Fast Food Nation

I actually finished Fast Food Nation before the the New Year’s weekend, but I had set aside blogging for travel and holiday goodness. I’d already heard quite a bit about the book before picking it up and was warned that it might sour me to the fast food habit. Indeed, I found myself avoiding fast food after just a couple chapters and I haven’t been back to any of the usual suspects yet. Fast Food Nation spends a good deal of time on the actual restaurants but it’s actually quite detailed and diligent about following the entire chain, from consumer’s mouth to industrial agri-business, in its course. The author also spends considerable and enlightening time on the transformation of national and global culture by the fast food phenomena. While there are those that might dismiss some of the points in the book as alarmist, I think the author does a very good job of presenting well-supported and factual illustrations of the dangers and concerns.

Other have been quick to compare Fast Food Nation to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, and the author himself references the work more than once. I personally found it to be a fine “sequel” or sorts for our time. It’s an informative read but perhaps not for those that prefer a degree of insulation from their diets. I, for one, will be glancing a far more critical eye over my plate in the future.