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liketheday's review against another edition
4.0
I'm probably biased as a former employee of Heinen's, but this book and its treatment of the grocery industry in general and the life of a small chain grocery store are absolutely fascinating.
hopecaldwell's review against another edition
3.0
Informational, interesting and readable. All what I look for in a non-fiction book. There are some books that I’m passionate about, some whose subjects are close to heart and some that just stick with you. This one is the latter. And with every trip to the grocery store I’ll think about it again!
carabee's review against another edition
5.0
This felt four stars but the last chapter of this book broke me, I am crying a little on the subway. As someone who comes from a family where food is central, where, in recent generations, it has become a conflicted source of love but also confusion with each new health article and doctor's visit, I was grateful that this book takes the pulse of America's grocery stores. And I'm of the mind, especially after reading, that where our food goes so we go too. My father has worked at a grocery store for my entire life, so I entered this book with a lot of information and understanding of the contemporary grocery store, but it still had a lot to offer. I can't wait to give it to my dad.
brb_reads's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. This was fascinating for those who love a sneak peek into grocery stores. The same reason I love listening to the Trader Joe’s podcast is why this one worked. Especially liked that Heinen’s was the main focus out of Cleveland, OH. I was very familiar with a lot of areas mentioned even if I haven’t been to the actual store itself. Will have to change that next time I am home!
jeffmauch's review against another edition
4.0
As a person who always wants to know how places actually work and enjoys learning the history of things from their early beginnings to modern day, this was a very interesting read. This book is really told in roughly four parts. First, the history of the grocery store from it's earliest beginnings (Crackers were in a barrel and weighed out, hence Cracker Barrel) to what it is today. Second, how modern grocery stores function including world wide distribution chains and how each item comes to be on the shelf. Third, how each section of a grocery store works and is maintained and how it has changed in the last hundred years or so. And fourth, the health and nutrition of the foods we eat and how these choices have changed grocery stores in recent years. Overall, this book was fascinating, especially when it comes to how these stores have evolved and changed based on consumer wants the past twenty years or so. It's really interesting how we've gone from stores with very seasonal produce in limited quantities to having hundred of items year round thanks to global distribution (just look at apples!).
realityczar's review against another edition
3.0
Grocery does a fair job of describing the ins and outs of the grocery business in the US, at least from the perspective of the small, regional supermarket chain. It provides limited insight into the corner store, except as a historical notion, or into the operation of the national chains, which largely loom as soulless money machines that the plucky regionals stand in counterpoint against.
A significant part of the book is preaching on American eating habits, but covers little new ground, repeatedly referring to Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, and echoing their sentiments. Ruhlman likes his facts and figures, except when science might illuminate his arguments about food, lifestyle, and cooking, where he lets anecdote and "common sense" do the persuading.
Most troubling, he talks only briefly about food deserts and similar aspects of the economics of food. He glorifies his local childhood grocery chain, as they heroically plan to lose money by selling $500 wines in a redeveloped downtown landmark building, but doesn't point out that most of the food he wants us to eat and much of the traditional cooking he would like us to do is just not available economically or geographically to large portions of the population. And his local grocers, though they seem to put a strong focus on treating their employees well, aren't doing anything to help those folks who can't get fresh produce, organic or not, by offering lamb raised in a national park to the wealthy.
A significant part of the book is preaching on American eating habits, but covers little new ground, repeatedly referring to Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, and echoing their sentiments. Ruhlman likes his facts and figures, except when science might illuminate his arguments about food, lifestyle, and cooking, where he lets anecdote and "common sense" do the persuading.
Most troubling, he talks only briefly about food deserts and similar aspects of the economics of food. He glorifies his local childhood grocery chain, as they heroically plan to lose money by selling $500 wines in a redeveloped downtown landmark building, but doesn't point out that most of the food he wants us to eat and much of the traditional cooking he would like us to do is just not available economically or geographically to large portions of the population. And his local grocers, though they seem to put a strong focus on treating their employees well, aren't doing anything to help those folks who can't get fresh produce, organic or not, by offering lamb raised in a national park to the wealthy.
liberrydude's review against another edition
4.0
I saw the author promoting his book on one of the morning news shows and was energized by his passion for food and grocery stores. It turns out this passion was nurtured by his dad who died in 2008 or so. So it’s a labor of love and another son reaching out to his father.
