I have just finished reading this book, and I felt it was a good insight on what goes in to your Mcdonalds Burger. It points out the crimes againts employees of slaughterhouses and fastfood chains, and how fast food has been changing America's culture. It hasnt turned me into a vegetarian, to prempt any comments, but I have refrained from fast-food since. I also have noticed that many other people have been reading the book. At school, on the plane, and in the waiting room. It has made Eric Schlosser a popular and famous author. However, is this book really a factual, informative insight on the fast food and slaughter industry... or is it just another bunch of blatant, baseless attacks?

I don't really like Mcdonald's or any other fast food places, but I think everyone should be allowed to eat whatever they want. I think people should try to find out more about the food they eat, but that is a personal decision , some people prefer not to worry about it.

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oh come on. you liberals go after Wal-Mart and now you go after fast food?! just when i thought you couldnt get any more incredible, you push it. if the American people want to buy fast fod then let them. you have no right to dictate what other people eat.

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Oh come on, when I thought you couldn't engage in anymore of a straw man you still continue to amaze me. Where did anybody say fast food should be outlawed, please show me where you pulled this from? Perhaps you mistake shouldn't with can't. From my quick browsing of the posts on here there hasn't one person who has said anything in the nature of "fast food should be outlawed." If such a statement were present then you could make the accusation that they are trying to “dictate what other people eat." But as it stands most of the statements have been generally about negative effects of fast food which are trying to get the point across that you SHOULDN'T eat fast food. Stop putting words in peoples mouths in order to make your weak arguments look better, especially your personal vendetta/crusade against liberals.

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which liberl empire is this hrting/ because you know that liberals dont go after businesses unless those business hurt their companies. its called competition.

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The usual rhetoric I see
And I forgot Wal-mart is the shinning example of competition and free-market capitalism with their monopoly. I guess it's true that Neo-Cons love engaging in double-speak, monopoly=free-market.

oh come on. you liberals go after walmart and now you go after fast food?! just when i thought you couldnt get any more incredible, you push it. if the American people want to buy fast fod then let them. you have no right to dictate what other people eat. which liberl empire is this hrting/ because you know that liberals dont go after businesses unless those business hurt their companies. its called competition.

here's my opinion:

America has a bunch of problems about eating habits and other addictions. People can't help it, it is how they were brought up. People are fat, it's nothing new, but they shouldn't blame it on somewhere they ate, they ordered it, it's there fault. But cigarettes and drugs are just the same, if people want to ruin there bodies, then it is there decisions. It's good to try and help people out to stop them but, if they won't be stopped, then there is nothing we can do about it. Besides, can people really overthrow McDonalds? It's worldwide. Think about it.

OK, i am a vegan so I dont really eat fast food but here's my take...

Eat the stuff... go ahead and eat it... just dont be pissed when fast food makes you fat.Dont think that it is anybody's fault but your own... because it is not because YOU are the person who chose to eat it or order the large or super sized value meal - And by the way... if you're talking about McDonalds, they offer several salads, so even if you have no time to cook a decent meal at home... its still your fault that you ordered the burger instead of the salad.

I think that people should choose what they want to eat. However, I also think that people who want to stop eating fast-food are so addicted to it that they can't stop. This just brings on the law-suits, which is why Mc'donalds and Burger-King are making salads now.

Fast food is very bad, you can go to Nutri Facts and look up the calories and such for food that fastfood restaurants serve and see that. We all know it's bad for us, but some people are so busy with work, and children that they don't have time to cook.

Even when we cook meals at home we eat more because we are used to eating more at fast-food restaurants. I try not to eat much fast-food but I really can't help it.

Well that's a lie, I can help it, I can stop eating it but I am so used to eating foods like this.

the way animals are killed and treated in factory farms (where most fast food comes from) is disgusting and appaling and inhumane. KFC is horrible to thier chickens, i forget the name of the website, but their is one that outlines the disgusting cruelty that goes on there. I'm a Vegetarian, and I'm really glad that they sell vegi burgers at places like McDonalds now (but i still don't think they have anything vegetarian freindly at A&W, KFC, or Wendys)

I also think that if a person get fat or unhelthy from ordering all of those supersized Mc combo meals, that is their fault. No one is dragging them kicking and screaming through the doors and force-feeding them it. they ordered it on thier own free will, and unless they are compleatly stupid, they should probably also know that hamburgers and coke aren't exacly healthy.

I think that if a parent is feeding thier kid fast food all the time, and just letting thier child sit infront of the TV all day, and the kid gets overweight, the parent shouldn't go sueing the fast food company or the TV brodcaster, they should know that it is thier own (or the child's) fault for allowing their child to do that all the time.

[This message was edited by NewWorldHippie on July 23, 2004 at 08:42 PM.]

I have just gotten back from a vacation in Italy, so its been awhile since I've been on these boards, and I have found the one I created to have progressed in quite an interesting way.

Many people on here say that we should not sue the FF companies because they have created obesity. I can agree with that.

However,

I still think we should sue Fast Food.

