Unhealthy America: Critiquing the Fast Food Nation Anonymous 10th Grade

In Fast Food Nation, Erik Schlosser addresses the fast food business and the revolutionary impact it has had on the American food industry in the past few decades. Schlosser discusses how fast food was integrated into American society to such an extreme that it has spread to every corner of the nation. The reasoning behind why fast food has so speedily dominated the diet of the American people is not hard to distinguish – people want a meal that is both easy and cheap, and these qualities are the foundation that the fast food industry was built on. However, fast food does have its drawbacks, ranging from its unhealthy impact on the body to its contribution of erasure of regional differences across America. Throughout his novel, Schlosser writes about the impact fast food has had on America, primarily questioning why it has been so successful, how it has come to shape America, and what consequences it has inflicted upon society today.

While a variety of fast food businesses have succeeded, an even greater number of unknown chains failed along the way, ones like “Sandy’s, Carrol’s, Henry’s, Winky’s, and Mr. Fifteen’s,” along with many others (22). So what was the distinction between failure and success for a fast food chain? When...