Migrant workers from Mexico illegally work at meat processing factories. Teenagers take the only jobs they can find in fast food takeaways. Marketing executives investigate working practices and research new campaigns. Ranchers fight against big business. Health standards are ignored. Lives are at risk. And those burger sales are still climbing.Eric Schlosser’s book was a huge worldwide success, exposing the underbelly of the fast food industry and the consequences on our health. Fast Food Nation is Richard Linklater’s dramatisation of such accounts and with Schlosser’s help, he has scripted a poignant sobering, even shocking look at how big business will disregard everything in order to chase that extras dollar. He focuses on one particular town and a disparate group of individuals whose lives are affected by the meat industry. His ensemble cast includes Hollywood stars such as Bruce Willis, Ethan Hawke, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano (both from Little Miss Sunshine), Kris Kristofferson, and Patricia Arquette, along with popstar Avril Lavigne.
The separate stories are inter-linked by the exploration of all sides of the burger industry from the raising and slaughter of the cattle, the making of the burgers and how they end up in our fast food outlets, following workers, campaigners and corporate politics.
Fast Food Nation takes to the same campaign trail as Bowling For Columbine, Supersize Me, and An Inconvenient Truth but opting for fictonalised retellings over documentary.
It gives plenty of food for thought and makes you question if you really are what you eat. You might never have an appetite for burgers again.
DVD extras include: Tartan exclusive interviews with director and co-writer Richard Linklater and co-writer Eric Schlosser.