are tired and
hungry, or maybe just craving something deep-fried and reason with ourselves, ‘it’s just a
couple of bucks, what’s the harm?’ When really those bucks quickly add up. “It's possible to go
to the market, buy good ingredients, and make yourself a healthy meal for less than it costs to
buy a value meal at McDonald's.”(Eric Schlosser)
Eric Schlosser also talked in-depth about how these days kids are drinking double the
amounts of soda, than water or milk. He also says that when filling up and drinking lots of soda,
these kids are filling themselves up with empty carbs. They are jamming themselves full of
sugar and carbs that will not lend them any energy or nutritious value.
Another thing that Schlosser seemed to echo from the textbook is that Fast food is all
artificial flavorings and science experiments. Foods in fast food restaurants are never fresh and
all food is made in a factory. What may have started as beef quickly transforms into something
frozen, long-lasting, and artificially delicious.
After completing this assignment I have realized the true societal effects that
hamburgers and fries can have on a country and on millions of people’s lives. I also learned
about the effect that empty calories and sugary foods can have on the body. This will not keep
me away from fast food but I will think it through before I instinctively turn into a drive-through
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instead of going home and making something for me to eat. It is kind of weird to think that
something as inconsequential as hamburgers can change the entire world as we know it.
Work cited
BookBrowse. “Eric Schlosser Author Biography.” BookBrowse.com,

www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/595/eric-schlosser.
“Eric Schlosser.” Author Bio, web.sbu.edu/friedsam/fastfood/author_bio.htm.
“The New New Journalism: By Robert S. Boynton.” The New New Journalism | By Robert
S. Boynton, www.newnewjournalism.com/bio.php?last_name=schlosser.
Schlosser, Eric, and Brzustowski Geneviève. Fast Food Nation. Autrement, 2003.
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Lowry 1

Professor Jen Day

“Fast Food Nation”

and work for them.

appear to have any nutrition background or nutrition education.

buy a value meal at McDonald's.”(Eric Schlosser)

frozen, long-lasting, and artificially delicious.

BookBrowse. “Eric Schlosser Author Biography.” BookBrowse.com,

“Eric Schlosser.” Author Bio, web.sbu.edu/friedsam/fastfood/author_bio.htm.

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