Eric Schlosser - Fast Food Nation

Turkey, 229, 231

Turner, Fred, 69, 139

Tyson Foods, 140–42, 172, 230

UFCW. See United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)

Uniform Commercial Code, 101

Unions: Amalgamated Butcher Work-men, 151; employee turnover affecting, 184; and fast food industry, 71, 75–77, 88, 262; in Germany, 233; influence of, 265–66; and meatpacking industry, 153–58; and strikes, 157–58; United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), 76, 155–57, 183–84; and working conditions, 174, 184

Union Stockyards, 157

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), 76, 155–57, 183–84

United Kingdom, 242, 245–49,276n

United Nations, 152

United Students Against Sweatshops, 267–68

Universal TA-XT2 Texture Analyzer, 128

University of Arizona, 221

University of Colorado, 240

University of Michigan, 64

University of Minnesota, 198

University of Ohio, 84

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): and cattle industry studies, 142; and deregulation, 206; and E. coli , 194, 203–4, 207, 263; and intimidation of cattle ranchers, 143; and irradiation, 217–18; and meat recalls, 211–14; and National School Lunch Program, 218–21; on packer concentration and farm prices, 302n; and single food safety agency, 264; and slaughterhouse shutdowns, 183; and Streamlined Inspection System for Cattle (SIS-C), 206–7, 317n; and testing of meat, 197, 263; as understaffed, 215

U.S. Department of Justice, 137, 143, 158, 160, 164

U.S. Department of Labor, 72, 180

Ute Indians, 150

V. Mane Fils, 121

Vacations, 160, 161

Variety , 36

Vasquez, Rachel, 104–5

Vegetarian Journal , 128

“Veggie libel,” 266–67

Vidal, John, 248–49

Vincente, Carlos, 178

Voigt, Brigitte, 251

Voigt, Manfred, 251

“Voluntary compliance,” 179–80

Von Braun, Wernher, 38–39, 282n

Vons Companies, Inc., 198

Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald, 48

Wages: and crime, 85; in fast food industry, 8, 37, 71, 73–74, 85, 277n, 328n; franchisee control of, 75, 78; and In-N-Out Burger, 259; and meatpacking industry, 153, 160, 162, 306n; in Mexico, 162; minimum wage, 8, 37, 71, 73, 88, 261, 262, 291n; overtime wages, 73, 74, 262; and product costs, 291n; restaurant industry pay scale, 277n

Walker, Arden, 161

Wall Street, 24–25

Wall Street Journal , 155, 251, 306n

Wal-Mart, 3, 81, 86, 233

Walt Disney Company: children as target market for, 42; decline of, 41; and Disneyland University, 33; and McDonald’s Corporation, 6, 33–34,49, 50; Mickey Mouse Club, 45; and propaganda films, 38. See also Disney, Walt; Disneyland

Walt Disney Story of Our Friend the Atom , 40

Walters, Barbara, 105

Warner Brothers, 48

Washington Post, 55

Watershed protection, 135

Watts, Steven, 36

Wayne State University, 98

Welch’s, 36

Welk, Lawrence, 25

Wendy’s: and contaminated meat, 212, 218; and crime, 86; and E. coli , 212; in fast food clusters, 60; and flavor additives, 128; history of, 23; and impulsive buying, 66; at top of industry, 27; and opposition to minimum wage law, 73; and National Hockey League, 48; portion sizes, 241

Weseley, Don, 164

West Germany. See Germany

Western Printing and Lithography, 40

Western Union, 22, 34

Western World, 42

Westinghouse Electric, 38

White, Barry, 179

White Castle, 197–98

“White flight,” 64

Wilson, Kevin, 180–81

Wilson, Thomas, 205

Wilson, Woodrow, 137

Wilson meatpacking company, 137

Winfrey, Oprah, 266

Witzel, Michael, 17

Wolf, Henry, 178

Wolke, Brent, 212

Women in workforce, 4

Workers’ compensation, 184–85

Workforce: awards for employees, 88; and crime, 83–87, 154–55, 162, 164–66, 176, 179–81, 206, 292n, 293n, 305n; de-skilled workforce, 154; employee turnover, 72–73, 83, 160–61, 163, 184; and federal subsidies, 72; and food safety, 222; handicapped in, 70; and health insurance, 160, 162, 257; immigrant workforce, 70–71, 160–63; interchangeability of, 70; and knife-sharpening, 173; language spoken by, 70–72, 160; managers’ effect on, 82–83; migrant industrial workforce, 161–63; and public assistance, 185; restaurant industry as largest employer, 6, 65; and safety, 8, 84–85, 172–90, 206; and social status, 78–79; statistics on, 72; teenagers in, 67–71, 78–87; unskilled, 6,9; women in, 4. See also Fast food industry; Injuries; Labor practices; Meatpacking industry; Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA); and specific companies

Work Opportunity Tax Credit, 72

World Health Organization, 217

World Is Not for Sale — Nor Am I (Bove), 244

World War II, 18

Yan, Yunxiang, 230, 231

Youth Market Alert , 43

Youth Market System Consulting, 45

Zamot, Carlos, 80

Zamot, Cynthia, 80

Zamot, Elisa, 67–68, 80–81

Ziebart Tidy Car, 229

Ziglar, Zig, 105

Zum Beispiel McDonald’s (Pater), 233

‘What makes Fast Food Nation different is that it is not the predictable anti-meat, anti-fat, anti-additives, anti-non-dairy creamer, anti-have-any-fun rant against McDonald’s… it is meticulously researched and powerfully argued’ Observer

‘Schlosser could do for the fast food industry what Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring did for producers of pesticides’ The Times

‘Eric Schlosser may be the Upton Sinclair for this age of mad cow disease… [He has] a flair for dazzling scene-setting and an arsenal of startling facts… Fast Food Nation points the way, but, to resurrect an old fast-food slogan, the choice is yours’ Los Angeles Times

‘An elegiac exposé of how burgers, fries and sodas came to symbolize America’ The New York Times Book Review

‘Required reading’ Express

‘One of the best reasons to read Eric Schlosser’s blazing critique of the American fast-food industry is his bleak portrayal of the alienation of millions of low-paid employees… It would be wrong to portray Schlosser’s book as just another anti-McDonald’s diatribe. It is deeper and broader than that’ London Review of Books

‘A frightening investigation into America’s fast food industry’ Independent

‘Compelling… Fast Food Nation will not only make you think twice before eating your next hamburger… it will also make you think about the fallout that the fast food industry has had on America’s social and cultural landscape’ The New York Times

‘Our fast food executives are in for some sleepless nights’ Food Magazine

‘Makes for very unsettling reading. A brilliant, access-all-areas dissection of the McDonaldization of society’ Metro London

‘His eye is sharp, his profiles perceptive, his prose thoughtful but spare. This is John McPhee behind the counter’ Washington Post

‘A damning critique of the junk-food business’ Vogue

‘ Fast Food Nation is witness to the rigour and seriousness of the best American journalism, readable, reliable and extremely carefully done’ Daily Telegraph

‘Skilful and persuasive’ Economist

‘If the idea of a three-storey, illuminated Ronald McDonald strikes you as a blight on the landscape, this book is for you’ Globe and Mail

Eric Schlosser is a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly . He has received a number of journalistic honours, including a National Magazine Award for an Atlantic article he wrote about marijuana and the war on drugs. This is his first book.