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Friday, September 18, 2026

Latest from Food Politics: Weekend (Re-)reading: Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation

By Marion Nestle

September 18 2026

Weekend (Re-)reading: Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation

Wish Fast Food Nation a happy 25th anniversary.

It’s hard for me to believe it’s been 25 years since this book first appeared, but 25th anniversary editions of my Food Politics and Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma are also in the works.

The book is about the beef industry and what it does to the animals, packing house workers, the environment, and human health.

Eric Schlosser wrote a new Afterword for this edition.

Here are two excerpts.

As of this writing…highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) has not yet caused a deadly epidemic among human beings. Pasteurization kills H5N1 in milk, and the virus hasn’t yet mutated to become for contagious or more lethal. But H5N1 has become endemic among wild birds, chickens, turkeys, and dairy cattle in the United States, allowing a continual mixture of its genes. A bird flu epidemic that kills millions of people may never emerge from America’s factory farms—or it may next week, next month, next year. The industrialization of livestock, the transformation of sentient creatures into commodities, and the absence of government oversight have created an efficient system for creating dangerous new pathogens. As this book argued twenty-five years ago, that’s the price we pay for cheap meat. That price doesn’t appear on the menu. (p. 312)

Economists often use the four-firm concentration ratio as a measure of the competition in a market for goods and services. When four companies gain a combined market share of 40 percent or higher, an oligopoly has formed. The prices offered to suppliers, the prices charged to consumers, and the wages paid to workers are no longer determined mainly by market forces. A handful of companies have gained control of the market. Effective government regulation becomes more difficult, as state and federal agencies readily become “captive” to the corporations they’re supposed to oversee. Today, four companies control about 60 percent of the worldwide market for seeds and 61 percent of the market for pesticides. Four companies control about 70 to 90 percent of the worldwide trade in grain. Four companies are responsible for processing about 70 percent of America’s hogs and 85 percent of its cattle.

This book kicked off the food movement 25 years ago. If you haven’t read it, now is the time. We need it more than ever.

The post Weekend (Re-)reading: Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle

Now Available: What to Eat Now

My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out!

It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously.

For more information and to order, click here.

You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs.

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Marion Nestle

Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita

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Thursday, September 17, 2026

Latest from Food Politics: GLP-1 Drugs: A collection of items

By Marion Nestle

September 17 2026

GLP-1 Drugs: A collection of items

More and more Americans are taking GLP-1 drugs; the current estimate is 11%.

This causes a big problem for the food industry. Eating less is bad for business.

Here are some of the ways the food industry is responding.

Analyzing the GLP-1 consumer

Overturning 7 industry assumptions about the GLP-1 consumer: The newest evidence challenges some of the food industry’s most comfortable conclusions about GLP-1 consumers… Read more
New GLP-1 Consumer Data Challenges Food Industry Forecasts: New data from IFF, PwC, BCG, and The Harris Poll UK challenges assumptions about GLP-1 consumers, bakery demand, grocery spending, and product development.

Dealing with labeling issues

What do consumers call GLP-1s? Manufacturers must understand how consumers talk about the drugs to improve marketing effectiveness, product discoverability and consumer engagement… Read more
What does the ‘GLP-1 friendly’ label really mean? Food companies are increasingly adopting the label on packaging, but failing to explain how it could help consumers on weight loss drugs, one industry expert writes.
Beyond ‘GLP-1 friendly’: The nutrition opportunity food brands are missing: Health experts point to muscle, bone and cardiovascular health as key priorities for consumers taking GLP-1 medications and navigating midlife, creating opportunities for food and beverage brands to connect functional nutrition with consumer education… Read more

Developing new products

Can foods make consumers feel full like GLP-1s? Many hope to replicate the impact of GLP-1s on satiety through food… Read more
Nestlé bets big on GLP-1s with AI-powered nutrition push: The world’s biggest CPG is using AI and nutritional science to develop products tailored to GLP-1 users… Read more
Europeans finally care about GLP-1s: Europe’s GLP-1 conversation is taking off. While uptake still trails the US, interest is surging across the continent… Read more

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