The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America's Food Business

Christopher Leonard

Apr 2014 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by John Pruden

About this audiobook

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.

Ratings and reviews

Amazing book of on the ground, long term, and hard hitting journalism. On the deliberately secretive and perniciously hidden consolidation of the meat industry. The author would consider being called a muckraker a compliment. A truly inspiring book about speaking truth. Truth not towards the powerful, but truth for the people who are most impacted by the powerful (e.g the rest of us)

About the author

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 lives outside Washington, D.C.

John Pruden is a professional voice actor who records audiobooks, corporate and online training narrations, animation and video game characters, and radio and TV commercials. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, John has a solid creative foundation from which to draw for his intelligent audiobook narrations.