Fast Food Nation Book Summary - Fast Food Nation Book explained in key points

Fast Food Nation summary

Name: Fast Food Nation
Rating: 4.3 (26 reviews)
Author: Eric Schlosser

Eric Schlosser

The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

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4.3 (26 ratings)

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What is Fast Food Nation about?

Fast Food Nation shows how the fast food industry has massive consequences on many other aspects of our lives, including our education, health and working conditions. The book reveals the terrible methods and working conditions – caused in great part by the fast food industry’s focus on profit – that are used to create our food.

About the Author

Eric Schlosser is an American investigative journalist. He is a contributor to TheAtlantic and has received several prizes for his writings including the National Magazine Award. His other books include Reefer Madness and Chew On This.

Table of Contents

Key idea 1 of 11

American fast food owes its success to the McDonald brothers’ revolutionary adoption of factory production principles.

Like it or not, practically everyone has eaten at McDonald’s at some point or another in their lives. The company’s golden arches are the iconic symbol of fast food and American culture around the world. But what made McDonald’s and other fast food chains so successful in the first place?

First off, fast food was originally served by waitresses on roller-skates in Southern Californian drive-ins. In Southern California in the 1950s, drive-in restaurants, movies and even churches had become increasingly popular due to the availability of cars and the development of suburbs.

In this setting, the mix of cheap food, cars and pretty waitresses soon turned fast food restaurants into popular hangouts for teenagers.

Then the McDonald brothers came along – and revolutionized the fast food business.

Their main focus was on efficiency and speed: they served only a few simple meals that could be easily eaten without cutlery, packaged their food and drinks in simple, paper packaging, and stopped serving people in cars.

But, most importantly, they saved time and money by adopting the principles of a factory assembly line: each employee was assigned one easy-to-learn task – like flipping burgers or dressing salads – which reduced costs and optimized speed.

This new speed and affordability started to attract different kinds of customers. McDonald’s moved beyond a teenage hangout to a place where families could finally afford to take their kids to a restaurant.

These developments made the so-called “Speedee Service System” incredibly successful: between 1960 and 1973, the number of McDonald’s restaurants grew from 250 to 3,000, and was soon imitated by many other fast food chains.

Today’s major chains, like Burger King, Wendy’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken, all owe their success to quickly catching on to the McDonald’s model.

The success of the assembly line style of food production has radically transformed the way we work, eat, and live – in America and all over the world.

Fast food chains target children and teenagers as potential customers – even in schools.

When we think of selling something, we probably think of appealing to the people who earn money, i.e., adults. But the fast food industry was one of the first to discover a much more responsive audience: children.

Children have proven to be the perfect customers because they can pressure their parents into buying things. Since the 1980s, parents have tended to spend less time with their kids while spending more money on them to compensate. Simply put, by getting children to want a product, companies can get parents to buy it.

The fast food industry uses employment policies that exploit the weak.

Would you like to work at a fast food restaurant? You get free food and a friendly atmosphere, so it’d be a good deal, right? Think again.

Fast food industry jobs are rife with problems, and many of them stem from their assembly line method. Because assembly line work comprises only simple individual tasks, fast food workers don’t require or receive intense training.

The franchise business model benefits corporations more than franchise owners.

Many people dream of opening their own business, but are afraid of failing.

The franchise model allows individuals to purchase a license to open up their own restaurant as part of an already existing chain, and promises the mix of independence and security that has helped fast food chains spread all over the world.

When you eat fast food, what you taste is not what you get.

Have you ever eaten strawberry yogurt? If so, how many strawberries do you think it contained? Chances are not a single one. Because nowadays it’s less about the real deal and more about the flavor.

That’s because the flavor of a product often determines its market success – or failure.

The fast food industry has had devastating effects on the lives of U.S. farmers.

When we think about the U.S., we imagine the “all-American” farmers working on vast fields in the Midwest. But the reality of today’s farmers is very different.

For example, today only a few giant suppliers compete to dominate the potato, poultry and beef markets.

The meatpacking industry has ravaged American towns.

Have you ever wondered how a burger can cost only $1? One major reason is the treatment of cattle and poultry. But there are also human beings who suffer the consequences every day: the meatpacking workers.

The roots of their suffering trace back to the 1960s when the meatpacking industry adopted the assembly line style of production.

The never-ending hunt for profits makes working in the meatpacking industry especially dangerous.

Can you imagine working in a slaughterhouse? It’s not only a dirty, hard and poorly paid job – it’s also extremely dangerous.

In fact, a slaughterhouse is the most dangerous place to work in the U.S., with an injury rate three times higher than in a normal American factory.

Fast food production is largely responsible for the increase of foodborne illness in America.

Most people know that fast food is unhealthy. But while we normally think obesity is the worst health consequence, something much worse, and much more dangerous, is happening behind the scenes.

Deadly bacteria, like E. coli 0157:H7, proliferate in the world of cheap, quick beef production.

The fast food industry has conquered the world – literally.

When we take a vacation abroad, we never know what to expect: strange languages, unknown places, wondrous adventures. But one thing is pretty sure: at one point or another, we’ll see a McDonald’s.

But how did the fast food industry gain such widespread influence?

Final Summary

The key message in this book:

Fast, cheap food comes at a price: exploitative working practices, obesity epidemics and decreased meat quality. By cutting every corner possible to make the maximum profit, the fast food industry does damage to people’s jobs, health and education worldwide.

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Who should read Fast Food Nation

Anyone who cares about their own health
Anyone who wants to understand the wide-reaching implications of a single industry
Anyone interested in human and animal rights

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Fast Food Nation summary

Listen to the first key idea

What is Fast Food Nation about?

About the Author

American fast food owes its success to the McDonald brothers’ revolutionary adoption of factory production principles.

Fast food chains target children and teenagers as potential customers – even in schools.

The fast food industry uses employment policies that exploit the weak.

The franchise business model benefits corporations more than franchise owners.

When you eat fast food, what you taste is not what you get.

The fast food industry has had devastating effects on the lives of U.S. farmers.

The meatpacking industry has ravaged American towns.

The never-ending hunt for profits makes working in the meatpacking industry especially dangerous.

Fast food production is largely responsible for the increase of foodborne illness in America.

The fast food industry has conquered the world – literally.

Final Summary

Key ideas in Fast Food Nation

American fast food owes its success to the McDonald brothers’ revolutionary adoption of factory production principles.

Fast food chains target children and teenagers as potential customers – even in schools.

The fast food industry uses employment policies that exploit the weak.

The franchise business model benefits corporations more than franchise owners.

When you eat fast food, what you taste is not what you get.

The fast food industry has had devastating effects on the lives of U.S. farmers.

The meatpacking industry has ravaged American towns.

The never-ending hunt for profits makes working in the meatpacking industry especially dangerous.

Fast food production is largely responsible for the increase of foodborne illness in America.

The fast food industry has conquered the world – literally.

Final Summary

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