Food for thought: A short review of <cite>Fast Food Nation</cite> | Gristmill: The environmental news blog

Food for thought: A short review of Fast Food Nation

The film opens nationwide Friday

Posted by Sarah van Schagen at 6:14 PM on 16 Nov 2006

Read more about: movies | food

Image: © Fox Searchlight

Find out what author Eric Schlosser has to say about the film.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down in the mostly empty theater for the press screening of Fast Food Nation last month. The book is fascinating ... but fact-heavy and not character-driven. I knew this movie was a narrative, following the lives of fictional workers producing (and marketing and serving and eating) food at fictional fast-food chain "Mickey's." I had seen the trailer featuring Little Miss Sunshine cutie Paul Dano serving a "Big One" from off the prep-room floor and Greg Kinnear getting a whiff of "smoky meat" flavoring. I thought the movie might even be a comedy.

But I left the theater feeling like I had seen a horror film. During many of the meat-packing scenes, the gore-level was on par with something like Saw III. (Or I would assume, anyway -- my eyes were closed during the most gruesome scenes. And I've never seen Saw III ... but both involve large saws.) The scariest part about the film, though, is that -- to the best of Eric Schlosser's and Richard Linklater's screenwriting abilities -- it accurately portrays the fast-food industry.

Don't get me wrong: I think this is a great movie, and I hope the marketing power behind it -- and the big names on the cast list (Dano and Kinnear are joined by Bruce Willis, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, and others) -- gets people into the theaters. Much like the 2004 gross-umentary Super Size Me, this is something everyone should see before ordering a Big ~~Mac~~ One.

The film's storyline follows several major plots: Kinnear plays a high-level marketing exec at Mickey's who is sent to Colorado to find out how the meat is getting contaminated with E. coli. Willis is a thuggish middleman Kinnear meets along the way. Wilmer Valderrama, in a very un-Fez role, makes his way to the Colorado meatpacking plant as an illegal immigrant hoping to pursue the American dream. (His scenes and those with the other Hispanic immigrant workers are in Spanish with English subtitles.) Arquette and Hawke play mother and uncle (uh, respectively) to a high-schooler (Ashley Johnson) who works at Mickey's after school.

The film explores many angles of America's convenience-based food industry, but Johnson's storyline delves deepest into the environmental effects. She joins up with a group of college kids who want to fight the system. They're angry about how the animals are treated. They're angry about the feedlot waste getting into a local creek. They're angry about what the plant is doing to their air quality. They're just generally angry ...

But what can they do about it? Someone in the group suggests a letter-writing campaign (ha!), but instead they end up making plans to destroy a fence on a rancher's property in hopes of freeing the cattle. They talk about the Patriot Act and how their mission will be labeled an act of "eco-terrorism." It's an interesting dialogue, and one that I was surprised (though pleasantly) to hear in a mainstream film. Perhaps it was a bit of a stretch, but maybe it will get people thinking.

In fact, that's my hope for the film as a whole -- that audiences will come out of it chewing over what they've seen and amending their eating habits accordingly. It won't make vegetarians out of all of us, but it should make fast-food meals a lot less appetizing.

For story: Food for thought: A short review of Fast Food Nation
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People need to think more about what they eat

According to Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, we are consuming excessive amounts of unhealthy food:

Unhealthy food consumption means we're drowning in excess oil, salt and sugar

by Newsquoter at 7:45 AM on 17 Nov 2006

I challenge anyone...

to see this movie and then tell me that animal welfare has no place in environmentalism.

J.S.

I teach environmental economics and blog at www.voicesofreason.info.

by Jason D Scorse at 8:21 PM on 19 Nov 2006

Jason,

The movie also contains inhumane treatment of Mexican immigrant laborers. Are we to conclude that environmentalism must also include labor rights and immigration policy?

grist.org

by David Roberts at 9:27 PM on 19 Nov 2006

labor rights asbolutely...

you can't mention sustainable development without labor rights and last time i checked that was the environmental buzzword

I teach environmental economics and blog at www.voicesofreason.info.

by Jason D Scorse at 10:21 PM on 19 Nov 2006

Thanksgiving message

The movie sounds very interesting, and I am sure I shall want to see it at some point. (And I would want to see it even if Ethan Hawke were not in it. : ) )

Meanwhile, along with considering the plight of cattle, let us not forget all the birds, the animals that are raised and slaughtered in by far the greatest numbers to provide food for Americans.

The Humane Society of the United States has this page up, asking those who plan to eat a traditional turkey dinner this Thanksgiving to consider revising the tradition in a vegetarian way:

http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/thanksgiving_tradit...

Whether any of their suggested alternatives has any culinary interest, I could not say. (I rather doubt it, actually. Why not go with Calvin Trillin's famous suggestion?: He dislikes turkey, and once lamented that life would be so much better, if only our traditional Thanksgiving dinner had been spaghetti alla carbonara. And in fact there are decent vegetarian substitutions for the prosciutto or bacon, though I doubt such a dish could ever be rendered vegan.)

