Summary Of Fast Food Nation

McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy’s all have one trait in common; they have a significant impact in the United States. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser is an eye-opening book that exposes the truths roaming around in the fast food industry. This novel explains the influence fast food has in the United States and even around the world. The main message Schlosser attempts to clarify throughout the book is that the fast food industry, since after World War II, has been contaminating various aspects of American life; whether it be physical health or business life, the fast food world has been a massive negative influence over time. Fast Food Nation begins with the introduction of Carl N. Karcher and the McDonalds brothers and how they were essentially the “founding fathers” of the fast food industry in southern California which became the basis for many other pioneers and companies to evolve around the United States. Not only did the discovery of fast food places affect the come-up of other similar businesses, but it also was responsible for the insistence on more beef.

The industry also revolutionized the way these companies ran their stores. To cut back on spending, restaurants would encourage “throughput.” Throughput is the speed and volume in which the factory runs by. This labor system overworks and underpays their employees forcing on a system only based on speed that values the “obedience” of their workers. Since the employees are mostly teenagers, elderly, and non-English speaking workers, these food places take advantage of these people’s ability to be manipulated. Looking for mostly “unskilled workers who are willing to accept low pay,” these big corporations favor teenagers the most “because their youthful inexperience makes them easier to control”