Grocery

The Buying and Selling of Food in America

By: Michael Ruhlman

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

In Grocery, best-selling author Michael Ruhlman offers incisive commentary on America's relationship with its food and investigates the overlooked source of so much of it - the grocery store.

In a culture obsessed with food - how it looks, what it tastes like, where it comes from, what is good for us - there are often more questions than answers. Ruhlman proposes that the best practices for consuming wisely could be hiding in plain sight - in the aisles of your local supermarket. Using the human story of the family-run Midwestern chain Heinen's as an anchor to this journalistic narrative, he dives into the mysterious world of supermarkets and the ways in which we produce, consume, and distribute food. Grocery examines how rapidly supermarkets - and our food and culture - have changed since the days of your friendly neighborhood grocer. But rather than waxing nostalgic for the age of mom-and-pop shops, Ruhlman seeks to understand how our food needs have shifted since the mid-20th century and how these needs mirror our cultural ones.

A mix of reportage and rant, personal history and social commentary, Grocery is a landmark book from one of our most insightful food writers.

©2017 Michael Ruhlman (P)2017 Random House Audio

Heinen's Story

I think the title I gave this review better suits the book than "Grocery".
This is not a book about "The Buying and Selling of Food in America". It is a book about "The Buying and Selling of Food at Heinen's". Which is great and interesting, but it is one small size chain, with very specific characteristics, and it does not cover or even make any attempt to cover "The Buying and Selling of Food in America".
In this sense, it is more like "Becoming Trader Joe" than like "The Secret Life of Groceries", which took a real effort to cover groceries retail business from multiple directions.
Now, that you know what to expect, it is a party good book, except for the parts where the author repeatedly and in length spoke about himself and about his family, which I sometimes tried to skip forward.

Fantastic!!

An absolute pleasure to listen to a book so informative, so well-researched and so wonderfully narrated! I learned so much about a world I only knew in passing, and it was so engagingly presented, I am going on to other books by this author as well as others read by the same narrator. Just loved this book! Makes me want to fly to Cleveland!

Salivating

What a terrific exploration of a vast industry we just take for granted and one that is at the nexus of our health. Wet well read as well.

Surprisingly Gripping

Who knew a story about grocery stores could so captivate. Days later I can't stop thinking about it.

Surprised by diet advice

I loved this book in the first section; Heinen’s is a local grocery store and I loved learning about the history of grocery stores and Heinen’s. What made me return this title was about a third of the way through the author pivots to discussing new products like fat-free half and half, which from a marketing perspective was interesting, but he continues go down that path into diet and nutrition advice. The middle third of the book is his diagnosis on what’s “wrong” with how Americans eat.

Excellent writing as usual...

I was hoping for a deeper focus on non-independent groceries... solving those tasks where money is a huge factor in having enough to survive isn't mentioned ... neither is the fact that small groceries are too expensive for anyone on assistance.

A very nice listen and I feel a must for anyone who loves food

Grocery was an excellent listen to and I work in the grocery industry so perhaps I might be a bit biased but I feel that it taught me a great deal more about what I deal with seemingly everyday and what I don't deal with behind the scenes to give me a greater respect for what mine and other companies deal with.

The ending as well touched me deeply and made me smile a little thinking about my own past shopping at the store I now work at and is letting me look at it with new eyes as not just a job but in a way a part of who I was and am now for the better.

Almost perfect

Would you consider the audio edition of Grocery to be better than the print version?

I only listen to books, never read

What was one of the most memorable moments of Grocery?

The cereal isle

What does Jonathan Todd Ross bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I bet bored reading, listening I can do walking my do

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me want to change shopping habits

Any additional comments?

would have given it 5 star but hemissed a large issue - where does expired food go. My friend is CEO of a large grocery chain (more stores than the group in this book) and it is interesting to what happens to expired food. Would have been a great way to finish the story.

one of a kind

this is a wonderful book about the evolution of the grocery industry it's remarkably touching and personal. the performance is great. I really love this book. it's exactly what I was looking for.

Good book - slow in the middle

Great book covering all the bases of the grocery industry. Brings a nice personal touch to the subject with his fathers story. It gets a little bogged down in the middle with the details of meat processing and other stuff not grocery related but ends up strong. Would recommend!