A review by jeffmauch
Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America by Michael Ruhlman

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!).