Fast Food Nation- Why the Fries Taste Good

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Recommended: Fast food nation the dark side of the all american meal eric schlosser summary

“The basic science behind the scent of your shaving cream is the same as that governing the flavor of your TV dinner,” (Schlosser 122). Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal was a Princeton graduate with a degree in American History. He’s written for the Atlantic Monthly since 1996 where he was given a prompt about America and its fast food industry. His simple magazine article transformed into an international bestseller. His book was on the New York Times bestsellers list for nearly two years. Schlosser has appeared on 60 Minutes, CNN, FOX News, and many others. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone and The New Yorker (Drury University). In Schlosser’s book, Chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good” helps to explain what we are actually eating when it comes to America’s fast food industry.

The beginning of this chapter focuses on the J.R. Simplot Plant which is located in Arberdeen, Idaho and processes around a million pounds of potatoes per day (Schlosser 111). John Richard Simplot was born in 1909 and spent much of his childhood working on his family’s farm. Simplot went against his father and dropped out of high school at the early age of fifteen and began working at a potato warehouse in Declo, Idaho. When J.R. turned sixteen, he became a potato farmer (Schlosser 112). It only took about ten short years for J.R. Simplot to become the largest shipper of potatoes in the West. World War II brought a lot of wealth to Simplot. He sold dehydrated onions to the U.S. Army and he eventually became one of the main suppliers of food to the U.S. American military during World War II (Schlosser 113). By the time Simplot was 36 years old, he was able to grow, fertilize, proces...

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...amb Water Gun Knife,” (Schlosser 130). The potatoes became fries and they are blanched, dried, fried, and then frozen. Inside the freezer is about 20 million pounds of frozen french fries ready to be shipped and sold (Schlosser 131).

This chapter focuses solely on why fast food, fries in particular, taste so good. Schlosser informs his audience of exactly what they are eating when they order a large french fry at McDonalds. The fries may start out as fresh potatoes, but what many don’t know is how fresh potatoes factually turn into the famous french fry.

Works Cited

"Eric Schlosser Biography." Drury University. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. .

Schlosser, Eric. "Chapter 5: Why the Fries Taste Good." Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print.

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