I read many books, but deem few of them to be noteworthy. Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation is just outstanding and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I was initially disinclined to purchase the book, thinking, "Oh great. Here's another exposé on big, bad capitalism and fat, stupid Americans." And, of course, with a subtitle like "The Dark Side of the All-American Meal", his piece is highly critical of the fast food industry and its impact on America.

Such grandstanding (e.g. demanding that government intervene between consenting parties, for their own good) goes against my generally-libertarian sensibilities. After all, no one is forced to buy McDonald's; they do so because it's cheap, tasty, fun and convenient.

But there's nothing patronizingly we-know-what's-best-for-you about pointing out that agri-business has an undue influence on the very government agencies that we rely on for ensuring that our schools' ground beef isn't contaminated with cow feces and deadly pathogens.

And that, I believe, is where the book is at its muckraking best. A critical Reason review claims that:

All of the so-called problems of the fast food industry could be solved by similar public pressure, if those issues were truly important to the public. Public pressure could increase pay scales for young workers like Elisa Zamot, if the same public would be willing to patronize those corporations that provided workers with a "living wage." Students at Harvard, in their successful sit-in on behalf of their cleaning crews, showed the way.

The problem is, such an argument presupposes knowledge of the industry's shortcomings. Before the most recent Mad Cow Disease scare, how many consumers realized that cattle were fed the remains of dead animals, including dogs, cats and other cows? Or that cows that were too weak to stand up — or dead before they reached the meat processing plant — would be deemed fit for human consumption?

In fact, one of the book's salient points is damningly libertarian: it is grossly mistaken to assume that the government will look out for your interests.

If you care about food, economics, globalization, labor, public health, sociology or post-War American history, give it a read.

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