Barons

Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry

By: Austin Frerick, Eric Schlosser - foreword by

Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies

Barons is the story of seven corporate titans, their rise to power, and the consequences for everyone else. Take Mike McCloskey, chairman of Fair Oaks Farms. In a few short decades, he went from managing a modest dairy herd to running the Disneyland of agriculture. Mike benefited from deregulation of the American food industry, a phenomenon that has consolidated wealth in the hands of select tycoons, and along the way, hollowed out the nation's rural towns and local businesses.

Along with Mike McCloskey, listeners will meet a secretive German family that took over the global coffee industry in less than a decade, relying on wealth traced back to the Nazis to gobble up countless independent roasters. And they will learn that in the food business, crime really does pay-especially when you can bribe and then double-cross the president of Brazil.

These, and the other stories in this book, are simply examples of the monopolies and ubiquitous corruption that today define American food. The tycoons profiled are hardly unique: many other companies have manipulated our lax laws and failed policies for their own benefit, to the detriment of our neighborhoods, livelihoods, and our democracy itself. A fair, healthy, and prosperous food industry is possible-if we take back power from the barons who have robbed us of it.

©2024 Austin Frerick (P)2024 Tantor

Anti Free Market

I was surprised by how much the author thought government intervention would help a problem created by government intervention. Other than that critique, the book does its intended job of disgracing these barons.

Amazing Reporting

The more I learn, the more horrified I become. The most important thing to keep in mind is that monopolized food production hurts all of us.

Alarming

Seems like we are accelerating in the other direction. Great book. Could have gone deeper with technology as well, but great job raising awareness to the barons influence on our food.

We Are What We Eat

And unfortunately we now, more and more, eat trash. Maybe that explains current state of our nation and society? Between the food that we eat and the media we consume is it any wonder we are riding a crazy train to self destruction? It is sad, but true. Excellent book for self analysis.

Amazing book! Truly an enlightened view of the current food supply in the US.

I wish the author would have performed the book. Austin Frerrick speaks with such conviction and depth of knowledge, his intent is contagious. He wants to show the US that we’ve been here before but this problem requires new solutions.