Middle schoolers are the intended audience for Chew On This:Everything You Don’t Want to Know about Fast Food. For those who never knew a world without Chicken McNuggets, the authors take readers back to the birth of what’s become a mainstay of American culture, explains how it took hold, and then tells us why we’ve got to pry ourselves loose.

 The writers clearly admire the ingenuity of the dreamers who turned a handful of California hot dog stands into a coast-to-coast phenomenon that eventually went worldwide to attract billions of salivating customers. But Schlosser and Wilson also chronicle how the assembly line style production and drive to keep prices low take a heavy toll on workers, farmers, food quality and health. The book also talks about how fast food restaurants save money thanks to the downfall of meatpacking unions.

Without a union, meatpacking workers must settle for low wages and no job security. The Schlosser-Wilson team’s writing is refreshing because they don’t lay on any guilt for those who can’t resist the Super Value Menu every once in a while.

At the same time, they’re clearly trying to empower readers to make changes. They don’t put all the blame for childhood obesity and low wages on the shoulders of Ray Kroc and Dave Thomas. What they do instead is show how fast food planted the seeds for these ills, and how we as a society allowed them to thrive.

“The fast-food industry spends millions of dollars every year trying to influence politicians and billions more trying to influence people through advertising,” they wrote. “The wealth and power of the major chains make them seem invincible. And yet the corporations must obey the demands of a group that’s even more powerful, a group whom they desperately want to attract and please: consumers.”

Adults who never read Schlosser’s earlier book Fast Food Nation might want to cheat by reading this one, instead. It’s quick, easy and fun, and you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy it. You know, kind of like a Happy Meal.

This article orginally appeared in the November/December 2006 edition of World Ark, the magazine of Heifer International. Reviewed by Austin Gelder, Heifer Staff Writer. Used by permission.