The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket

“An extremely curious and utterly impartial report on our national tastes,” — The New York Times
“ The Secret Life of Supermarkets” is the result of five years of research and hundreds of interviews at every level of the industry, a necessary book for anyone who wants to understand how this business works. It is a manifesto of the modern person’s thirst for more, and a compassionate, inside look at the lives of the people who make it possible to satisfy that desire.
We suddenly realized that, just like doctors and nurses caring for the sick, the men and women who replenish the shelves of our stores every day and arrange deliveries to the warehouse also perform an extremely important job—ensuring the quality of life that we, without thinking, take for granted. The bitter truth is that the food industry has neglected its workers for years.
In this sensational account, Benjamin Lorr will shed light on an intensely secretive corner of the food industry. First-person stories, a detailed account, and sharp, often stomach-churning prose—Lorr investigates the question: what is it like to run a supermarket? How do products get onto the shelves? And who suffers because of our growing demands for comfort and efficiency?
On this journey:
• we’ll learn the secrets of success of the Trader Joe’s supermarket chain from its founder;
• we’ll hit the road with truck drivers who call their work nothing less than “sharecropping on wheels”;
• together with eco-activists, we’ll break into an industrial farm to see firsthand what it costs to earn Fair trade and Free range certifications;
• we’ll follow producers in their fight for the right to a spot on store shelves—picking up the necessary life hacks and learning about the pitfalls and traps involved in opening any new food-industry enterprise;
• we’ll see shocking details of forced labor through the migrants’ own eyes.
Benjamin Lorr is a graduate of Montgomery County Public Schools and Columbia University. Six years before writing Hell-Bent (the critically acclaimed investigation of the Bikram yoga commune, in which the patterns of violence and sexual harassment by Bikram Choudhury were first laid out in detail), he taught science subjects in high school and sex education in Bushwick, Brooklyn. He currently consults with public schools in New York and is working on a new book.

“Is ‘exposé journalism’ a new genre? Now it is. This book is at once a rich, flavorful dish and a kind, cold splash of water to the face. The modern consumer wants products to be ethical, affordable, environmentally friendly, consistent with the principle of sustainability, fresh, and within ‘walking distance.’ However, as Benjamin Lorr finds out, our demands are met through the lowest rung of the ‘supply chain’: crushed-by-debt truck drivers, enslaved foreign labor, and Whole Foods employees in the stores in our neighborhoods—people whose lives Lorr shared, (and sometimes whose life lived Lorr) for several weeks or months… ‘The Secret Life of Supermarkets’ is an addictive read where harsh truths are seasoned with wit and hope,” — Mary Roach, author of “The Secret Life of the Human Body”

“A colossal investigation, a vivid narrative—Benjamin Lorr follows the entire journey that products make to the end consumer: through the bizarre culture of enslaved fishermen, inventive entrepreneurs, low-paid truck drivers, squeezed shop workers, and supermarket chains so corrupt that bribes are usually called a commission. Don’t read this book if you want to remain happily unaware of where your purchases come from. But if you want to be informed—as you should—this book is the perfect choice,” — David C. Schiepler, former New York Times correspondent and a Pulitzer Prize winner, author of seven books including “The Working Poor. Invisible in America”

“If you’ve ever wondered who made that bottle of spicy condiment; who brought it to you; who’s driving the truck you just passed; who put it on the shelf and how it happened that you chose that one—read this book, and you’ll find out everything. If you didn’t think a food-products book could be substantial, insightful, funny, humane, and charming all at once, read ‘The Secret Life of Supermarkets.’ And you’ll never be able to look at a bottle of ketchup indifferently again,” — Rose George, author of “99% of Everything.”