Don't Eat This Book by Morgan Spurlock: Lightweight But Convincing Expose of the Fast Food Industry

For those of you who have been on another planet for the last year or so, Morgan Spurlock is a movie star who spends a month eating nothing but McDonald's food and filming his deterioration in health, expanding the margins and other worrying effects of a diet.

The result was a gripping documentary, Super Size Me, that earned him an Oscar nomination.

Don't Eat This Book, though a clear film branch, is a project in its own right, with many offering Spurlock fans and beginners.

If you watch the movie, you will appreciate the perspective of the perspective revealed in this Do Not Eat Book. But the book's main thrust should appeal to anyone with an interest in the fast food industry and its role in modern society. Of course, if you are a parent or teacher who cares what your child eats, you should have this book.

The title - Don't Eat This Book - is a spoof on the warning labels attached to almost every US product.

These warnings are aimed at avoiding court cases of the kind not just silly enough to put their hands in a misleading lawn mower or to blame silcone gel sneaker inserts for mints, but also shy enough to blame manufacturers for them, and deserve , an accident.

Spurlock does not have time for such litigation. But he is convinced that such cases are very different from the kind of class action being taken against the tobacco and food companies.

It should be obvious to anyone but most brain dead that put your hand into a power cutter are bad for you. But until recently it was not clear that cigarettes and fast food were bad for you.

For decades, tobacco companies have been hiding evidence that their products are a health hazard, cunningly designed to be addictive. At the same time they spend huge amounts of money on marketing to create a "cool" cigarette image.

With the success of the early tobacco class action, attitudes began to change.

As Spurlock explains, "It is obvious that sticking a cigarette in your mouth is not the same as putting shoes in your mouth. Nobody spends billions and billions of dollars on marketing, advertising and promotion telling the man The sneaker cat will make it cool, hip and sexy. Big Tobacco does it right for smokers. "

He spends most of the Don't Eat This book builds on the case of the fast food industry.

Parallels are inevitable. Fast food chains like McDonalds spend billions on children who believe that eating unhealthy fatty products will make you popular and cool.

Their "Super Measures" policy, designed cynically to exploit human instincts for monetary gain, was criticized in detail, by the author's own experience in portraying Super Size Me as the chief witness for the prosecution.

And if that's not enough to keep your kids from eating snacks outside of school, there is a competitive fast food chain trend to offer cash-funded schools in exchange for branding and advertising opportunities. In some cases, the fast food chain has even opened a store in the school cafeteria.

Thankfully, everything is not punishment and gloom. Spurlock Valley praises schools that provide healthy and local food in the cafeteria. He also provides advice and a list of resources for parents and teachers who are striving to make the tide in their own communities.

This, combined with the casual Spurlock, is a fun writing style made for quick, casual and ultimately optimistic reading. Its accessibility makes Do Not Eat This Book an ideal educational tool, especially when combined with the Super Size Me Spurlock documentary.

If you prefer a more streamlined journalistic style, Don't Eat This Book may be a little light for your taste - Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Country may be more to your taste.

I'll end with one word of caution. If you print this review, don't eat. It might give you a chance and I can't make a claim!

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