Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Living in a Fast Food Nation


Reading a page in Stuff White People Like, I discovered that "all white people have Fast Food Nation". This wasn't the first time that I heard about that book, puzzled, I decided to check out what the fuss was about. Having watched Super Size Me, I expected something similar. Luckily, I found something far more persuasive and disturbing which I would proceed to finish in one night. While Super Size Me did indeed frighten me to stop eating fast food, Fast Food Nation put the nail in the coffin.

While Super Size Me focused primarily on the health effects of fast-food, Fast Food Nation goes deeply into the ethical, social and economic issues tied with fast food. From the appalling workplace conditions of slaughterhouse workers, poorly paid teenage workers to the health effects of fast food, such as e. coli poisoning.

A month ago, I wrote a post titled Ten Books to Save the World, which listed powerful books. Now I find that Fast Food Nation should be on that list. It is a precisely written book that is filled with nausea-inducing facts and figures that will persuade even Arnold Schwarzenegger to become a vegetarian. Not because of concerns over his health, but rather, moral concerns over wheter it is right or not to support an industry that puts its "disposable workers" in deadly conditions, suppresses culinary creativityand takes advantage of children through "cradle to grave" ad campaigns.

No comments: