BOOK REVIEW
The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket
by Benjamin Lorr 2020
About the Author
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.
About the Book
“With prodigious research and vivid writing, Benjamin Lorr follows our food through a bizarre culture of enslaved fishermen, inventive entrepreneurs, underpaid truckers, exploited store workers, and chains so corrupt that bribes are routinely labeled ‘fees.’ Don’t read this book if you want to remain complacent about your groceries. If you want to be informed, as you should, this book is a must.”
—David K. Shipler, former New York Times correspondent and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of seven books, including The Working Poor: Invisible in America
“If you have ever wondered who made that bottle of spicy condiment; who brought it to you; who is behind the wheel of the truck you just overtook that delivered it; who stacked it on the shelf; and how you came to choose it, read this book, because you will learn all those things. If you didn’t think it was possible for a book about groceries to have richness, insight, humor, humanity, and charm all at once, read The Secret Life of Groceries. You’ll never look at a sauce bottle with indifference again.”
—Rose George, author of Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate
“I loved this book… How many times have I been in a supermarket? I thought I understood it. But The Secret Life of Groceries taught me that I didn’t know much at all about the way food turns into groceries. Benjamin Lorr has given us a perfect book – deeply reported, brimming with interesting characters, and written with great style. Read!”
—Caitlin Flanagan, author of To Hell With All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife
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.
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