Fast Food Nation

The title of this chapter is partially borrowed from Upton Sinclair’s famous exposé of the meatpacking industry, The Jungle. The chapter’s central concern is likewise the meatpacking industry. In many ways, the chapter is an extension or an updated version of Sinclair’s work. Schlosser examines the business practices of some of the industry’s largest firms, such as ConAgra and Monfort. The chapter begins with Schlosser commenting about the living conditions in the town of Greely, Colorado, particularly the ubiquitous smell that pervades the town from the cattle waste at the meatpacking plant.

Schlosser then goes back in time and describes the early days of the industry in Greely. Ken Monfort was a pioneer in the process of feeding grain to cattle rather than letting them roam and feed on grass. Instead of ranges, cattle were collected into what were called feedlots. This made the whole process of raising and slaughtering cattle much more efficient, which grew the industry and led to more and more ways of adding efficiency to the operations of the larger firms. Schlosser then uses Iowa Beef Packers (IBP) as a case study in how the industry changed very rapidly over a relatively short amount of time.