Fast Food Nation Michael Pollan Analysis

Michael Pollan’s, The Omnivore’s Dilemma crosses paths with, “Fast Food Nation: The True Cost of America’s Diet.” Both works share similar ideas, themes, and lessons. “Fast Food Nation: The True Cost of America’s Diet” focuses on the average American diet, containing processed foods, fast foods, and more unhealthy products. Pollan, rather, wants to show the cycle from the farm to the food on the table.
One way that the two writings are similar is that they both concern the ever-growing presence of processed/industrialized foods. According to the “Fast Food Nation” article, “During the last four decades, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society. An industry that began with a handful of modest hot dog and hamburger stands in Southern California has spread to every corner of the nation, selling a broad range of
Fast food is now served not only at restaurants and drive-thrus but also at stadiums, airports, college campuses, and elementary schools, cruise ships, trains and airplanes …” The passage follows by briefly reminding readers of the astronomical amount of money that people spend on fast food. Last year, over 100 billion dollars’ worth of fast food was purchased. Lastly, the passage introduces a stunning fact that states that Americans spend more money on fast food than they do on computers, education, software, etc. An even more-jaw-dropping fact is that if expenses for magazines, books, movies, videos, music and potentially more were put together, it still wouldn’t come close to the colossal amounts of money gained from consumers to benefit the fast-food industry. The Omnivore’s Dilemma contains similar aspects to those displayed by the article. For