Scan barcode
emgusk's review against another edition
3.0
This was good and I learned a lot! But it focused too much on one small grocery store chain in Cleveland, Heinen’s and the author went on too many long asides that could have been edited down. Generally I’m glad I read it but I feel like if you’re from Cleveland you’re really going to love it!
I really like this style of footnotes in a kindle book. I love footnotes and I want to be able to read them as I read the book, not when I’m done with it. But while the citations were generally good, none of the polling data the author used has a citation! It’s good to know where data come from.
I really like this style of footnotes in a kindle book. I love footnotes and I want to be able to read them as I read the book, not when I’m done with it. But while the citations were generally good, none of the polling data the author used has a citation! It’s good to know where data come from.
wk52bookreviews's review against another edition
5.0
If you follow me on here, read this book! Amazing! Order it now!
restingbeccaface's review against another edition
3.0
This book could have been easily given four stars with better editing. The main focus was not always about grocery stores, but whatever the author felt like ranting about or his food and ingredient biases. I felt a bit mislead with the title of the book being “Grocery” since that wasn’t always the focus.
He also relied on too many other sources instead of his own research, which was limited to just one specific grocery chain in Ohio, and didn’t compare this store’s practices to others, so we are only given a glimpse into how this specific chain operates. Research into other grocery stores, even in the Ohio area, would have given a well rounded perspective into the average grocery store.
That being said, I came away from the book with more knowledge about the food going into our stores, the ingredients being used in our food, and how food is sourced to the store. I’d recommend if you were interested in the topic, but also take it with a grain of salt.
He also relied on too many other sources instead of his own research, which was limited to just one specific grocery chain in Ohio, and didn’t compare this store’s practices to others, so we are only given a glimpse into how this specific chain operates. Research into other grocery stores, even in the Ohio area, would have given a well rounded perspective into the average grocery store.
That being said, I came away from the book with more knowledge about the food going into our stores, the ingredients being used in our food, and how food is sourced to the store. I’d recommend if you were interested in the topic, but also take it with a grain of salt.
swetzel9's review against another edition
4.0
Yes another look at our modern food industry in the vein of The Omnivore's Dilemma, or Salt Sugar Fat. In fact Ruhlman cites those and several others at the beginning of this book. I did enjoy the unique take on how the actual store where we get our food came to be the way it is. Omnivore's Dilemma focused more on agra-business and Salt Sugar Fat more on the companies that make processed and packaged food. The book shows how in some ways the grocery stores are as beholden to those organizations as the people who shop there. If this is an area that interests you I'd still recommend starting with the Omnivore's Dilemma, but this would also be a good introduction.
janthonytucson's review against another edition
4.0
About halfway through this I thought 'Man, this book is gonna piss off some thinned skinned people" and so I checked Goodread reviews, and sure enough the top reviews are all people who feel offended in someway. Which means Micheal Ruhlman is doing a good job. I think all the people who seem to be offended by Ruhlman's attack against the American sugar based diet is unwarranted should take the time to read The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet, it is 500 pages of pure research into how and why we got to where we are today with a highly-processed sugar based diet. That book is not an easy fun read like this book. It is a heavily footnoted, densely researched expose. So go read that, then tell us in your reviews again how the science is not there yet...
The book focuses on one smallish grocery chain based out of Cleveland called Heinen's, and he using their story to tell the broader story of how food gets grown, processed, shipped, and eventually end's up in on the dining room table. It can feel a little bit like an infomercial for Heinen's at ties, but I understand that to make the book concise he focused on just one chain.
Overall, the book is an easy read, informative and I would recommend it to anyone.
The book focuses on one smallish grocery chain based out of Cleveland called Heinen's, and he using their story to tell the broader story of how food gets grown, processed, shipped, and eventually end's up in on the dining room table. It can feel a little bit like an infomercial for Heinen's at ties, but I understand that to make the book concise he focused on just one chain.
Overall, the book is an easy read, informative and I would recommend it to anyone.
nancidrum's review against another edition
4.0
This is a non-fiction book filled with lots of hands on research. If you are from the Cleveland, OH area you will love the numerous references to the city and more specifically the much loved Heinen's, a midsize Midwestern chain based in Cleveland. I am from Columbus, but have close family in Cleveland, so I loved reliving my fond childhood memories of Cleveland. Michael Ruhlman engages the reader with his own story, and it is this personal heart-warming narrative that makes this non-fiction book one that I could not put down. Some of the points in his book are general knowledge, but he also brings to light many new thoughts. I found his writing, concerning the history and probable future of grocery stores, to be very interesting and on point. My goal of reading non-fiction is to gather new information. If, by gathering that new information, my life is also changed for the better, then that is the icing on the cake. Ruhlman's book accomplished this and has helped me to make wiser food choices and understand labels better.