Book#Feb2016: Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

 

Bought this title may eons ago. So long that the pages have gone yellow even though it has always been kept in a box. Like all my other books. Having grown up with fiction, this is my second non-fiction. The first was the rather dry but enlightening with quite a bit of uncomfortable jokes thrown in.

What did I expect of this? Well, mostly on how bad the fast food industry really is, contributing to the burgeoning obese population, dying youngsters. What I didn't expect was a history lesson on the key players of the industry, how they all started humbly and their practices shaped not just the fast food industry but all across the board in the name of cheap and fast. Back in the day, bespoke meant slower production, higher cost, the no-nos of business.

You'd think that McDonald's' achieved its success through the hard work of its namesake founders but that's far from it. Sure, they took the idea off the ground and turned it into a lucrative business of their times, even coming up with a production line and going the exact opposite of what dining meant at their era, taking a big risk but they sold the business off to another man who took it onto a whole new level: worldwide domination.

The book touches on how today's few key players (e.g. Burger King, Carls Junior, Taco Bell) got their start. Funny how they actually took note of each other and learnt to build their own brand from the ground up. There are also those which failed to launch from the beginning.

Taking a stab at the Bible, specific to Matthew 5:5:

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 

 The meek shall no longer inherit the earth; the go-getters will get it and everything that goes with it. 
I wonder what do the Christians think of this page in particular. Would it be enough to launch a full on assault? Neither a Christian nor remotely religious, it just read as something funny to me. The following passage further proves the Benjamin Franklin's stance on dealing with haters:

Everyone loves to receive a present. It's hard to be resistant or standoffish to someone who has just given you a nice gift... Adopt the attitude of a superstar...

 One of the most revolutionary idea from McDonald's was to target kids.You'd think that they randomly put together a bunch of stuff with bright colors to get your kiddies to pull you into a golden arches restaurant but there was a whole lot of science that went behind it.

Most of the toddlers (anyone who can't quite count) I've encountered have low (if not zero) tolerance towards spicy food. And that annoys the daylight out of me due to my love for them spices. Thus, having learnt that their environment plays a pivotal role in their taste bud development, I shall endeavor to feed my (unfortunate) child (if ever it comes to be) with spicy food from the beginning so that neither of us shall be deprived of the holy grail called banana leaf curry rice.

I used to think that McDonald's main revenue comes from the food itself but it turned out to be real estate. Most of the joints you see are really a clever scheme i.e. the business owner pays the franchisee fee and rents the property from McD itself. Of course, when sales start to dip, big brother would step in and have a word.

Again, there is a science to making your employees work their ass off even if it's just for flipping burgers. Unions are frowned upon and if McD sniffs even a hint of it, they are more likely to swoop down with few executives to close the joint down instead of letting the issue grow. This is what I call nipping it at the bud. Drastic but highly effective.

 One clause that often left me baffled during my usual  blood donations was not allowing people who was in the UK during the 80s were not allowed to donate blood. It turned out to be due to mad cow disease. How is it possible? In Mother Nature, it is often the survival of the fittest. Based on the food chain, bigger animals would (usually) devor the smaller ones. Closer to home, that isn't quite the case as the entire pyramid is quite a circle. The chicken is fed with dead cow and vice versa. Why ? How else do you get rid of sick/unhealthy/unfit for human consumption beef then?

Authorities were slow to act on a food poisoning epidemic that the book noted at a point of time, the pets were getting safer food than the children.

 The Western idolization has been prevalent from long ago that some Japanese used to think that if you enough enough of Maccas, you'll be taller, fairer and blond(er).

The Chinese, on the other hand, somehow has always remained somewhat daft. Despite how most fast food chains belong to one or two conglomerates, Pizza Hut remained unscathed during the attack against Western influence. 

After finishing the book, it opened up my eyes to how something so seemingly harmless like the yellow man with red boots can  have so much research gone into it. Not just another clown to make your kids happy but the fact that many parents become second hand consumers (first being their children) testifies that there is a slightly scary marketing tactic going on behind the fast food industry; McDonald's being the pioneer and most successful of the lot. The playground was a feature added much later and it did have something to do with Disneyland. Yup, they crossed path at a point of time.

On one hand, I applaud the big suits for going the extra mile to make something so innocent into a multi billion cash cow. On the other, it makes one wonder how far would they take it. Until obesity is the new norm?

Of course, my preference for fast food diminished (a  bit) but like every true blue typical Malaysian, it's all forgotten soon enough. Would I recommend this book for people trying to stay off fast food, hoping it'll scare theme off? Sure. Would I recommend vegetarians to use this book to convert the meat eating community into their fellow comrade? It'll be a far cry but why not. If anything, there are many eye opening facts that make you wonder just how much of everything that we are exposed to by brands are influenced by their desire to fill our need or their coffers.

~Jan - Gone Girl