Chew on this: Everything you don’t want to know about fast food.

Chew on this: Everything you don’t want to know about fast food. Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 318p $8.95 978-0-618-59394-1

This book takes you behind the scenes in the fast food industry with stories to delight the reader. It also includes action steps, educator’s guide, and afterward by the authors.
The authors present an insight into the fast food industry that will be both humorous and startling in many of its’ conditions. One interesting story tells how Hamburger Charlie invented America’s most popular sandwich and how it evolved because of the invention of the automobile.
Although Thomas Jefferson brought the recipe for pomme frites to the US in 1802, it was in the 1920’s that the popularity of the French fries came to the forefront. It was gaining popularity because it was easy to eat behind the wheel of a car. But, potatoes on their way to the table find themselves shot through a water hose and a sharpened blade grid at a speed of 117 feet per second. Lastly, they are frozen with ammonia gas and packaged for distribution. MacDonald adds a “natural flavoring” to this process to maintain their unique flavoring.
After having read this book I will certainly look at what food I buy and what food I will avoid. I can honestly say I won’t get those 70,000 insects (female Dactylopius coccus costa who feeds on cactus and gathers color) out of my mind when I have a drink of pink grapefruit juice or Dannon strawberry yogurt. I’ll also smile when I’m in the meat department when I think of two resourceful hogs (Butch and Sundance) who escaped from the slaughterhouse.
This is a well written and organized text that has fully documented source notes for the reader to follow up if further research is necessary. The inclusion of a teaching guide will further enhance its’ inclusion into the curriculum of a secondary school.