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The secret life of groceries : the dark miracle of the American supermarket / Benjamin Lorr.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House, [2020]Description: 328 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780553459395
  • 0553459392
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Introduction: between the ice and you -- Salad days at Trader Joe's -- Distribution of responsibility -- Self-realization through snack -- The retail experience -- When I look in my window: backstage in the theater of retail -- The bottom of the commodity chain -- Afterword: the long road from P'Aon to Amazon-Whole Foods.
Summary: "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"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 381.4564 L876 Available 33111009755642
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 381.4564 L876 Available 33111010404644
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library NonFiction 381.4564 L876 Available 33111009018652
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the business, 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.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [277]-316) and index.

Introduction: between the ice and you -- Salad days at Trader Joe's -- Distribution of responsibility -- Self-realization through snack -- The retail experience -- When I look in my window: backstage in the theater of retail -- The bottom of the commodity chain -- Afterword: the long road from P'Aon to Amazon-Whole Foods.

"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"-- Provided by publisher.

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