This book is a history of fast food in the United States as well as an overall history of the nation through the growth of the fast food corporate behemoth. From small mom and pop shops to entrepreneurs with varying degrees of morality and ethics to the corporatization of fast food we get to see the growth and expansion of the United States in the 20th century and into the 21st century. The author shows that fast food has become inseparable from U.S. culture. Therein lies the catch. One the one hand, fast food symbolizes everything wrong with the U.S. eating habits, health, as well as greed and exploitation. On the other hand, for many people, especially in certain areas of the country, fast food is very personal and a source of comfort and reassurance. So, how significant is fast food in the United States?
"Simply put, nothing else does what fast food does as well as fast food does it. There is no other place, not libraries or gyms or the collective houses of worship, that 80 percent of Americans frequent at least monthly. And there are virtually no other enterprises that 96 percent of Americans annually embrace. Not even the internet comes close to attracting that much loyalty or participation. On a descending spectrum of American certainty, it goes something like death, premarital sex, fast food, and income taxes. The United States is and remains a fast-food nation" (4).
- An introduction.
- 15 chapters.
- An epilogue that brings us close to today. Keep in mind, the book was published in 2019, plus this was all pre-COVID-19.
The book is interesting overall. We get to meet the big figures of fast food from their beginnings to success including Colonel Sanders and Dave Thomas as well as Ray Kroc (who, to be honest, basically ripped off the McDonald brothers when he bought them out of the business they started). These entrepreneurs, hard workers as they were, were not always nice people, something the author often glosses over. We also get stories of small people, such as immigrants, who used humble beginnings in fast food to make fortunes. It is all very Horatio Alger until you realize how they built their empires exploiting their workers, a trend that has only gotten worse over time. Plus once corporations started getting in, buying those fast food companies, publicly trading them, so on, then they really started taking shortcuts and cutting corners. On this, the author writes:
"The arrival of corporations and food conglomerates would have a direct effect on the food itself as more profitable shortcuts and substitutions were sought" (79).
And once that happened, the quality of the food went downhill. Even Colonel Sanders complained about KFC's quality decline, but he did sell the company so aside from bitching he could do little at that point.
The book also looks at how the United States changed and grew post-World War II. We see how fast food adapted to the interstate highway system, inner cities, and rural areas. There are reasons many rural areas have a Dairy Queen, and though White Castle was really the fast food pioneer, it was McDonald's that went on to become the juggernaut we know today. In addition, we get stories of how fast food places go on to become community gathering places, especially in small rural areas where McDonald's may be the place to celebrate a birthday.
The book is also an easy read. You learn a lot about U.S. history in the last century, and if you lived through parts of it, you may get a bit of nostalgia as well. The author does land on more on a defense of fast food, but he does show the industry goes hand in hand with U.S. people. It has proven to be a resilient and very adaptable industry. As the author suggests, odds are good you have some kind of fast food guilty pleasure. I know I do, and that does support the idea how fast food is entwined with American society. At this point, for good or ill (and it may well be more ill now), fast food is tied up with American society; they both go together. In the end, I did like the book.
The book can be a good option for public libraries. It can also be good for academic libraries with strong popular culture, Americana, and 20th century U.S. history collections.
3 out of 5 stars.
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