Suggested Reading?

A fabulous friend of mine, Malerie, in responding to the "6 Random Things" blog on her own blog (does that make sense?) mentioned a book she's about to start teaching to her 9th graders:

I had never heard of such so, intrigued, I looked it up. This is what Amazon.com has to say about it:

Amazon.com Review
On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its thriftiness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems as American, and harmless, as apple pie. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenization, and speed has radically transformed America's diet, landscape, economy, and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways. Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. Quickly, however, he moves behind the counter with the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavor company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns." Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--feces in your meat. Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of federal oversight of a seemingly lawless industry. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting, and unsanitary practices that introduce E. coli and other pathogens into restaurants, public schools, and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young," insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behavior," he writes. Where to begin? Ask yourself, is the true cost of having it "your way" really worth it? --Lesley Reed

So now I am interested. I am going to read this. I want to know this stuff.

As some of you know, I have been not dieting, but trying my best to be more healthy lately so that I can fit into my ski pants, so I can look more like myself, and frankly, just feel better.

I've stopped drinking sodas, specifically coke. I have replaced it with a less-sugar version of sweet tea and water. I don't even have a desire to drink a coke. [THANKS, GOD!]

I'm trying to be MUCH more careful about what I'm putting into my body and I'm exercising. Walking/Jogging/Trying to Run.

Now, I want to read this book.

Thanks, Mal!