The Meat Racket - by Christopher Leonard (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

An investigative journalist takes you inside the corporate meat industry--a shocking, in-depth report every American should read.

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.

Review Quotes

"[A] scorcher of a book."-- "The Daily Beast (Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2014)"

"A fascinating look at what has happened in the past decades to the meat business as huge companies essentially staged a takeover while no one, except struggling farmers, paid mind."-- "New York Daily News"

"A meticulous exposé of the meat industry... Leonard, whether he means to or not, is also telling a broader story about American business, consumerism, and--most of all--greed... What makes The Meat Racket stand out is Leonard's superb storytelling and his clear passion for the topic...He is a man on a mission--and that is clearly the best kind of reporter to write a book like this."--Jessica Valenti "Bookforum"

"A minor miracle of reporting. Tyson isn't the sort of company that likes to show reporters around its operations...Leonard managed to penetrate that secrecy, and has painted an intimate picture of the company and the people who made it."-- "Grist"

"An engrossing report on the industrialized American meat business...a richly detailed examination of factory farming, which has reshaped small-town life for the worse. . . . An authoritative look at a ruthlessly efficient system."-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"Brilliant...a book that at times burns slow and hot with outrage and at other times proceeds at the ecstatic pace of a thriller."-- "New York Times Book Review"

"Cruelty, greed, and monopoly power--that is what Christopher Leonard has found at the heart of America's meat packing industry. This book offers a devastating portrait of an industry's irresponsible behavior."--Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

"Gripping...The Meat Racket is a riveting book, and the picture Mr. Leonard paints is a disturbing one."-- "Wall Street Journal"

"I will admit when I picked up this book, it was more with the sense that it was something I should read than something that would be a page turner. And yet it immediately drew me in. Christopher Leonard's power is the ability to capture the human lives caught within the system, particularly the farmers but also the employees who helped build the corporations... this book is a compelling reminder that we all have a stake in how this business is conducted."--Sarah J. Gardner "Radish Magazine"

"In his eye-opener to the inner workings of the corporations that control and manipulate the nation's meat supply, journalist Leonard reveals how these vertically integrated behemoths operate to the detriment of both farmers, who do the hard and risky work of raising animals, and consumers, who have actually fewer true choices when shopping in the grocery store or ordering at the local fast-food franchise."-- "Booklist"

"Leonard, former national agribusiness reporter for The Associated Press, pulls off a stunning feat in putting the heat on the major industrial meat giants."-- "Publishers Weekly"

"Leonard's book argues that a handful of companies, led by Tyson, control our meat industry in ways that raise concerns about the impact on animals and humans alike, while tearing at the fabric of rural America."-- "Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times"

"Leonard's primary concern is the grim and gripping story of how American meat went industrial. But he also spins a nuanced tale of how the family farm was America's first small business--and what we've lost by letting it go. A fascinating read."--Tracie McMillan, author of The American Way of Eating

"One of the best books of investigative reporting that I've seen in quite a while...if you think muckraking is dead or even on its last legs, The Meat Racket is proof positive that it's very much alive. The big question is whether or not there are any reformers and regulators left who have the will and the strength to pick up the ball and run with it."-- "Strategy + Business"

"Only a very good writer could turn a story about chickens, hogs and cattle into a thriller, and Leonard is that. He brings his characters to life. . . . The book is a scary portrait of capitalism run amok."-- "Bethany McLean, The Washington Post"

"This eye-opening investigation into the semi-shady practices governing one of the nation's fundamental industries will make readers question how these megacompanies were ever allowed to grow so large and powerful.... A compelling in-depth exposé of the concentration of wealth and power at the heart of the U.S. meat industry."-- "Shelf Awareness for Readers"

About the Author

Christopher Leonard is a business reporter whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and Bloomberg Businessweek. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Meat Racket and Kochland, which won the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award.