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

by Austin Frerick, Eric Schlosser (Foreword by)

Overview

Now with a new chapter on the Distribution Barons!

Best Books of 2024: "Frerick's prose throughout is both direct and masterfully controlled, with every point supported by extensive references and notes. This is no alarmist screed but rather a careful, systematic, and utterly damning demolition job—an exquisitely informed exposé... A genuinely revelatory look at mass food production in the United States" — Kirkus Reviews, starred

“In this eye-opening debut study, Frerick, an agricultural policy fellow at Yale University, reveals the ill-gained stranglehold that a handful of companies have on America’s food economy…It’s a disquieting critique of private monopolization of public necessities.”  - Publishers Weekly, starred

Barons is the story of eight 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, where school children ride trams through mechanized warehouses filled with tens of thousands of cows that never see the light of day. What was the key to his success? Hard work and exceptional business savvy? Maybe. But more than anything else, Mike benefitted 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, readers 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. They will discover how a small grain business transformed itself into an empire bigger than Koch Industries, with ample help from taxpayer dollars. 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 in these pages 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. Barons paints a stark portrait of the consequences of corporate consolidation, but it also shows we can choose a different path. A fair, healthy, and prosperous food industry is possible—if we take back power from the barons who have robbed us of it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642834444
Publisher:	Island Press
Publication date:	09/02/2025
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. He worked at the Open Markets Institute, the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Congressional Research Service before becoming a Fellow at Yale University. He is a 7th generation Iowan and 1st generation college graduate, with degrees from Grinnell College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Eric Schlosser
Introduction

Chapter 1: The Hog Barons
Chapter 2: The Grain Barons
Chapter 3: The Coffee Barons
Chapter 4: The Dairy Barons
Chapter 5: The Berry Barons
Chapter 6: The Slaughter Barons
Chapter 7: The Grocery Barons

Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the Author

 

What People are Saying About This

Chris van Tulleken

"This is an exceptional, beautiful and absolutely absorbing book. Barons is one of the most important books on the food system published this century. In fact, it’s one of the best ever. The brilliant clarity of Frerick’s writing and his profound understanding of this issue ensures that Barons reads more like a thriller than the work of scholarship that it is. This book is essential for anyone who wants to understand the global food system that controls what we all eat. Hugely enjoyable and, at moments, hilariously terrifying."

Carrie Balkcom

"Barons is a powerful reminder of the stakes involved and the need for change in a food system that only works for a few."

Editorial Reviews

"Frerick’s greatest strength is in drawing out the federal, state, and local policies (and policymakers) that fueled the rise of the captains of industry he profiles."

American Prospect

With authoritarianism and increasing corporate consolidation rising globally, Frerick’s work is timely and urgent."

Journal of Peasant Studies

"Austin Frerick shows just how much consolidation has devastated family farmers. But what makes Barons so good is how clearly he explains how those changes were caused by policies that benefit Wall Street and corporate America at the expense of everyone else."

Rob Larew

"Austin is one of the most important and exciting voices in the next generation, and he lays out a road map to bring about a delicious revolution that addresses climate, health, and taste."

Alice Waters

"The impact of these companies can be felt globally and makes the book essential reading."

Slow Food UK

Outstanding Academic Titles 2024: "Frerick (fellow, Yale Univ.) exposes the regulatory conditions that allowed seven barons to amass power and financial fortunes through the US food industry….This book could be used in the disciplines of social justice studies, political science, food studies, sociology, and urban planning.”
 

Choice

"Frerick traces the items in our grocery carts to uncover a radical consolidation of economic power that has put our communities and democracy in jeopardy. Most importantly, he shows how none of this is inevitable, but rather the outcome of decisions that are in our power to change."

Stacy Mitchell

"A valuable contribution...[It] powerfully exposes how unchecked corporate greed is reshaping the American way of life in one of its most essential domains: food. It’s also immensely entertaining to read. So whether you’re interested in knowing who to name and shame for BigAg’s evils, in learning how to tell people stories with policy relevance, or just looking for a juicy read, read the book!"

Revolving Door Project

In this eye-opening debut study, Frerick, an agricultural policy fellow at Yale University, reveals the ill-gained stranglehold that a handful of companies have on America’s food economy…It’s a disquieting critique of private monopolization of public necessities.

starred Publishers Weekly

Each chapter in Frerick's book reflects his careful research and attention to facts, illuminating how food production and distribution has become big business in the USA."

Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management

"Austin breaks down complex issues with plain language that is incredibly readable and engaging. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the food we eat and how it is produced."

Wenonah Hauter

"Frerick’s skill as both a serious academic and gifted storyteller keeps the pages turning as his colorful cast of characters build empires with everyday dinner items like pork chops, milk, coffee and strawberries."

The Farm & Food File

"Although the vehicle of stories about each of these barons in turn is an interesting read, what I found most valuable was the final chapter where frerick lays out a way forward."

