The Fast Food Industry Beneath the Surface

Hi, everyone! I read the book, Chew On This by Eric Schlosser & Charles Wilson. Reading this book makes me really proud to be a vegetarian. It was about the works that go into making your burger and fries... And the not-so-secret little secrets that fast food industries don’t want you to know.

This book was really informative and surprisingly gripping considering that it was a non-fiction book. This kept my interest for the entire book because I wanted to learn more about the fast food industry. I learned that it is powered and run entirely by greedy, cash-hungry people that care more about the profit of their companies than the well-being of their clients and customers.

This book was much like the movies, Food Inc. and Supersize Me in concept.

You may think that you already know all there is to know about fast food, but it is most likely that you don’t even know the half of it… This book was written specifically for you to know all the facts and to clarify and/or put to rest all of the hazey rumors. It was also written to help you know what the fast food you eat does to your body, how the animals and raw food is treated before the industry gets to it, and how it even alters our children’s minds.

Overall, this book was very on point with the information it gave and I strongly suggest you give it a chance… I’m sure you’ll like it!

                        

Ray Kroc, Corporate Owner of McDonalds

McDonald's Big Mac with Fries and a 32 oz. Coke

 

Twinkie, Deconstructed

The Book Cover

I read the book Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger. After I finished the book my overall opinion was that the book wasn't that interesting and it was hard to understand. I expected the book to be about what the ingredients were, but it was mostly where the ingredients came from.
   
 Steve Ettlinger wrote this book because one day when he was at the beach having ice cream with his daughter, she asked him where polysorbate 60 came from. He had no idea what to tell her. After that he decided to find out where polysorbate 60 came from along with all the other ingredients in a twinkie.
     
The main idea of the book is to inform people about what they are eating and where the unknown ingredients come from. I think that Mr. Ettlinger did this because most people just shove things like twinkies in their mouths not thinking about where they come from.

This book might be better for older readers. It was pretty hard to understand and my parents had to help me with some of the chapters. I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars because even though the book was hard to read and a bit complicated, it still had great information.

 

A journey through our food

Food is an everyday thing, but have you ever thought about where our food comes from? My book is exactly about that. I read The Omnivores Dilemma which I really enjoyed. It was very interesting and very moving. I was so moved by this book I don't eat corn fed meat anymore and I  only eat cage free eggs . That is one of the few issues with this book though; it leaves you not knowing what to eat or how to eat. When I used to eat food I just payed attention to how it tasted and how it smelled but after reading this book I think about what kind of conditions the animal has gone through, where it came from, how it was made and I ask myself ; is this  good for me. I enjoy thinking this way. It makes me satisfied with every bite I take of my food. In this book Michael Pollan (the author) takes us through a series of four different kinds of meals including a  fast food meal, a  Whole foods organic meal, a small farmed organic meal and a meal that he grew, picked and killed himself.  The reason that I read this book is the same reason that Michael Pollan wrote it; to find out where one of the most important parts of life (which we sometimes take for granted) comes from? I loved how Michael Pollan researched the origins of food by traveling all over the country to visit farms, factories and even to hike mountains in California at 4 AM in the morning. I strongly recommend this book if you love food or you find food very interesting. I read and recommend the junior version of this book because it is easy to follow and has helpful diagrams and pictures although it is still packed full of information.

To find out more see these links, pictures and videos:

Michael Pollans Website

PBS review of the book

Michael Pollan 

This is a great video with Michael Pollan, food critics and famous chefs

talking about this book. It is a nice summary of the book. Very interesting!