Fast Food Nation Summary

“Out of every $1.50 spent on a large order of fries at fast food restaurant, perhaps 2 cents goes to the farmer that grew the potatoes,” (Schlosser 117). Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser brings to light these realities in his bestselling book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Schlosser, a Princeton and Oxford graduate, is known for his inspective pieces for Atlantic Monthly. While working on article, for Rolling Stone Magazine, about immigrant workers in a strawberry field he acquired his inspiration for the aforementioned book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale). Schlosser sets off chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good,” in Aberdeen,

These three companies have all but either acquired or eliminated their smaller competitors. The giants compete for the leading fast food chain’s contracts, in turn only benefitting the restaurants and increasing their profits (Schlosser 116). The potato industry has become an, “oligopsony- a market in which a small number of buyers exerts power over a large number of sellers,” (Schlosser 117). The potato farmers of Idaho face as Schlosser recounts, “pressure to either get bigger- or get out if the business,” (Schlosser 117). “Over the past twenty-five years, Idaho has lost about half of its potato farmers. Today there are roughly 1100 potato farmers left in Idaho- few enough to fit in a high school auditorium,” (Schlosser

He links the place to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, with his wonderfully selling hallways, cheerful workers in white lab coats, and the hundreds of little glass bottles labeled with mysterious names that seem as if they are magic potion. The corporation’s snack and savory lab s accountable for the taste of everything from potato chips, to breakfast cereals, and pet foods. While he confectionery lab brings forth the flavors of ice creams, candies, and even toothpastes. The beverage lab devises the flavors of soft drinks, bottled teas, and beers (Schlosser 121). IFF is also responsible for “the smell of six of the ten best-selling fine perfumes in the United States, including Estee Lauder’s Beautiful, Clinique’s Happy, Lancôme’s Tresor, and Calvin Klein’s Eternity,” (Schlosser 122). The company additionally makes the smells of bath soaps, deodorants, and floor wax. Schlosser reports, “The basic science behind the scent of shaving cream is the same as the that governing the flavor of you TV dinner, in that the aroma of food can be responsible for as much as 90% of its flavor,” (Schlosser 122). Schlosser reveals that in the mid-nineteenth century the processed food industry began expanding increasing the need for flavor additives. (Schlosser 123). The demand for color additives began to grow as well when it was learned that appearance can