Fast Food Nation
Introduction
Prepared by
Jason Stephenson
Main Points
• Fast food is everywhere in America today—
even the highly secure Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station in Colorado.
• What We Eat
• The fast food industry grew as women started to work, the interstate highway system was built, and restaurants were franchised.
• The fast food industry has political allies in Washington.
Claim
• “Over the last three decades, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society” (Schlosser 3).
Purpose
• “I’ve written this book out a belief that people should know what lies behind the shiny, happy surface of every fast food transaction” (Schlosser 10).
Logos: Fast Food Spending
1970
$6 billion
2001
$110 billion
1833% increase
Syntax: Intentional Run-on
• “Pull open the glass door, feel the rush of cold air, walk in, get on line, study the backlit color photographs above the counter, place your order, hand over a few dollars, watch
teenagers in uniforms pushing various buttons, and moments later hold a plastic tray full of food wrapped in colored paper and cardboard” (Schlosser 3).
Logos: Average American
• Each week: 3 hamburgers & 4 orders of fries
• 1 in 8 has worked at McDonald’s
• 1 in 4 eats fast food daily
Pathos
• “Family farms are now being replaced by gigantic corporate farms with absentee owners” (Schlosser 8).
Diction & Parallel Structure
• “Fast food has joined Hollywood movies, blue
jeans, and pop music as one of America’s most prominent cultural exports” (Schlosser 10).