Carl Karcher
Carl Karcher is an American businessman who founded the Carl's Jr. chain. The book does not discuss much of his personal life but focuses instead on his business innovations. He was one of the pioneers of American fast food, beginning with a hot dog stand and eventually growing into a drive-through "barbecue" burger mogul.
Ray Kroc
While employed as a restaurant equipment salesman, Ray Kroc found a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald which was a streamlined, efficient example of the business system that later became the McDonald's corporate giant. He eventually bought the restaurant and developed a system of franchise ownership that allowed the recipes, advertising, and end product to be distributed worldwide.
Walt Disney
Known best for his film entertainment and theme park empire, Walt Disney was a friend of Ray Kroc. The book describes the development of their unusual and sometimes complex friendship. It discusses the influence of Disney-themed and similar merchandising, which is targeted to children and which encourages them to consume unhealthy fast food.
Meat Plant Workers
Most of the meat plant workers, fearing retaliaiton for speaking up or not willing to give their real names due to being in the country illegally, are described using their first name or a pseudonym only. The author interviews several of them for the book to better understand the working conditions in a meat pack production line, which are not quite as terrible as something Upton Sinclair might have written about, but let's just say that "pure" ground beef generally isn't pure.
