Book Review: The Secret Life of Groceries

The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket by Benjamin Lorr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book unveils our food system—the supply chain, the people, production details, marketing, and the business of making stores successful. Get the insider story of Trader Joe’s founder, Joe Coulombe, one of the beloved grocery chains with an almost cult-like following.

There are six parts: Part I: Salad Days at Trader Joe’s; Part II: Distribution of Responsibility; Part III: Self-Realization through Snack; Part IV: The Retail Experience; Part V: When I look in My Window: Backstage in the Theater of Retail; and Part VI: The Bottom of the Commodity Chain.

“This book is about the grocery store. About the people who work there and the routes of supply that define it. It is the product of five years of research, hundreds of interviews, and thousands of hours tracking down and working alongside the buyers, brokers, marketers, and managers whose lives and choices define our diet” (pp. 4-5).

“So, within a century, we have cut rates of hunger and nutritional deficiency to historic lows, reduced food-borne illness to a rounding error, and democratized food that was once the height of luxury into fare for everyday consumption. And we have been so successful in all those endeavors that we now grapple with a series of problems entirely unprecedented in the history of humanity: of too much food, of using food to distribute ethical responsibility, of food as a proxy for control in our own increasingly detached lives” (p. 6).

This book will force you to consider the food industry, the consequences of our purchasing power, and solutions for improving this food system. I highly recommend it to anyone who buys groceries. I hope you will be inspired to support local farmers, shop local, and focus on the least processed, most nutritious options.

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