(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)August 8, 2006

(Mahwah) – Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation:  The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, will be the guest speaker at Ramapo College’s Opening Convocation Friday, September 8 at 1 p.m.  The Convocation will be held in the Arena of the Bill Bradley Sports and Recreation Center, located on campus.  The public is invited to attend; admission is free.

A movie adaptation of the book, starring an ensemble cast that includes Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Greg Kinnear, Kris Kristofferson, Avril Lavigne and Esai Morales is scheduled for release this November.

All incoming freshmen of Ramapo College’s Class of 2010 are reading Fast Food Nation over the summer and will discuss the book in their First Year Seminar Course (FYS).  The course introduces students to college-level work and prepares them for the subsequent courses they will take.

Eric Schlosser has been investigating the fast food industry for years.  In 1998, his two-part article on the subject in Rolling Stone generated more mail than any other item the magazine had run in years.  In addition to writing for Rolling Stone, Schlosser has contributed to The New Yorker and has been a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly.

He won a National Magazine Award for Reefer Madness” and Marijuana and the Law,” and has received a Sidney Hillman Foundation Award for Reporting.  His work has been nominated for several other national magazine awards and for the Loeb Award for business journalism.  Fast Food Nation is his first book.

Schlosser’s narrative stretches from California, where the fast-food business was born, to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike, where many of fast food’s flavors are concocted.  Along the way, he unearths unsettling truths, from the alliance between fast food and Hollywood, to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture and real estate.

In this meticulously researched account, the author visits the labs where scientists recreate the smell and taste of everything from cooked meat to fresh strawberries; talks to the workers at abattoirs with some of the worse safety records in the world; explains exactly where the meat comes from and why the fries taste so good; and looks at the way the fast food industry is transforming not only the nation’s diet, but the country’s landscape, economy, workforce and culture.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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