Fast Food companies do a terrible job of treating and paying their employees (I know its not a job you join because I you expect to become rich,) but the payrolls of employees of fast food chains today is to small. They can not be unionized and are victims of the Capitilsm without a conscience. For this, the FF industry deserves the hammer on them.

i believe that fast food has led to the declince of the american soceity. think about it, because of fast food it has feuled the market for low income jobs and no place for advancement. People have nothing to aspire to if they know they can always fall back on a minimum wage job. two, fast food has destroyed the ideal of the family dinner. family dinners are a good way to create moral values and bonds between famalies. three, it has ruined the diet of america, allowing us to see way beyond portion size with the great biggie. countless millions of animals are stock-raised to be eaten. four, it has allowed americans to become less skilled in cullinary arts and has made us a stop and go asap society. im glad that McD's streatched out on a limb to say with ther new "healthy meals" that constitute of salad and water. instead of just water, why not a lightly sweetend carbonated water beverage. theyre like soft drinks but better for you. and their bold move to stick in apple in happy meals, but the reality is the apples probably wont even be any good. thus turn ing the youngsters away from apples and other healthy unprocessed foods.

if anyone has ever heard of the jewish dietary laws, kashrut, you might see some intresting stuff. think about it, when you eat a cheeseburger you are both eating the meat of the cow and the milk which would be for its young...it just seems wrong to do this. ive been eating cheeeseburgers all my life and not really cared about it. but now i try to get somthing without the two combined.

however much we hate fastfood we will always need it and rely on it. afterall, we are a fast food nation.

There aren't many completely healthy options at fast food restaurants but there are a few. I'm a vegetarian and I have no problem stopping at Wendy's, McDonald's, or most other fast food restaurants and finding something to eat. I know a lot of people eat A LOT of fast food and become unhealthy. But, you know what, that's their fault. I just think its funny how everyone always blames the restaurant and hardly ever blames the people.

[QUOTE] nonetheless, i still want to know what redeming qualities marine sees in tobacco or fast food? [/QUOTE

i like my cigarettes and fast food thats good enough "redeming qualities" for me

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the book it more spin from hypocritical AR goons...

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Have you ever read the book? You never answered my question on the other post (PETA vs. Public Schools). This is not an animal rights book. It is a book about the fast food industry. He is not, I repeat, is not a vegetarian. He is clearly in favor of small family operated farms as opposed to large corporate-owned ones. Here is part of an interview he did (the author of fast food nation) about this:
Q: Are you a vegetarian? Do you eat fast food?
A: I have a lot of respect for people who are vegetarian for religious or ethical reasons. Despite all my research, however, I'm still a carnivore. My favorite meal, by far, is a cheeseburger with fries. But I don't eat ground beef anymore. I've seen firsthand what goes into it, and I'm angry about the careless greed of the meatpacking industry. I still eat beef, though I always try to buy meat that's been produced by ranchers who care about their animals and the land. And no, I won't eat fast food anymore. Not until the industry changes its ways.
And here's a quote from an article about the book from sfweekly.com ( http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/2002-01-23/nightday2.html ):
"What makes Schlosser's argument particularly poignant is that he's not a vegetarian or even an animal rights activist. In fact, he claims that a cheeseburger with fries is his favorite meal. So what's a carnivore to do? Fortunately, California is home to In-N-Out, the regional chain that gets the thumbs-up from Schlosser."
And he only mentioned PETA once in fast food nation and that was only because they held protests outside of various mcdonalds restaurants to tell them to improve their animal welfare standards (which mcdonalds ended up doing). He's very pro-people (at least when it comes to slaughterhouse conditions for workers).
What is your reason for making that comment tiger?

nonetheless, i still want to know what redeming qualities marine sees in tobacco or fast food?

This book is one of the ones that are on the list for my summer AP assignment. I'm still trying to deside between it and the tipping point. Anyone read both? Anyways, I hear it's a good book. not sure I want to write a paper on it though.... hummm

Hey did you guys know that the owner of Jolibee which is the counterpart of America's MacDonalds is the world's biggest entrepreneur? He beat 31 other businessmen in the food chain. I saw it in some newspapers here and i am proud of the owner of Jollibee coz its a Philippine fast food chain and it stated in the papers that Jollibee has many chains including Asia and in USA, i think in California and almost all places here in the philippines have that....

the united states of america is the country with the worst diet/food habits in the world. it is a fast-food nation.

-arinahorn

That would be called opinion. What if I said cigarettes taste bad and aren't filling? Anyway, they do make money in different ways; while fast food chains encourage you to come back and stuff, they sure as hell aren't putting any addictive drugs in their hamburgers! LOL. (That would be nicotine, in cigarettes, if you couldn't guess.) It is much harder, almost impossible for some people to quit tobacco products than a stinking fast food meal. Fat people (the people that visit FF restaurants all the time) need to watch what they're putting in their mouths. Heck, I'm fat, but I do acknowledge that when I put something (food) in my mouth, it'll probably be adding fat to my body.

*This post has been deemed Uber Idiot Cult (that is, the "coalition") free by the likes of those superior in intelligence an attempt to lash out against harmful hypocrites on YouthNOISE.*

how do they make money in different ways? they both play off people's weaknesses and needs... **** it's both oral satisfaction. fast food doesnt taste good, nor is it filling.

Yes, purpledog, I see one!!! They both make lots of money!!! (But in entirely different ways.) And since Marine16's and Freemarketlover's fathers both supposedly own huge corporations, maybe one of those are "entitled" "to" those morons.

*This post has been deemed Uber Idiot Cult (that is, the "coalition") free by the likes of those superior in intelligence an attempt to lash out against harmful hypocrites on YouthNOISE.*