Benjamin Lorr

Lots of interesting and in some cases disturbing information about not only the grocery retail industry, but also about the supplier industry to the supermarket chains. The history of some of the best known chains reveals much that might make the reader not want to patronize those chains. Lorr’s story makes it clear that some of the chains developed their image, not because it matches their actual internal behavior, but because they know that image will sell more product. And in some cases that product isn’t close to the promoted claims by the chains. Probably the most disappointment revelations involve the sourcing of much of the inventory sold in the grocery stores. Some of this was well known before Lorr’s book came out, but a lot of it was news to me. I listened to the audio book, which was narrated by the author. If I have a criticism of the book it’s that Benjamin Lorr lets his writing style get in the way of the story he’s telling. He is obviously a very talented writer, but sometimes in what seems like an effort to be clever with the language, distracts from the points he’s attempting to make. A little less cleverness and more straight forward reporting would have been better to my way of thinking. That said, overall I enjoyed the book and found most of what Lorr said interesting and entertaining.… (more)

This book begins with a short history of the development of the American supermarket and reveals some of the key 19th century innovations that sped the development along. Innovations include banal things like the cardboard box and carboard packaging for things like cereal and biscuits. The book then tells the story of Trader Joes and the innovations it brought to the supermarket. Whole Foods is also discussed extensively.

In addition to discussing the supermarkets themselves, the author provides a discussion of the truck drivers who transport what ends up on the store shelves. It also talks about the abuse of workers in the Thai fishing industry. Particularly interesting was the story of how one woman worked to get a new food onto the shelves of supermarkets.

The book is interesting but very selective in what it covers. It is also focused exclusively on the US market. It is, nevertheless, an eye-opener and will change how you view any supermarket you enter in the future.… (more)

this book was way more interesting and informative than it had any right to be. Who knew groceries were at the center of such dark stories. The author did his research on so many aspects f the grocery business, it's amazing. there is a somewhat funny rags to riches story about how Trader Joes came to be to hook you at the beginning, then information on what life is like for truckers, animals being processed for eventual consumption and even modern day slaves, imprisoned so we can have cheap shrimp. I read it because it was on a list of Mary Roache reccommendations for best "true crime" books ,but the real crime would've been passing up on this gem… (more)