“Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music combined.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“The early Roman Republic was fed by its citizen-farmers; the Roman Empire, by its slaves.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“As the United States destroys its independent agriculture, it destroys its own past.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“The typical American child now spends about twenty-one hours a week watching television—roughly one and a half months of TV every year....Outside of school, the typical American child spends more time watching television than doing any other activity except sleeping. During the course of a year, he or she watches more than thirty thousand TV commercials.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“Every day in the United States, nearly 200,000 people are sickened by foodborne disease, 900 are hospitalized, and fourteen die. . . . Most of these cases are never reported to the authorities or properly diagnosed.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“The annual cost of obesity alone is now twice as large as the fast food industry’s total revenues.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“Since 1980, the tonnage of potatoes grown in Idaho has almost doubled, while the average yield per acre has risen by nearly 30 percent. But the extraordinary profits being made from the sale of french fires have barely trickled down to the farmers.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“The postwar emphasis on mass production means workers are valued for their ability to perform a single, mindless task, not for their unique skills. The individual is devalued... The fast food industry pays the minimum wage to a higher proportion of its workers than any other American industry.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“The suicide rate among ranchers and farmers in the US is now about three times higher than the national average. The issue briefly received attention during the 1980s farm crisis, but has been pretty much ignored ever since.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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“There is shit in the meat.”

from Fast Food Nation (2001)

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