Fast Food Nation Chunk 1

"Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser discusses the development of the fast food industry. Through facts and details behind the lives of the"fathers" of fast food, he explains how fast food chains such as McDonald's and Carl's JR came to be as big as they are now. He gives facts such as how fast food began with Carl N. Karcher's hot dog stand. He lets us know that the "pioneers of the fast food industry" were hard workers, how they all began with meaningless jobs and turned them into something great. Schlosser also tells us about the beginnings of fast food as we know it. He tells us about Richard and Maurice McDonald's "Speedee Service". This prepared burgers in a assembly line way and made burgers a lot cheaper and faster to make. He tells us that the fast food chains succeeded because they had "uniformity". They made simple menues and offered the same items at all of their restaurants. This gave people a sense of familiarity which made them come back over and over. The fast food chains exploited the publics' fear of the unknown. He also points out that in order for a fast food restaurant to succeed they had to be creative and innovative. If they were the same as everyone else then they would eventually die out.


Tone: Informative, Neutral

Discussion Questions:
What is it about fast food that appeals to the public?
Were it not for the cheap prices, do u think that people would still eat fast food?
How has fast food shaped the way people eat?