Ruhlman is a Cleveland native and we learn all about grocery stores in the context of Cleveland’s local grocer- Heinen’s. These mid size grocers are the ones who drive innovation and change. Big chains like Kroger respond more slowly to change or sometimes wrongly like A&P according to the author. We also visit trade shows with Heinen buyers as well as roam the range in Idaho with shepherds and Heinen’s CEO. Ruhlman goes department by department within the store. We learn a lot about health and bad food as well as meeting a host of eccentric characters loving what they do each and every day.
I’m ready for a visit to Cleveland now.
Ruhlman is a Cleveland native and we learn all about grocery stores in the context of Cleveland’s local grocer- Heinen’s. These mid size grocers are the ones who drive innovation and change. Big chains like Kroger respond more slowly to change or sometimes wrongly like A&P according to the author. We also visit trade shows with Heinen buyers as well as roam the range in Idaho with shepherds and Heinen’s CEO. Ruhlman goes department by department within the store. We learn a lot about health and bad food as well as meeting a host of eccentric characters loving what they do each and every day.
I’m ready for a visit to Cleveland now.
noahbw's review against another edition
4.0
I initially assumed that this would be sociology and/or history -- it's really not. The book could be more aptly named.
Instead, Ruhlman, a food writer, set out to write the book on grocery stores he wanted to read -- and he loves grocery stores. He begins by telling us why he loves them so much: his father. I also love grocery stores. I also love them, and cooking, because of my dad, and he loves them because of his dad. Our generational shifts (my grandfather, dad, me) in thinking about food line up with those in Ruhlman's family.
The book as a whole is chock full, but also very accessible. Ruhlman takes a personal approach, choosing to get to know the mid-size family-owned grocery store chain he grew up with -- their stores, their employees, the brothers who run the company. He uses this as his point of entry for exploring the evolution of the supermarket, including many recent developments and national trends, as well as for considering a variety of health-related concerns regarding our food. In both of these areas, but particularly the latter, he is able to rely heavily on the work that others have done in revealing our food systems and shifting our cultural conversations about food, and I really appreciated how conversational he was rather than trying to present this kind of information as if it were new.
The critique (besides the confusingly broad title) is not a full enough acknowledgement, or understanding, of income and class -- and I say this as someone who fully recognizes Ruhlman's world. He certainly has moments where he points to the role of income disparity in determining food options and therefore health outcomes, but these tend to be moments, and then he returns to the point he was otherwise making. In general, the point he was otherwise making is that we need to eat "real" food that we cook, and though he would acknowledge various factors making this harder for some than others (food deserts, processed food is cheap, etc) he did not actually spend any time considering what this looks like for anyone except the upper/middle class.
Instead, Ruhlman, a food writer, set out to write the book on grocery stores he wanted to read -- and he loves grocery stores. He begins by telling us why he loves them so much: his father. I also love grocery stores. I also love them, and cooking, because of my dad, and he loves them because of his dad. Our generational shifts (my grandfather, dad, me) in thinking about food line up with those in Ruhlman's family.
The book as a whole is chock full, but also very accessible. Ruhlman takes a personal approach, choosing to get to know the mid-size family-owned grocery store chain he grew up with -- their stores, their employees, the brothers who run the company. He uses this as his point of entry for exploring the evolution of the supermarket, including many recent developments and national trends, as well as for considering a variety of health-related concerns regarding our food. In both of these areas, but particularly the latter, he is able to rely heavily on the work that others have done in revealing our food systems and shifting our cultural conversations about food, and I really appreciated how conversational he was rather than trying to present this kind of information as if it were new.
The critique (besides the confusingly broad title) is not a full enough acknowledgement, or understanding, of income and class -- and I say this as someone who fully recognizes Ruhlman's world. He certainly has moments where he points to the role of income disparity in determining food options and therefore health outcomes, but these tend to be moments, and then he returns to the point he was otherwise making. In general, the point he was otherwise making is that we need to eat "real" food that we cook, and though he would acknowledge various factors making this harder for some than others (food deserts, processed food is cheap, etc) he did not actually spend any time considering what this looks like for anyone except the upper/middle class.
jmlblue's review against another edition
2.0
This book was less about grocery stores than it was about Ruhlman ranting about whatever food cause he's focusing on at that time. Some things, like the relationships between small grocery stores and their more specialized suppliers, were interesting, but for the most part, Ruhlman bases his facts on...shall we say, dubious sources. I finished it, but grudgingly.