Also on the HSUS's Thanksgiving page, there is a link in the text to a brief petition that they ask readers to sign. It is to be sent to the signer's legislators, and requests that the law that has been on the books for some time now regarding the "humane" slaughter of animals raised and killed for food be amended. As it is now interpreted, the animals that must be rendered insensitive to pain prior to slaughter are only mammals: cattle and pigs, no doubt. The petition wants the interpretation of the law's provisions to be widened to include chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and other birds fitting (somehow) into the category "poultry."

Actually, the petition strikes me as the babiest of baby steps. Even as the law is currently applied regarding cattle, it is hardly satisfactory, and Americans should by no means consider that its existence alone suffices to assuage their consciences. The death march of factory-farmed cattle in the slaughterhouses, for a long while in panic and terror before they receive the electric shock that "renders them insensitive to pain," is horrendous, and a moral disgrace. Michael Pollan, Peter Singer and others have written eloquently on this. I can very well understand the frustration of the characters in the movie, who are fed up with writing letters. Still, perhaps, a voyage of a thousand miles can begin even with one baby step.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 12:58 AM on 20 Nov 2006

Caniscandida:

"though I doubt such a dish could ever be rendered vegan"

Sure it can! You'd be surprised at the number of vegan delicacies that are regularly served.

I share your views, btw, on the number of animals killed to make one meal. (And so many people will only eat the breast of a chicken, meaning even more chickens have to be slaughtered.) That's what led me to give up shrimp (the last holdout on my vegetarian plate), when I realized the etouffee on my plate required the taking of a dozen lives.

by KathyF at 5:39 AM on 20 Nov 2006

Turkey Day

I was hiking in the Catskills over the weekend, and a flock of wild turkeys crossed my path. Hypocrite that I am, although I truly enjoy roasted turkey, especially at Thanksgiving time, my first thought was not "Yum" but "Run and hide!" At the same time, I could have cheefully throttled one of the many (many!) ruffled grouse that would burst out of the brush as I hiked past, causing many spikes in adrenaline and yelled expletives. Such are the vagaries of being human.

With luck, the wild turkeys I saw in the Park will survive the dreaded holiday, as I do not believe there is any (legal) hunting in Catskill Park; sad to say, the same cannot be said for the many deer I saw strapped to the back of trucks and SUVs on the Thruway on my way home. Rifle-hunting season for deer generally opens the weekend before Thanksgiving and obviously there were people taking advantage. It just points out to me how nothing is black & white; I hate to see a once-majestic animal, stripped of life & dignity and strapped like so much luggage to the back of a car. Then again, there is a serious deer overpopulation problem in all of NY/NJ and I do believe that a legal hunting season is better than eventual starvation and decimation of plant life. On this, as on so many animal welfare issues, it just never seems easy.

by kmp at 8:30 AM on 20 Nov 2006

Labor rights

I salute attempts to make meals free of animal cruelty, but also remember David's point. Even when you buy animal-free, organic, and sometimes even local, there's a lot of human exploitation embedded in your food. And there's no reason we can't make it a priority to change that,

Also, it's bears remembering that animals are critically necessary to sustainably capturing nitrogen for food production. Of course, that should only make us respect their welfare more, not less. Pretending it isn't so, though, is a severely limited strategy for advancing animal rights or sustainable agriculture.

Victual Reality

by Tom Philpott at 9:09 AM on 20 Nov 2006

the Ship of Theseus; deer

Right, KathyF, I believe you. But I cannot help suspecting that the vegan version would end up tasting quite different from the original. Things have a unique taste, after all, and it is not so simple to let one kind of food stand in for another. With carbonara, it is already problematic to find a veggie substitute for the prosciutto, though I believe it can be done pretty satisfactorily. But then, when we start in on the cream and the parmegiano, have we not moved just a bit too far from the original?

It reminds me of the classic philosophical problem of the Ship of Theseus. The hero Theseus, after killing the Minotaur on Crete, sailed home to Athens. The Athenians hauled his ship on shore, and placed it in a kind of shrine. After many years, it began to decay, piece by piece. As each piece crumbled, an Athenian shipbuilder would fashion another piece of wood in that size and shape, and fit it into the space of the decayed piece. Eventually, the ship did not contain one single piece of the original ship. So, the question is asked, Is it still the ship of Theseus? If not, at one point did it stop being the ship of Theseus?

On deer: I know what you are saying, Kaela. They are indeed very beautiful animals. But their out-of-control population is an ecological catastrophe. It seems to me that this is a very rare case in which killing wild animals for the purpose of reducing their numbers may be justified. As you point out, countless animals and plants suffer as a result of their excessive numbers, and so do they themselves.

The same reasoning, by the way, does not work with elephants, whose large concentrations in some places are a problem. That is because it is clear that when one elephant is killed, its relatives grieve terribly. That is not the case, apparently, with deer.

Anyway, considering how many hunters kill deer and elk not for sport but for their meat, that may be the least problematic form of hunting.

