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Michael Ruhlman offers 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-twentieth century, and how these needs mirror our cultural ones.… (more)
User reviews
Because he doesn’t have a horse in this race, Ruhlman can be neutral or critical as needed. He slams the food desert of the center aisles of supermarkets, yet admits he buys some of this poison himself because he likes it. He is critical of agriculture, but finds much to praise in a new generation of farmers who prize quality over quantity. And he digs at medicine and nutritionists in a front al attack: “Fat isn’t bad, stupid is bad.”
We learn the economics of the business, how size matters, how grocers find products, and how they run their stores. The business has changed dramatically in our lifetimes. We might not have noticed because we’re in those stores every week. It’s a trillion dollar business in the USA. From the hot take-out meals (and even restaurants and bars) to the organics and the gluten-free, the mix is anything but stagnant. And it’s up to 40,000 items now, from the 5000 when he was a child. Beef sales are way down, fish is way up. Fruit is no longer seasonal. Frozen food is still blah, and there are still hundreds of sugary breakfast cereals and snack foods to wade through. Sadly, grocers are forced to stock them all because customers will go elsewhere if their particular variety is AWOL.
There are aspects he has missed, like what grocers do with stale-dated foods. There’s nothing about community involvement, how the stores weave themselves into the fabric of the neighborhood. There’s no mention of all the games grocers have played, like specials and Green Stamps and loyalty programs. Or home and online shopping. And he never addresses customer complaints, like why there are 24 checkout lanes when only four are ever open at once. And it really could use some photos.
Grocery is a kind of love letter to Cleveland, Ruhlman’s hometown. He goes back to the grocers of his youth, and makes them the focal point of the book. On the one hand it is cloying, but on the other he had to make some grocer his example, so why not the chain he grew up loving? The people are dedicated, passionate and talented, and the stores are institutions. Overall, Grocery is a rare insight into the state of the business and the state of our food.
David Wineberg
I have to confess, of all the jobs I held in my career, all the way up through the upper levels of a federal law enforcement agency, the one I loved the most was
There is so much information in this book, I don't know where to start! If you have ever wondered about where the food in your store comes from, Ruhlman explains it very well.
Through interviews with the owners of Heinens, a Midwestern grocery chain, we learn about the workings of
The author’s personal stories and memories combined with his extensive research of the grocery industry make this an interesting and absorbing read. His description of the grocery store in the 1960s brought back my own childhood memories of grocery shopping as a Saturday morning family outing.
Audio production . . .
The narration was performed by Jonathan Todd Ross in a pleasant, clear voice with smooth pacing. This was an easy-to-follow narrative and a good selection for audio. Non-fiction is a good choice for new audio listeners or for listening in the car as there is no complex plot or characters to remember.
I read both print and audio and found my time listening to be a perfect choice for multitasking.
And not only that, but Ruhlman traces his love of grocery shopping back to supermarket visits with his Dad - ME TOO! Periodic mass grocery shopping for the household was my Dad's task, too, and I loved being his helper. He made everything a game; and it didn't hurt that he too had a liberal hand in allowing me to toss into the cart any manner of dessert and snack items I wanted (because he loved them too). He did occasionally raise a very feeble protest against the sugary cereals me and my sibs insisted on eating – but he lost that battle one time when he brought home Whole Wheat Total and tried to claim it was “all they had.” We refused to eat it. We probably ate donuts or instant breakfast or pop-tarts instead.
But I should get back to the book. It has history, it has plenty of cultural and nutritional commentary, it has a big focus on the small Cleveland chain of grocery stores patronized by Ruhlman throughout his life, but it also has further digressions where Ruhlman channels his inner Michael Pollan to take us on in-depth exposes, interviews with experts, and adventures which reveal the underside of the simple act of grocery shopping.
I was on the edge of my seat throughout almost all of it... though I have to admit he lost me a couple of times, such as when he spent a chapter on supplements. Supplements!? Who cares! That's not food! And likewise when he spent a chapter traipsing through the woods with some dippy guy who talked about how we absorb healing chemicals just by being present in the forest. Again... THAT'S NOT FOOD.
And I'm sorry, one more quibble. As I said, I did appreciate his talking about his experiences with his Dad. But I think that in place of the endless "My Year Of..." books we were subject to a decade ago, now we all have to deal with "Coming to Terms with the Death of My Parent When You Thought All You Were Going to Learn about was Hawks/Whales/Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail/Supermarkets." Every non-fiction book these days seems to have to have a connection to the author's dead mother or father. I know, it sucks to lose your parents. Lots of things remind you of them. By all means, tell me about dear old Mom/Dad. But then they always get so maudlin and overwrought about it! S/he's dead, I know, it's very sad. That's exactly why you don't have to tell me that much about it. Ever heard of "nuff said'?
So, indeed, supermarkets ARE amazing. He references a New York Times Magazine article from 1996 that I distinctly remember reading and trying to share with my friends; similar to this book, it talked at lengths about the modern miracle that is the supermarket, and engaged in some cultural commentary and comparison as the writer visited some other styles of food procurement, such as some kind of farmer's market/open-air market in Spain, if I remember correctly... and that was cool too. Farmer's markets are awesome too. But that doesn't detract at all from my love of the supermarket. The friends with whom I tried to share my excitement over this article, were, I recall, definitely non-plussed, unfortunately.
Ruhlman also weighs in here and there with his opinions on best nutritional practices, which are nicely inconsistent. He has a beef against the misguided notions that eggs are bad for you and fat is bad for you (I forget which one of those gets his goat the most). He has plenty bad to say about processed food, but also doesn't hesitate to tell us all the less-than-chef-worthy things he loved in his childhood and to which he still doesn't seem totally averse.
My biggest takeaway was a quote from one of his interviewees, on the topic of how bad processed food is, and restaurant food is, and practically everything is, unless you bring it home and cook it yourself... bad for you inherently healthwise, and bad for you because its convenience leads you to eat too much of it. The quote was, more or less: "You want a diet? Eat anything you want - but cook it yourself." I love it! I could eat cookies and brownies and pasta Bolognese and all my favorites, so long as I cooked them myself, which would be a joy anyway. But I'd miss my frequent restaurant meals. And occasional Chinese/Vietnamese takeout. And occasional pizza. And... so this really wouldn't work for me.
What a joy this book was! I can hardly shut up about it. And I just ended up liking Ruhlman enough to want to read more by him - it seems he's written a lot. I see lots of food books coming into my Kindle in the year ahead!
I really loved the stories about his father and the grocery store, though.