Fast Food Nation

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2001

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapter 9-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapter 9-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 9 Summary: “What’s in the Meat”

Schlosser begins the chapter with an account of a widespread E. coli outbreak that occurred in 1997. Public health officials in Pueblo, Colorado, working with the USDA, were able to trace the outbreak to a specific meatpacking plant in Columbus, Nebraska. By the time the discovery was made and a beef recall was announced by Hudson Foods (the company that operated the meatpacking plant), “25 million pounds of the ground beef had already been eaten” (194). Schlosser then investigates the overall safety record of meatpacking plants nationwide and discusses how E. coli has thrived as a result of the mass production of beef. Schlosser illustrates how the modern tendency toward mass food production creates the ideal conditions for E. coli and other bacteria, such as Salmonella, to thrive, evolve, and create real threats to the general population. Other food poisoning case studies are introduced, including one in 1993 that involved the Jack in the Box fast food chain in Seattle. In this case, children got sick, and some died from their poisoning.

As is often the case throughout the book, Schlosser examines how the fast food industry has responded over time to challenges to its continued growth. As it relates to food safety, the industry in general has a questionable record. Schlosser examines how industry executives have tried to deflect responsibility onto the meatpacking industry rather than acknowledge any responsibility. Industry leaders have also used their political leverage to resist new food safety initiatives that would help reduce the risk of food poisoning outbreaks, simply because the perceived costs are too high. Meatpackers and other giant food corporations likewise have sought to influence lawmakers. Rather than more government oversight and USDA regulations, many of these food corporations have advocated for fewer regulations and oversight, arguing instead for self-regulation and voluntary food safety initiatives. This includes when and how a food recall is undertaken. As a response to growing concerns over food safety, industry leaders have sought to address these concerns with new technology, such as the introduction of irradiated meat, rather than with an overhaul of current practices at food processing plants where the often unsanitary conditions are the primary culprit for food poisoning outbreaks. Again, the decisions are based on the bottom line rather than the general good.

Chapter 10 Summary: “Global Realization”

Schlosser provides historical context for the German city of Plauen, a somewhat out-of-the-way city that was part of East Germany before the Berlin Wall came down. Plauen had nearly escaped being damaged in WWII, but toward the end of the war, the city was devastated by Allied bombing raids. Since the city fell under East German rule, capitalist projects were few and far between. Once the wall came down, this changed, and McDonald’s opened a new store there. In much of the rest of the chapter, Schlosser describes how American fast food culture has spread across the globe. He details how various nations and cultures initially welcomed McDonald’s and other chains. He also addresses the corresponding increase in obesity in countries that experienced a fast food boom, such as Japan. He discusses how McDonald’s proposed construction of a new store about a mile away from the Dachau prison camp, outside Munich, where the Nazis inflicted unimaginable cruelty on Jewish prisoners. It was met with a large amount of protest but opened anyway. As fast food spread across the globe, it seemed that very few, if any, places were off limits. As proof of the increasing economic power of the fast food industry, Schlosser recounts a 1999 visit by former Soviet Union premier Mikhail Gorbachev, who had been hired to give a speech before a convention of fast food industry executives.

Schlosser recounts the growing opposition to the American fast food industry in Europe, detailing a few protests, some of which were violent. He provides an account of a years-long legal case in which two citizens of London were sued for libel by McDonald’s. Through an unwavering commitment to their cause, and over the course of many years, Helen Steel and Dave Morris finally were able to bring to light the unethical corporate practices of McDonald’s. As Schlosser concludes the chapter, he returns once again to Plauen and describes how having a McDonald’s in the city has led to its Americanization, including ubiquitous MTV and the infusion of the American West’s symbols and customs.

Epilogue Summary

Schlosser introduces Dale Lasater, a rancher who has decided to go about his trade differently than the corporate model. He is insisting on grass-fed, free-range cattle and avoids using hormones, antibiotics, and other unnatural supplements for his cattle. Schlosser introduces figures such as Rich Conway, owner of a small restaurant chain in Colorado known as Conway’s Red-Top, and Mary Lou Makepeace, who won the 1999 Colorado Springs mayoral election on promises that included public land protection and the reinvestment of funds into urban areas. Schlosser uses these figures as examples of people who have proven that viable alternatives to the industrialization of food do exist. He then proposes a series of claims offered as solutions to the problems that he has highlighted in the book. He does not believe that any real change will come from elected officials, as he tends to see the agencies tasked with consumer protection as toothless, perhaps even intentionally so. Instead, Schlosser argues that wide-ranging change will come from how Americans view food, and their recognition that fast food in particular is not good for their health or their culture.

Chapter 9-Epilogue Analysis

In Chapter 9, Schlosser continues to develop the theme of Corporate Profit Versus Social Responsibility, detailing the various ways meat becomes tainted and poisoned and chronicles multiple widespread food poisoning outbreaks. Amazingly, the meatpacking industry, as well as the fast food industry, are so powerful that when these outbreaks occur, they have the authority to voluntarily recall poisoned products. Because of complex legal factors, the USDA “does not inform the public when contaminated meat is recalled from fast food restaurants” (212). In the time since Schlosser wrote his book, the USDA has changed course on this policy. However, the point here is that as modern food production has created new risks of contamination, consumer safety has not always been the priority for the meatpacking industry; instead, profit margins and bottom lines have been the industry’s primary concerns.

The final full chapter of the book chronicles the way fast food culture has expanded across the world. Schlosser begins Chapter 10 by describing Plauen, Germany. As part of communist East Germany, capitalist enterprises such as fast food were generally unheard of. After the Berlin Wall came down, however, Plauen soon became overrun with American culture, beginning with the installation of a McDonald’s. Schlosser examines how McDonald’s particularly has spread across the world, a strategy that the fast food giant has named “global realization” and that Schlosser, tongue in cheek, describes as “foreign conquest” (228). Schlosser points out that the strategy has been successful for McDonald’s; at the time he was writing the book, McDonald’s operated in 117 countries around the world (229). Generally, the McDonald’s stores were well received, but there were exceptions. In Dachau, for example, protestors attempted to derail the building of a new McDonald’s so close to a former Nazi concentration camp. Schlosser also spends a significant amount of time on the story of Helen Steele and Dave Morris, two members of London Greenpeace who were sued by McDonald’s for libel and who fought the company in court over many years. The legal fight pulled back the curtain on McDonald’s and showed the company as entirely unethical. Schlosser highlights Morris and Steele’s story because it serves as proof that two ordinary citizens with a cause can confront a corporate Goliath like McDonald’s and put the corporation on the defensive.This idea forms the central purpose of the Epilogue.

For most of the book, Schlosser has tried to remain objective. Except for a few implied or suggestive remarks about the fast food and other affiliated industries, his work serves as a documentation of all aspects of the fast food industry. In the Epilogue, Schlosser expresses his own views and beliefs. For example, he says that “Congress should immediately ban all advertisements aimed at children that promote foods high in fat and sugar” (261). Here there is a clear departure from the tone and style of the previous 10 chapters. Schlosser is providing what he deems are solutions to the problems that he has raised in the text. He offers several other ideas and proposals, and he also presents case studies of those in the food business who serve as exceptions to the ever-increasing dominance of fast food culture. He showcases Dale Lasater, a Texas rancher who believes in a more sustainable and natural approach to cattle raising, and the family owners of Conway’s Red Top Restaurants in Colorado, who have resisted the temptation to grow their company into a massive new fast food corporation; instead, they have purposely elected to keep their business small without sacrificing success. In both examples, Schlosser shows that there are worthy alternatives to fast food culture.