The Meat Racket, Christopher Leonard
The Meat Racket, Christopher Leonard
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The Meat Racket
The Secret Takeover of America's Food Business

Author: Christopher Leonard

Narrator: John Pruden

Unabridged: 11 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/01/2014

Synopsis

How much do you know about the meat on your dinner plate? Journalist Christopher Leonard spent more than a decade covering the country's biggest meat companies, including four years as the national agribusiness reporter for the Associated Press. Now he delivers the first comprehensive look inside the industrial meat system, exposing how a handful of companies executed an audacious corporate takeover of the nation's meat supply.

Leonard's revealing account shines a light on the inner workings of Tyson Foods, a pioneer of the industrial system that dominates the market. You'll learn how the food industry got to where it is today and how companies like Tyson have escaped the scrutiny they deserve. You'll discover how these companies are able to raise meat prices for consumers while pushing down the price they pay to farmers. And you'll even see how big business and politics have derailed efforts to change the system, from a years-long legal fight in Iowa to the Obama administration's recent failed attempt to pass reforms.

Important, timely, and explosive, The Meat Racket is an unvarnished portrait of the food industry that now dominates America's heartland.

About Christopher Leonard

Christopher Leonard is the former national agribusiness reporter for the Associated Press. His work has appeared in Fortune, Slate, and the New York Times. He is a fellow with the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute in Washington, D.C. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, he lives outside Washington, D.C.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Greg

“Consumers pay more, farmers make less, and corporations in the middle grab a windfall.” “…the bank extended the mortgages and car loans to the lower-income workers at Tyson’s plant. It provided farm loans to the company’s chicken farmers. The plant workers never really jumped an income bracket. The......more

Goodreads review by Andrea

Fast Food Nation made many people aware of the dangers of our current food system to consumers. The Meat Racket uncovers and explains the development of monopoly in the American meat industry that has largely destroyed the independent family farm level control of meat production. Through careful and......more

Goodreads review by Sam

A sad book to read. While there are a lot of documentaries and books on the horrors of commercial farming, this one is my favorite. Don Tyson was clearly an incredible person who changed farming forever. The book outlines his life and his team of lawyers that helped him swerve around antitrust regul......more

Goodreads review by Robin

5 stars for fine business journalism. Every person who lives in America and buys foods and pays taxes should read this excellent piece of investigative business journalism. It introduces you to members (and former members) of the disappearing breed known as independent farmers (that became producers)......more

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