But nothing is clear or simple. Do you remember that weird Vietnam movie of 1978, "The Deer Hunter"? Those guys in western PA, perhaps the most serious hunters in the Northeast (save perhaps for their brothers in Maine), treat the experience as something truly religious. And many hunters speak in those terms. I believe them, but it leaves me truly baffled.

Segue-ing along, the ruffed grouse, Bonasa umbellus, is the official state bird of PA. No doubt it was selected because it is a popular game bird. Presumably they are not endangered. Still, they are very pretty, even cute, and one wishes them well. I would love to encounter some in the wild, as you did, regardless of the momentary fright. The National Geographic Society Field Guide to the Birds of North America says, "Flushed birds burst into flight with a roar of wings." And Sibley says, "Often flushed from the ground and heard but not seen; takes off with loud burst of wingbeats." Wow!

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 10:10 AM on 20 Nov 2006

More on the ruffed grouse

From Aldo Leopold:

The physics of beauty is one department of natural science still in the Dark Ages. Not even the manipulators of bent space have tried to solve its equations. Everybody knows, for example, that the autumn landscape in the north woods is the land, plus a red maple, plus a ruffed grouse.
In terms of conventional physics, the grouse represents only a millionth of either the mass or the energy of an acre. Yet subtract the grouse and the whole thing is dead. An enormous amount of some kind of motive power has been lost.

by Michael Boydston at 3:47 PM on 20 Nov 2006

Gross movie animal clips

The local vegetarians have a Chinese film that includes graphic and disgusting scenes of animal slaughtering. A few students I know saw it the other day and were put off eating meat for a few days (and several have sworn to at least eat less, a beginning).

I hope the movie makes it here (in some form (grin)). I often pass out Super Size Me, this would be a nice companion.

No Thanksgiving here, I miss my tofu turkey and smuggling a live one across the border to Canada and freedom on Der Tag. Can one of you take one over in my place?

patrick

by bookerly at 1:24 AM on 21 Nov 2006

Aldo Leopold; der Tag

Thanks, Michael, for that wonderful, oracular quote. "Some kind of motive power": I shall be imagining Aldo's and Kaela's grouse, now, as I look down upon my mother's baked turkey.

Patrick, I would love to flee over the border, to Quebec, with Michael and Little Dog, and with a rescued turkey in the back seat. We would all be much happier there than at the solemn ceremony in Pennsylvania.

Of course, at customs, there may be a problem. We have papers to show for Little Dog, but nothing for our new friend the turkey. Maybe we should release it a few hundred meters before the border, and instruct it to fly over and meet us on the other side.

But perhaps you could share your old smuggling trick. Did you throw a shawl around it, and do a mock-up with a blanket, stockings and shoes, and say to the border guard that it was your ailing grandmother?

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 2:51 AM on 21 Nov 2006

wild turkeys

Man, wild turkeys scare the crap out of me! I'm all in favor of them not getting shot and ending up on someone's Thanksgiving table, but no way would I try to smuggle one anywhere--the other day, I even waited to go outside my house until the four on my lawn decamped, lest they attack me. This is only partly neurotic, and partly because people who've lived in wild-turkey country longer than I have told me they're really aggressive sometimes.

I will be enjoying a new variety of fake turkey this year, an Un-Turkey. I don't care for Tofurky particularly, though their gravy is good (but I can make equally good gravy at home when I'm not so lazy). The Quorn roasts are satisfying taste-wise but rather boring-looking little sausage-like things. The Un-Turkey promises appealing appearance, great flavor, and, in an intriguingly novel turn, a crispy "skin" made of soy. It also has stuffing, which means I don't have to make any (good, 'cause I can't stand stuffing and my fiance loves it, but probably wouldn't make it for himself). We'll see. It was kind of an impulse buy, really, since we're not having any sort of gathering this year, so it'll just be another day for us. Hopefully it will be a tasty impulse buy, though...

by willa at 10:37 AM on 21 Nov 2006

T-days past, traditionalism

I'm sorry to rain on the vegan parade, but spaghetti alla carbonara is defined by two items: egg and cured pork (traditionally unsmoked).

If it doesn't contain those items, it might be orgasmically delicious, but it is simply not spaghetti alla carbonara. Someone has to stand up for Mamma Marcella (Hazan).

Similarly, a salad that does not contain romaine lettuce, anchovies, Romano cheese, and croutons has no business calling itself a Caesar salad.

Definitely my most memorable T-day bird was a guinea fowl a friend brought me when I was in Peace Corps. We had told him about our tradition, and he offered a "bird." It was given to us live, a friend killed and prepared it in the morning while I grated coconut, then I made the most delicious Thanksgiving curry I have ever had.

by mihan at 7:15 AM on 22 Nov 2006

Mihan,

Don't forget the egg yolk in that Caesar's salad.

Victual Reality

by Tom Philpott at 7:20 AM on 22 Nov 2006

First you Find a Turkey....

In the woods, near the border, facing North. Then you run up waving your arms and making a loud noise....

Actually, just kidding. The only turkey I took across the border was usually me (grin).

Happy "We Killed All the Indians and The Land is Ours Now" Day.

pace,

patrick

by bookerly at 5:48 PM on 23 Nov 2006

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