Marbleseed: Organic Broadcaster

"Rookie Austin Frerick has smacked a homerun in his first swing at authoring a book."

Milkweed

"Gripping and important - Frerick’s portraits are vivid and unsettling about what America's radical laissez-faire ideology has done to the global food system."

Tommaso Valletti

Best Books of 2024: "Frerick’s prose throughout is both direct and masterfully controlled, with every point supported by extensive references and notes. This is no alarmist screed but rather a careful, systematic, and utterly damning demolition job—an exquisitely informed exposé... A genuinely revelatory look at mass food production in the United States” 

starred Kirkus Reviews

"In a carefully researched book, Frerick makes ordinary insider knowledge both compelling and urgent."

Daily Yonder

"Barons is an explosive and absolutely riveting tour through a hidden world of big-money powerhouses that control our food system. Frerick is a fantastic storyteller, with the rare combination of on-the-ground empathy for rural communities and sparklingly brilliant analysis. This book is essential to understand our new food system, and the dangers it poses to everyone who eats."

Christopher Leonard

"Frerick takes apart [the barons’] strategies patiently and methodically, almost as though he is turning an engine upside down to figure out its workings... Though his writing style is restrained, it simmers with damning facts and figures."

Ambrook Research

"Author Austin Frerick peppers the book with action and lurid anecdotes, but he prioritises deep analysis …a highly researched yet digestible book."

The Grocer

"Frerick connects their actions—from building enormous hog confinements to skirting safety laws—to the various health and climate threats ailing communities across Iowa, America and the globe."

Mother Jones

"A roadmap for people to think through these issues and think deeper about what is needed to bring the food system back to principles of economic democracy, environmental quality, and opportunity in rural America."
 

Ken Cook

"The Best Books of Spring 2024… Frerick yanks back the curtain on a truly astonishing collection of violations, legal and moral in the American food system… Despite the dire subject matter, Frerick is able to inject moments of humor and ends the book with sincere hope for change in the future if we are willing to work together to make a difference."

Electric Literature

Time will tell whether Austin Frerick’s Barons joins that elite list [of classic books on the food system]. It certainly could given how well he’s structured the story, how seamlessly he grapples with complex policy, and how effortlessly he guides readers through the consequences to so much of American real estate, so many communities, and so many people.

Mode Shift

In this vivid and engaging book, author Austin Frerick exposes the chokehold that seven families have over the global food industry, and the ramifications of their consolidated power on farmers, consumers, ecosystems, and even democracy…Intensely readable...” 

The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener

Frerick builds his case methodically and in plain language, with empathy, extensive research, and even humor.” 

Sojourners

"Frerick is a staunch Democrat, but if there is one issue where the left and the populist right can make common cause, it’s farm policy.... Conservatives should read Frerick’s book."

American Conservative

"[Barons] Illuminates some dark and shady corners of our food system, where companies you’ve heard of and others you surely haven’t operate in ways that ruthlessly seek profit at everyone else’s expense."

The Equation: Union of Concerned Scientists

"[Frerick] has a knack for making explicit the connections between policy and the concrete realities of people’s lives... [Barons is] an indictment of our regulatory system and the many ways the government — under both Democratic and Republican administrations — has failed to break up monopolies, prevent them in the first place, or meaningfully hold them accountable for wrongdoing. "

Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN)

[Frerick] dissects not only the food barons’ business practices, but also the disastrous impacts of these practices… The author, who frequently sounds as though he is fighting to control his personal rage at the people he’s writing about, backs up his statements with facts and figures. This is an angry and accusatory book, but also a fair and well-documented one.

Booklist

"After reading [Austin's] book, I have come away with a completely different idea of agriculture that I cannot unsee."

Bloomberg Odd Lots

"For readers with a serious interest in public policy and food production."

Library Journal

"[One of] my top book picks so far this year."

Bloomberg Odd Lots Newsletter

"Some may herald Barons as an overdue update of 'The Jungle,' the 1906 book by Upton Sinclair."

Bleeding Heartland

"What is interesting about Barons is that it appeals to people on different spectrums politically and that's a rare achievement these days."

Michael T. Roberts

"Well-written, maddening, and inspiring, Frerick takes us into the power networks of food, and brings the reader out the other side deeply informed about the structural problems in the food system."

Zephyr Teachout

"It’s an important and compelling read...Frericks book... is a shot across the bow of the corporatocracy."

Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture

Wow.  This is one important book… If you want to know how corporations control the food supply, start here.

Food Politics - Marion Nestle

"An urgently important book."

Eric Schlosser

"Like Fast Food Nation and Omnivore’s Dilemma, Austin Frerick’s Barons tells a darkly fascinating story about our food system. With startling accounts of corporate behemoths and the regulatory failures that allowed them to amass unchecked power, destroying the family farm and the rural heartland along the way, Frerick makes an urgent case to structure our markets to protect our environment, our health and ultimately our democracy."

