The Secret Life of Groceries - Benjamin Lorr

The Secret Life of Groceries

By Benjamin Lorr

  • Release Date: 2020-09-08
  • Genre: Social Science
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 84 Ratings

Description

In the tradition of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma, an extraordinary investigation into the human lives at the heart of the American grocery store
 
What does it take to run the American supermarket? How do products get to shelves? Who sets the price? And who suffers the consequences of increased convenience end efficiency? In this alarming exposé, author Benjamin Lorr pulls back the curtain on this highly secretive industry. Combining deep sourcing, immersive reporting, and compulsively readable prose, Lorr leads a wild investigation in which we learn:

• The secrets of Trader Joe’s success from Trader Joe himself
• Why truckers call their job “sharecropping on wheels”
• What it takes for a product to earn certification labels like “organic” and “fair trade”
• The struggles entrepreneurs face as they fight for shelf space, including essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business
• The truth behind the alarming slave trade in the shrimp industry

The result is a page-turning portrait of an industry in flux, filled with the passion, ingenuity, and exploitation required to make this everyday miracle continue to function. The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the industry, The Secret Life of Groceries delivers powerful social commentary on the inherently American quest for more and the social costs therein.

Reviews

  • This was terrific

    5
    By Formerly loyal Schwab client
    A series of vignettes relating to how we eat in this country…how did items on your grocery store shelf get there, anyway? How were they harvested, chosen, trucked in? This book is endlessly fascinating, partially because the author describes not just products, but people. And…did I mention…the main reason this book works is because the author is a FANTASTIC writer. Your whole experience of walking into a market will be forever changed by reading this book. Go for it.
  • Excellent.

    5
    By Mwm2108
    Engaging, well-written, humorous and thorough - a great read.

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