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

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

Introduction: between the ice and you -- Salad days at Trader Joe's -- Distribution and 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 -- Afterward: the long road from P'Aon to Amazon-Whole Foods.

"The miracle of the supermarket has never been more apparent. Like the doctors and nurses who care for the sick, suddenly the men and women who stock our shelves and operate our warehouses are understood as 'essential' workers, providing a quality of life we all too easily take for granted. But the sad truth is that the grocery industry has been failing these workers for decades. In this page-turning expose, author Benjamin Lorr pulls back the curtain on the highly secretive grocery industry. Combining deep sourcing, immersive reporting, and sharp, often laugh-out-loud prose, Lorr leads a wild investigation, asking what does it take to run a supermarket? How does our food get on the shelves? And who suffers for our increasing demands for convenience and efficiency? In this journey: We learn the secrets of Trader Joe's success from Trader Joe himself; Drive with truckers caught in a job they call 'sharecropping on wheels'; Break into industrial farms with activists to learn what it takes for a product to earn certification labels like 'fair trade' and 'free range'; Follow entrepreneurs as they fight for shelf space, learning essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business; Journey with migrants to examine shocking forced labor practices through their eyes." --publisher's website.