Robert Kenner

"Frerick’s Barons is a breath of fresh air because it repeatedly calls out the corruption in the U.S. agriculture and food system and the U.S. political system… well written and accessible for multiple audiences… valuable for undergraduate and graduate courses. In fact, I intend to assign the book in my undergraduate courses."

Journal of Agriculture

In his highly readable book, Frerick describes the businesses of barons who dominate seven sectors of the US food industry. In the process he illuminates much in recent American history and goes a long way towards diagnosing environmental ills, socio-economic ills, and the ill health of so many food consumers…. For people not already deeply familiar with industrial agribusiness and its associated environmental, labor, health and political ills, Barons is a compelling read.”
 

Resilience

"Each chapter of Frerick’s book is based on a tremendous amount of research, as well as anecdotal scenes of the author’s personal contacts with US agriculture. His prose is refreshingly accessible and nonacademic."

Los Angeles Review of Books

"Through engaging and richly researched storytelling...Frerick deftly illuminates how decades of big-business-friendly government officials have worked to undermine and reverse labor, environmental and other laws."

Little Village Mag

"Over the past half-century, we have witnessed a massive consolidation of every aspect of the agriculture and food industries into corporate megaliths, with a profound effect on American politics, culture and welfare. Austin Frerick’s Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry is a brisk economic and social history of this dark revolution, steeped in policy and enlivened by anecdote."

Times Literary Supplement

"In this urgent book, Frerick counts the tyrannies, thefts, and treacheries that every eater in America suffers, so that a few might live high on the hog. Deeply researched, painfully felt and brilliant, Barons is an instant classic of investigative journalism and food system analysis."

Raj Patel

[A book] I just can’t stop talking and thinking about... my favorite part of the book was how masterfully Frerick writes about the interconnectedness of our food systems with so many other aspects of our lives.

Reformed Journal

"[Frerick] has a knack for making explicit the connections between policy and the concrete realities of people’s lives... [Barons is] an indictment of our regulatory system and the many ways the government — under both Democratic and Republican administrations — has failed to break up monopolies, prevent them in the first place, or meaningfully hold them accountable for wrongdoing. "

FERN

"[Barons] Illuminates some dark and shady corners of our food system, where companies you’ve heard of and others you surely haven’t operate in ways that ruthlessly seek profit at everyone else’s expense."

Union of Concerned Scientists The Equation

"It’s an important and compelling read...Frericks book... is a shot across the bow of the corporatocracy."

Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture - Robert Leonard

"Frerick’s skill as both a serious academic and gifted storyteller keeps the pages turning as his colorful cast of characters build empires with everyday dinner items like pork chops, milk, coffee and strawberries."

Farmers Advance - Alan Guebert

"Although the vehicle of stories about each of these barons in turn is an interesting read, what I found most valuable was the final chapter where frerick lays out a way forward."

Organic Broadcaster

"Austin Frerick yanks back the curtain on a truly astonishing collection of violations, legal and moral in the American food system. Portraying seven corporate giants and their journeys to dominance, he details the lack of supervision by regulators in all administrations in the last forty years and the consequences to our national economy, the health of our citizens, and the extensive damage to our environment. Labor violations, animal abuse, bribery of public officials: nothing seems past these people. Despite the dire subject matter, Frerick is able to inject moments of humor and ends the book with sincere hope for change in the future if we are willing to work together to make a difference."

Electric Literature - Kelly Justice

★ 2024-09-18
A report on the dangerous and disgraceful state of the American food industry.

In his nonfiction debut, Frerick provides in-depth profiles of seven American food companies and the families who own and run them. The author charts how the growth of these companies has exploded in the last century: Politicians have been bought, regulatory laws have been gutted or completely repealed, and “seven food industry barons” have each “built an empire by taking advantage of deregulation to amass extreme wealth at the expense of everyone else.” Frerick writes about the meatpacking giant JBS, noting that in 2017 investigators from the Brazil government accused some of the company’s employees of bribing meat inspectors to allow tainted meats to be served in public schools. He also discusses the Cargill-MacMillan family, owners of Cargill, Inc. (the largest private company in America), identifying their business as one of the “huge, regional-scale corporations owned by just one or a few families who use their political connections to overpower both local democracy and local businesses.” His overview of the tiny handful of companies that provide the vast majority of all kinds of food for Americans naturally includes an analysis of Walmart, the mega-company that, per Frerick, “has triggered a race to the bottom in every imaginable way” by playing a central role in shifting food-shopping to a “private, for-profit space.” Frerick’s prose throughout is both direct and masterfully controlled, with every point supported by extensive references and notes. This is no alarmist screed but rather a careful, systematic, and utterly damning demolition job—an exquisitely informed exposé. In these pages, the author unflinchingly explores the graft involved in suborning politicians, the guile used in circumventing the few regulations that do exist, the staggering cruelty of livestock farming, and sobering societal ramifications (“one’s income will increasingly be reflected in one’s waistline”); the result is quietly devastating.

A genuinely revelatory look at mass food production in the United States.

Kirkus Reviews