The discussion questions section is still being developed. Check back for updates. 10/18/06.

HarperCollins's reading guide questions, are six well-developed questions about jobs as entry-level work, targetting kids, the meat-packing industry and the American capitalist system, consumers' options and choices, corporate responsibility, and responsibility for children's diets.

The questions from the Doing History: Understanding the Context of Freedom studyguide are mostly aimed at getting students to pick out facts stated in the book. This is a good site to get a sense of the specific areas covered in each chapter.

Mark Halverson-Wente has put together an ESL study guide for the book that will "help ESL students (in fact, all students) work their way through the basic outline and argument of Fast Food Nation. To this end, this guide offers the ESL student assistance with American idioms and colloquialisms, and provides information about certain aspects of American culture that figure within the book."

The following questions come from Mary LaBarge of Moorepark College's library:

Introduction

How does the fast food industry embody the best and worst of American capitalism? (6)
What political and social factors enabled the fast food industry to prosper during the past thirty years? (8)
How is the 'American world view' embodied in the fast food industry? (9)

Chapter 1: The Founding Fathers (Histories of numerous fast food companies)

What elements of Southern California "culture" contributed to and encouraged the development of fast food restaurants? (15-17)

Chapter 2: Your Trusted Friends (Marketing, especially to children)

Compare and contrast Walt Disney and Ray Kroc as they developed their enterprises. At what points did they cooperate? (34 ­ 42)
Discuss the fast food industry's marketing to children and explore the ethics of targeting children, especially as they relate to advertising in schools. (42+)

Chapter 3: Behind the Counter (Employees and their treatment)

Who are the employees of fast food restaurants and why are these particularly groups usually hired? (68 ­ 70)
Why haven't fast food workers unionized and what tactics have management used to defeat union efforts? (76 ­ 78)
Most fast food workers are non-union. How has this circumstance affected employee working conditions?
How safe are the working conditions at fast food restaurants, and what are the typical dangers employees encounter in their work places? How are safety issues typically handled in the workplace? (83 ­ 87)
Imagine yourself a fast food industry employee. If you were injured on your job, what might dissuade you from bringing the injury to your manager's attention? If the injury were serious, what would you do if you did not have health insurance nor the money to pay for medical treatment?

Chapter 4: Success (The development of franchising)

Eric Schlosser states, "Becoming a franchisee is an odd combination of starting your own business and going to work for someone else." What are the advantages of starting your own business and what are the disadvantages? What are the advantages of working for someone else and what are the disadvantages?
What legal issues have been involved with fast food franchises?
In what particular legal action has the Subway fast food franchise been involved? (100-102)

Chapter 5: Why the Fries Taste Good (Potato-growing and processing and how foods are flavored and colored artificially)

Why are family farms disappearing; in particular, why are there few small potato farmers? (116-119)
How does the take-over of agriculture by corporate farms change the social and economic structure of rural communities?

Chapter 6: On the Range (The ranching industry)

How do development pressures and the dictates of the fast food industry affect the cattle business?
How have the myth of the cowboy and the image of the hard-working rancher become irrelevant in today's rural culture? (136)
Historically, government has protected businesses against trusts, monopolies, and price fixing. How has government's role been changed to allow corporate domination in such industries as cattle-raising and meat processing? (137)
How has corporate domination of agriculture affected family farming and ranching? Is the American ideal of independence and self-reliance still a viable goal for rural Americans? Why or Why not? (137)
How has the fast food industry changed the traditional chicken farmer into little more than a share-cropper or "serf"? (139)
When individual farmers and ranchers lose their land to the conglomerates, they lose more than just dollars and cents. Eric Schlosser says, "The land that has been lost is not just a commodity." What does this mean and what does 'land' represent in farm culture? What did it mean to Native Americans who occupied the area before 'civilization'? (146)
What does "the land" mean in the traditional Irish culture, a rural culture, as portrayed in the 1990 film "The Field" which is an adaptation of John B. Keeane's play by the same title? Is there a similarity with the concept of 'land' in rural America?

Chapter 7: Cogs in the Great Machine (The meat-packing industry)

How have the demands of the fast food industry changed the social structure and character of towns involved in cattle raising and meat-processing? (149+)

Chapter 8: The Most Dangerous Job (Worker safety in meat-processing plants)

According the Eric Schlosser, "Meatpacking is now the most dangerous job in the United States." What makes the job so dangerous, and how are injured workers typically treated, administratively and medically? Why? (172-174)

Chapter 9: What's in the Meat (E. coli and other foodborne pathogens in meat)

How has the meat-processing/meatpacking industry been a spreader of disease (196) and what elements in meatpacking are the cause of most meat contamination? (217)
After reading about foodborne pathogens that can be in hamburger meat, are you concerned about food poisoning when you eat at a fast food restaurant? How common is E. coli in restaurant foods

Chapter 10: Global Realization (American fast food presence abroad and health effects of fast food)

Why are so many Americans obese and what part might fast food play in this relatively recent development? How do Americans compare with people in other countries in terms of obesity? (240)
Why have fast food companies increased the size of their portions and how might that affect Americans' health. (241)
Why do some people in other countries object to American fast food companies setting up business in their neighborhoods? To what do they object? (243-244)

Epilogue: Have it Your Way (What can be done to solve the problems inherent in the domination of the fast food industry)

Discuss the 'free market' concept. Eric Schlosser says this concept "has cloaked changes in the nation's economy that bear little relation to real competition or freedom of choice." To what is he referring? (260)
Eric Schlosser says on page 261, "Over the past twenty years the United States has swung too far in one direction, weakening the regulations that safeguard workers, consumers, and the environment. An economic system promising freedom has too often become a means of denying it, as the narrow dictates of the market gain precedence over more important democratic values." Do you agree? Discuss. (261)
As discussed in the Epilogue, what suggestions does the author make to remedy some of his criticisms of fast food culture?

Afterword: The Meaning of Mad Cow

What is Mad Cow Disease, how does it proliferate, and how can it be controlled? What dangers does it pose and what causes cattle to be infected with it? Is it a serious threat to humans?