Interview with Charles Wilson, co-author of Chew On This: Second Part of a Two-Part Interview

(This is the second part of an interview with Charles Wilson, co-author of Chew On This. The book is essentially an adaption of Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser for younger readers but with new material. The first part was published last week.)

I asked Mr. Wilson if he wanted to add any context to this excerpt I wanted to share about the stark reality of life for the animals that become our fast food meals:

“These cattle don’t wander the prairie, eating fresh grass. During the three months before slaughter, they eat special grain dumped into long concrete troughs that look like highway dividers. The grain is designed to fatten the cattle quickly, aided by growth hormones that have been implanted beneath their skin.”

Wilson added, "Cows weren’t intended to be industrial commodities on this scale. E. coli O157:H7 is almost non-existent in cows that eat grass off the prairie. This strain is thought to have evolved in the acidic rumen of cattle that are fed grain and corn in commercial feedlots. The recent outbreak of E. coli poisoning in spinach is thought to come from cow manure from an industrial farm adjacent to the spinach fields that cross-contaminated the produce. It’s another lesson that when you manipulate nature, there are generally unintended consequences.”

What follows is the second half of the interview.

Scott Butki: With some exceptions like the McLibel suit in England, why do you think the news media doesn’t do many stories about some of the outrageous things done by fast food companies like McDonald's lying for years about whether its French fries were vegetarian? The company said it was soaked in pure vegetable oil when it actually contained some beef for “flavor enhancement,” to use the company’s language. 

Charles Wilson: I have been encouraged recently by a willingness on the part of the media to challenge the fast food chains — particularly on the issues of marketing to children and the quality of their ingredients, such as man-made trans-fats. I think the benefit of Eric’s Fast Food Nation or books like Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma is that they’ve helped foster a public awareness that the food we eat now is profoundly different than the food we ate a few generations ago.  

For years, the fast food companies never had to answer questions about their supply chains, for instance. With the recent cases of E. coli poisoning, there have been more stories about how the centralization of the fast-food supply chain allows outbreaks that can spread across several states — instead of within just a single town or a family picnic. The closer the media’s scrutiny, the greater potential that these companies can be persuaded to change practices that are not beneficial to public health. 

Article Author: Scott Butki

Scott Butki was a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years before making a career change into education.

He is an in-house media critic, a recovering Tetris addict and a proud uncle.

Visit Scott Butki's author page — Scott Butki's Blog