The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)
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
The American supermarket is an everyday miracle. But what does it take to run one? What are the inner workings of product delivery and distribution? Who sets the price? And who suffers for the convenience and efficiency we've come to expect? In this rollicking 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 to
learn the secrets of Trader Joe's success from Trader Joe himself;drive with truckers caught in a job they call "sharecropping on wheels;"break into industrial farms with activists to learn what it takes for a product to earn certification labels like "rainforest friendly" and "fair trade;"follow entrepreneurs as they fight for shelf space, learning essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business; andjourney with migrants to examine shocking forced labor practices through their eyes.The result is a page-turning portrait of an industry in flux, filled with the passion, ingenuity, and inequity required to make this piece of the American dream run. The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the industry, The Secret Life of Groceries is essential reading for those who want to understand our food system—delivering powerful social commentary on the inherently American quest for more and compassionate insight into the lives that provide it.
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Benjamin Lorr. (2020). The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket. Unabridged Blackstone Publishing.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Benjamin Lorr. 2020. The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket. Blackstone Publishing.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Benjamin Lorr, The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket. Blackstone Publishing, 2020.
MLA Citation (style guide)Benjamin Lorr. The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket. Unabridged Blackstone Publishing, 2020.
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Benjamin Lorr is the author of Hell-Bent, a critically acclaimed exploration of the Bikram Yoga community that first detailed patterns of abuse and sexual misconduct by guru Bikram Choudhury. Lorr is a graduate of Montgomery County public schools and Columbia University. He lives in New York City.
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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
The American supermarket is an everyday miracle. But what does it take to run one? What are the inner workings of product delivery and distribution? Who sets the price? And who suffers for the convenience and efficiency we've come to expect? In this rollicking 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 to
learn the secrets of Trader Joe's success from Trader Joe himself;drive with truckers caught in a job they call "sharecropping on wheels;"break into industrial farms with activists to learn what it takes for a product to earn certification labels like "rainforest friendly" and "fair trade;"follow entrepreneurs as they fight for shelf space, learning essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business; andjourney with migrants to examine shocking forced labor practices through their eyes.The result is a page-turning portrait of an industry in flux, filled with the passion, ingenuity, and inequity required to make this piece of the American dream run. The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the industry, The Secret Life of Groceries is essential reading for those who want to understand our food system—delivering powerful social commentary on the inherently American quest for more and compassionate insight into the lives that provide it.
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August 17, 2020
Journalist Lorr (Hell-Bent) investigates the production, distribution, sales, and marketing of retail food products in this wide-ranging and acerbic exposé. Lorr documents the multiyear process of experimentation, pitch meetings, and negotiations behind new food products, and describes commercial fishing and shrimp farming practices in Thailand, where “NGOs estimate 17 to 60 percent of Thai shrimp includes slave labor... in its supply chain.” On a trip with a long-haul trucker, he discovers that the woman’s net pay for the previous year was $17,000 (out of $200,000 gross) after the cost of gas, supplies, and insurance were deducted. And working the fish counter at Whole Foods, Lorr learns what it’s like to have no job security or set hours. In a brisk yet comprehensive analysis of the history of the American grocery store, Lorr spotlights the advent of packaged food and the reinvention of the traditional model by Trader Joe’s owner Joe Coulombe, among other milestones. Lorr’s stylistic quirks, including extensive footnotes, overlong sentences, and oddly heightened language (he describes one stage in the processing of chickens as “a moment when industry mimics the god”) will be off-putting for some readers, but the depth of his research astonishes. Socially conscious readers will want to take note. Agent: Michael Harriot, Folio Literary.
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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
The American supermarket is an everyday miracle. But what does it take to run one? What are the inner workings of product delivery and distribution? Who sets the price? And who suffers for the convenience and efficiency we've come to expect? In this rollicking 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 to
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