Conservation Book Club

Champlain ARea trails ’ Conservation book club will meet Tuesday, december 10th, from 5 pM - 6 Pm.

"The Secret Life of Groceries" by Benjamin Lorr.  “This fascinating, deep dive into the American supermarket changed how I thought about grocery stores. Both entertaining and enraging, Benjamin Lorr offers a compassionate indictment of the way we feed ourselves.” -Tracie McMillan, author of The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table

Combining deep sourcing, immersive reporting, and sharp, often laugh-out-loud prose, author Benjamin Lorr pulls back the curtain on a highly secretive industry. Starting from the top, we learn the secrets of Trader Joe’s success from founder Trader Joe Coulombe himself, and then quickly move down the chain into move hidden places: driving with truckers who describe their job as “sharecropping on wheels”; following entrepreneurs as they struggle to get their product on shelves; breaking into factory farms with activists to examine our system of ethical audits, such as “fair trade” and “free range”; and tracing the paths of trafficked migrants in Myanmar and Thailand to understand life at the bottom of the commodity chain. 

The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the industry, The Secret Life of Groceries is essential reading for those who want to understand our food system– delivering powerful social commentary on the American quest for more and compassionate insight into the lives that provide it. 

“Is “literary muck-raking” a genre?  It is now.  This book is at once a satisfying, enjoyable meal and a glass of cold water to the face…  Does it sound grim?  It’s not!  The Secret Life of Groceries is a terrific read.  The stories flow, and the hard truths are seasoned with wit and hope.  Bottle this man and get him into every home!” -Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

REGISTRATION: If you are interested in joining on Zoom, email bookclub@champlainareatrails.com. Once registration is confirmed, we will send the Zoom link the day before the meeting.

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