Barons - Money, Power, and the Corruption of America''s Food Industry

Best Books of 2024: "Frerick's prose throughout is both direct and masterfully controlled, with every point supported by extensive references and notes. This is no alarmist screed but rather a careful, systematic, and utterly damning demolition job--an exquisitely informed exposé... A genuinely revelatory look at mass food production in the United States" -- Kirkus Reviews, starred

"In this eye-opening debut study, Frerick, an agricultural policy fellow at Yale University, reveals the ill-gained stranglehold that a handful of companies have on America's food economy...It's a disquieting critique of private monopolization of public necessities." - Publishers Weekly, starred

Barons is the story of seven titans of the food industry, their rise to power, and the consequences for workers, eaters, and democracy itself. Readers will meet a secretive German family that took over the global coffee industry in less than a decade, relying on wealth traced back to the Nazis to gobble up countless independent roasters. They will visit the Disneyland of agriculture, where school children ride trams through mechanized warehouses filled with tens of thousands of cows that never see the light of day. And they will learn that in the food business, crime really does pay--especially when you can bribe and then double-cross the president of Brazil. Barons paints a stark portrait of corporate consolidation, but it also shows that a fair, healthy, and prosperous food industry is possible--if we take back power from the barons who have robbed us of it.

About the author

Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. He worked at the Open Markets Institute, the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Congressional Research Service before becoming a Fellow at Yale University. He is a 7th generation Iowan and 1st generation college graduate, with degrees from Grinnell College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Summary

A shocking portrait of corporate corruption in America's food industry, its implications on democracy, and what we cando to improve it.

Product details

• Authors: Austin Frerick, Austin/ Schlosser Frerick
• Assisted by: Schlosser Eric (Foreword)
• Publisher: Island Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.03.2024
• EAN: 9781642832693
• ISBN: 978-1-64283-269-3
• No. of pages: 248
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; USA, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / National, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Agribusiness, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Cultural Policy, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Food Industry, Food & society, United States of America, USA, Agriculture, agribusiness and food production industries, Central / national / federal government policies, Agriculture & Related Industries, Cultural studies: food and society, Central government policies