Episode 21: Benjamin Lorr and The Secret Life of Groceries

“The trucker is emblematic of shifts that have happened throughout the industry whereby the lionization of the consumer has resulted in cuts to the laborer.”

From https://www.benjaminlorr.net/bio/: BENJAMIN LORR is the author of The Secret Life of Groceries, an expose of the dark underbelly of the American food industry, and Hell-Bent, a critically acclaimed exploration of the Bikram Yoga community that first detailed patterns of abuse and sexual misconduct by guru Bikram Choudhury. Lorr is a graduate of Montgomery County public schools and Columbia University. He lives in New York City.

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Episode #21 Notes

1:00 - The Secret Life of Groceries and Perilous Bounty

1:30 - What motivated you to write The Secret Life of Groceries?

4:00 - The low down on Trader Joe’s

9:45 - A day in the life at The Food Show

16:15 - Truckers and Co-Packers.

23:00 - Food supply chains in Southeast Asia.

27:00 - The affects of pricing and the “race to the bottom”

37:00 - Global trade treaties, labor standards, and policy blind-spots.

41:30 - Suggested readings?

Perilous Bounty, Tom Philpott

This Old Man All in Pieces, Roger Angell