Proof I own the book..
I had to jot down a few quick feelings about "Don't Eat this Book, Fast Food and the Supersizing of America" by Morgan Spurlock. The book is a great companion to his movie Super Size Me, chock full of interesting and pertinent information. It shines a mega-watt spotlight on not only the Fast Food and Big Food industries, but also the degrading quality of food we feed two of our most important demographics, our children and our military.
The book is great and an easier read than "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser, but I definitely recommend reading them both. Though they are similar in P.O.V.'s the information and "slant" is different. Hopefully, with the release of the movie counterpart to "FFN" soon to be released, even more headlamps will shine on this disgusting industry.
One of my favorite parts of Spurlock's book is the appendix...odd right? It shows the difference between independent lab studies of the caloric breakdown of McDonald's vs. what is posted on their site. And this is what America and other countries are shoving down their gullets every day.
I remember my mother buying me happy meals as a kid and dropping me off at my Mama's (our name for my grandmother, pronounce Mah-Mah, but chances are, if you aren't from WVA you won't pronounce it correctly, it's like mandarin, you have to hear it as a baby) I couldn't wait to smother the fries in the high fructosy laden goodness that is Heinz ketchup, smother my nuggets in insane amounts of their "sweet and sour" sauce and drown it all in Hi-C orange drink. (Which not surprisingly in the 80's contained NO orange juice, I think now it has 10%) Not to mention the toy that lured you to the meal in the first place. Cigarettes had Joe Camel, Big Food has movie tie-in's and Disney on their side. I didn't realize that Pocahontas ate at the golden arches. I didn't think the song was about the "Artificial Colors of the Wind".
Wow, lots of food related ranting. Back to the book. It's an accessible version that even the most staunch fiction reader could get through. I can almost hear the Buckley in his text.
On another food book note, I plan on buying "Chew on This" By Eric Schlosser for my nephew, Martin to read. It's like "FFN" but geared toward teenagers to give them all the information they need.
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