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robinsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars based on 3 stars for chapters that I skimmed and 5 for the ones that totally caught my interest.
There were two elements that made me anxious to read this book: one was that I'm a huge fan of Ruhlman's food journalism (SOUL OF A CHEF is at the top of my favorite food/restaurant/chef books), and the other is I love delving into the inner workings of industries, businesses, restaurants, retails stores--heck, I'd even read a book about auto dealerships or realtors if they outlined how everything in the business works. So I couldn't wait to read more about grocery stores and how they operate.
Turns out I was a little disappointed. I still like Ruhlman's style but found some of the chapters less than interesting, although chapters that focused on where produce and meats come from and how they're marketed were informative, as were the chapters on prepared deli foods (who knew they weren't much of a moneymaker?), how new products are found and brought in, and the "healthiness" of many of the foods (and food should be called "nutritious" instead of "healthy").
What fell short (for me anyway) was that the book centered on Heinen's, a family owned store in the east, that is primarily a cross between a supermarket and a Whole Foods, with many specialized and "natural" type of foods (for those of you in Salem, OR, Roth's would be a good comparison, only on a smaller scale), and while he touched on the topic, I wanted more about huge conglomerates such as Safeway, Kroger, et al. Ruhlman also spent a lot of time on the history and development of supermarkets and foods.
A phrase that caught my eye was "This is a good rule when evaluating food that is a box or a bag: Read the list of ingredients, and if you can buy each one of them in the grocery store, it's probably real food." So I went to the cereal drawer and looked at the list on two favorites. One said "Contains wheat" and other had a good list until "acacia gum." Hmmmm...
Read this if you want to know about grocery stores and where our food comes from, and especially if you are a frequent shopper at Heinen's or similar stores. The footnotes reminded me a bit of Mary Roach's science writing and fans of hers may enjoy the author's research experiences.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance digital reading copy.
There were two elements that made me anxious to read this book: one was that I'm a huge fan of Ruhlman's food journalism (SOUL OF A CHEF is at the top of my favorite food/restaurant/chef books), and the other is I love delving into the inner workings of industries, businesses, restaurants, retails stores--heck, I'd even read a book about auto dealerships or realtors if they outlined how everything in the business works. So I couldn't wait to read more about grocery stores and how they operate.
Turns out I was a little disappointed. I still like Ruhlman's style but found some of the chapters less than interesting, although chapters that focused on where produce and meats come from and how they're marketed were informative, as were the chapters on prepared deli foods (who knew they weren't much of a moneymaker?), how new products are found and brought in, and the "healthiness" of many of the foods (and food should be called "nutritious" instead of "healthy").
What fell short (for me anyway) was that the book centered on Heinen's, a family owned store in the east, that is primarily a cross between a supermarket and a Whole Foods, with many specialized and "natural" type of foods (for those of you in Salem, OR, Roth's would be a good comparison, only on a smaller scale), and while he touched on the topic, I wanted more about huge conglomerates such as Safeway, Kroger, et al. Ruhlman also spent a lot of time on the history and development of supermarkets and foods.
A phrase that caught my eye was "This is a good rule when evaluating food that is a box or a bag: Read the list of ingredients, and if you can buy each one of them in the grocery store, it's probably real food." So I went to the cereal drawer and looked at the list on two favorites. One said "Contains wheat" and other had a good list until "acacia gum." Hmmmm...
Read this if you want to know about grocery stores and where our food comes from, and especially if you are a frequent shopper at Heinen's or similar stores. The footnotes reminded me a bit of Mary Roach's science writing and fans of hers may enjoy the author's research experiences.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance digital reading copy.
bethreadsandnaps's review against another edition
3.0
I thought the author had a nice perspective on grocery stores and food with a blend of research and a case study. I never knew that just the center of the supermarket was called “grocery.” The case study was an Ohioan supermarket chain called Heinen’s. It felt like there was a lot of that case study. I would have liked to see other chains featured to get a broader viewpoint. An interesting read!
araleith's review against another edition
2.0
This books gets incredibly preachy about its views on food, which made it less and less enjoyable as it went on.
coloblue'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.
jameshendrickson's review against another edition
4.0
Book is a little disjointed but an interesting look into the grocery industry. Part memoir, part industry. There is a little too much real food and omnivores dilemma stuff here that has already been covered thoroughly elsewhere. The bibliography of other books he references is very good, though.
can_has_sock's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
A more accurate, if much more unwieldy, title would be "The buying and selling of food in small-chain American grocery stores, with frequent digressions by the author on the failures of People These Days to Hold Correct Views About Food." This is not necessarily a mark against the book, I was just looking for something more about large-scale logistics and less about how you're failing to live your best life when you eat frozen foods.
relf's review against another edition
4.0
Five stars for this book when it does what its title promises: gives a history of grocery stores and packaged products and a behind-the-scenes look at how supermarkets and their various departments work. Fascinating! Two stars when the author gives long lectures on what we should and shouldn't eat--that's another book. Also, I wish he had addressed more of the logistical stuff--hoisting stuff, dealing with waste and past-date food, staffing, etc. One extra star for purely personal reasons: Ruhlman grew up near where I live now and his case study is Heinen's, a local upscale grocery chain in Cleveland. I loved the history of the changing stores on our own Coventry Road--from individual butchers' shops and bakeries to hippie hangouts--and how Heinen's recently converted a gorgeous but abandoned bank building downtown into a veritable temple of food. How interesting all of that is to readers who don't live on my block, I'm not sure. So: 4 personal stars.
aublar's review against another edition
5.0
Grocery explores all of the aspects and sections of our modern American grocery stores mostly through one small chain in Ohio. It was a fascinating behind the scenes look at something most of us use regularly but don't pay that much attention to. I love learning about where are food comes from and feel passionately that everyone should learn more about what they are eating and this book gave me another avenue to explore this idea. This book read as easy as a novel, balancing anecdotes, personal research experiences, and the numbers. The ending was so touching in regards to the author's relationship with his deceased father who loved grocery stores that I actually teared up!
Blush factor/trigger warnings: Contains some strong language
Blush factor/trigger warnings: Contains some strong language