Cogs in the Great Machine

by Eric Schlosser

Eric Schlosser's unique brand of hard-hitting, edgy yet always entertaining writing looks beneath the surface of American life to examine issues ranging from the black market to burgers. When Penguin published his expose Fast Food Nation in 2001 it sparked a storm in the fast food industry. This extract about the terrifying true cost of cheap meat shows why Schlosser has been instrumental in changing our attitudes to what we eat.

Genres: Short Stories, Nonfiction

58 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Eric Matthew Schlosser is an American journalist and author known for his investigative journalism, such as in his books Fast Food Nation (2001), Reefer Madness (2003), and Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety (2013).

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short little book is actually a few chosen excerpts from Schlosser's book "Fast Food Nation." As I had just finished reading Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle," I thought I'd go with that theme and try out this book.

It was interesting to note how some things in the meatpacking industry have not changed in over a hundred years. According to Schlosser, employees in the beef factories have the most dangerous jobs in the country. Schlosser's arguments are similar to Sinclair's in that he paints a picture of the average employee as undereducated, undercompensated, and underprotected. Schlosser blames a lot of the ills of the entire industry on large corporations who control the industry and the lack of regulation. It was interesting to see a modern perspective of the meat industry but I probably should have read "Fast Food Nation" rather than settling for this little condensed version.

[Tatiana Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

the stories of injury in this book. holy shit.

[Coenraad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schlosser's 2001 expose must have sent shockwaves through the meat industry in the USA. One wonders if it had any permanent effect, whether it lead to any improvement in the dire, inhumane circumstances described, where not only animals, but also the human workers become victims of corporate greed. This excerpt is about as much as I have the stomach for; I'm lucky because I can regard the horror at a great distance. One hopes that those who were killed and maimed without proper safety or compensation, as well as the persecuted whistle-blowers trying to improve matters, will be vindicated by major improvements. But I'm cynical enough to think that the amounts of money are simply too vast to warrant caring for individuals.

Schlosser lê die verskrikkings van die Amerikaanse vleisbedryf bloot. Dit toon aan hoe plaastegnieke en plattelandse grondgebruik verander het; hoe beeste geslag word; en hoe onveilig werksomstandighede vir die werkers in die vleisbedryf is, en hoe argeloos die maatskappye hul werkers behandel. 'n Mens kan maar net hoop dat dinge ingrypend sal verander, ten spyte van die diepgewortelde korporatiewe gierigheid, en dat sake in Suid-Afrika beter hanteer word.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chapter out of Schlosser's book, 'Fast Food Nation', this pocket-sized read is an acessable but confronting look at just what goes on in the American meat industry. Thoroughly researched, with both hard statistics and even-handed interviews, Cogs in the Great Machine is a definite eye-opener for those of us who just presume the situation (with old/diseased meat being sold, lax safety standards for workers, underhand dealings between the industry execs and the processing owners etc.) is bad, until we find out it is even worse...

[Roelof Kotvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sex, drugs and slaughterhouses. The first part of "Cogs in the Great Machine", about the way the meatpacking industry in the United States throttles cattle ranchers, is a bit tedious. The latter half, about the terrible working conditions in slaughterhouses, more than makes up for it; an eye-opener and a real thriller.

[Malzee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My original recollection of this piece was from the meat-eating angle. But this read hit me much more raw (no pun intended), and I learned a lot from legal and policy perspectives: antitrust, OSHA, workers comp, labor unions, immigration. And a reminder that the GOP has been in the business of some bad lawmaking for humans for decades. #book2 #pocketpenguins #penguin70s

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because it was small but it was VERY interesting. Although it is set in the American cattle industry, it has correlation to what is happening in Australia at the moment with the milk industry.

[Caitlin]

Cogs in the Great Machine (Pocket Penguins 70's) by Eric Schlosser (2005)

[Alix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written, informative, depressing.

[Lex Redding · Rating 3 out of 5]

An eye opener to the horrific state of the agricultural industry in the USA.