Surprisingly, Fast Food Nation has totally changed the way that I view the fast food industry. In this all to real work by Eric Schlosser, the reader is taken on an exploration through the fast food industry and its many aspects. Despite the fact that many arguments are based on the boring stores that he narrates, this book was very informative to the blind American consumer, such as myself. Schlosser tells the reader about the many steps that go into the production of a fast food meal. He also deals with the many topics that we, the fast food consumers, never even realize exist: meat and potato production, and the process of becoming a franchisee of a fast food joint. Changing the way that we simply view fast food seems to be the goal of this book.
Introducing the entire story with a segment about a classified under military base built on the inside of a mountain, Cheyenne Mountain was a very interesting approach.
English: McDonalds' sign in Harlem.
English: Fast food in Yambol, Bulgaria Бълга...
A pair of In-N-Out cheeseburgers.Schlosser used this segment to give the reader an example of exactly how important the fast food industry is to America. Schlosser also begins to set the ground for the entire writing that is to follow: marketing, location and future. One important idea that is discussed is the idea that we, American society, do not trust some one that is a non-conformist thus helping industries sell products. "Customers are drawn to familiar brands by an instinct to avoid the unknown. A brand offers a feeling of reassurance when its products are always and everywhere the same" (Schlosser 5). Many concepts are discussed and outlined, but the most important part of the fast food industry is the men (and women) that started this relatively recent food production method.
Chapter one is entirely about the men that began...