★ 10/01/2014
The strongest and most memorable sections of the book explore how poor immigrant workers are treated only somewhat better than the hogs at a Hormel slaughterhouse…Genoways depicts the lives of these workers with great skill and compassion…Although The Chain is ostensibly about the hog industry, it offers insight into the transformation of America's political culture in the late 20th century…The Chain …[is an] important book, well worth reading, full of compelling stories, genuine outrage and the careful exposure of corporate lies.
The New York Times Book Review - Eric Schlosser
09/01/2014
Ted Genoways has crafted an unflinching, intimate portrait of America’s industrialized meat system, centered on pork but conveying lessons that go beyond it. The Chain is a must-read for anyone concerned with our nation’s food system, and the phenomenal cost—animal, human, and environmental—of cheap meat.” — Tracie McMillan, author of The American Way of Eating
“An exhaustive examination of this industry. . . . Readers curious about meatpacking and agriculture as well as the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the food industry will find Genoways’s nonfiction debut a valuable and stimulating read.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“A searing indictment . . . [Genoways] writes with passion and a sense of mission . . . He should get people thinking about the trade-offs that the public makes in return for low-cost meat.” — Associated Press
“Formidably researched and vividly told, The Chain is the definitive story of American pork. Ted Genoways intercuts intimate portraits of towns and factories with longer views of labor, business, and immigration history, making painfully clear the true cost of the ‘other white meat.’” — Ted Conover, author of The Routes of Man
“A muckraker for our times, Ted Genoways goes behind the scenes in the meatpacking industry and shows us how the sausage is really made—and the Spam, too. But he doesn’t stop there, because The Chain is also an insightful chronicle of a changing American heartland, and of lives trampled in the headlong rush to industrialize the food system. Upton Sinclair would surely approve.” — Dan Fagin, Pulitzer-prize winning author of Toms River
“A worthy update to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and a chilling indicator of how little has changed since that 1906 muckraking classic.” — Mother Jones
“A disturbing exposé . . . Genoways makes a compelling case that the meatpacking industry’s relentless drive for higher output poses a threat to food safety.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A scathing report on the consequences of factory farming. . . . A sad, horrifying story, a severe indictment of both corporate greed and consumer complacency.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Comparable to Sinclair’s classic expose, The Jungle , Genoways’s blistering account of the meatpacking industry makes the case for tighter monitoring of this powerful sector of American agribusiness.” — Publishers Weekly
“The Chain [is an] important [book], well worth reading, full of compelling stories, genuine outrage and the careful exposure of corporate lies.” — New York Times Book Review
A muckraker for our times, Ted Genoways goes behind the scenes in the meatpacking industry and shows us how the sausage is really made—and the Spam, too. But he doesn’t stop there, because The Chain is also an insightful chronicle of a changing American heartland, and of lives trampled in the headlong rush to industrialize the food system. Upton Sinclair would surely approve.
A disturbing exposé . . . Genoways makes a compelling case that the meatpacking industry’s relentless drive for higher output poses a threat to food safety.
The Chain [is an] important [book], well worth reading, full of compelling stories, genuine outrage and the careful exposure of corporate lies.
New York Times Book Review
Ted Genoways has crafted an unflinching, intimate portrait of America’s industrialized meat system, centered on pork but conveying lessons that go beyond it. The Chain is a must-read for anyone concerned with our nation’s food system, and the phenomenal cost—animal, human, and environmental—of cheap meat.
A worthy update to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and a chilling indicator of how little has changed since that 1906 muckraking classic.
A searing indictment . . . [Genoways] writes with passion and a sense of mission . . . He should get people thinking about the trade-offs that the public makes in return for low-cost meat.
Formidably researched and vividly told, The Chain is the definitive story of American pork. Ted Genoways intercuts intimate portraits of towns and factories with longer views of labor, business, and immigration history, making painfully clear the true cost of the ‘other white meat.’
A searing indictment . . . [Genoways] writes with passion and a sense of mission . . . He should get people thinking about the trade-offs that the public makes in return for low-cost meat.
A searing indictment . . . [Genoways] writes with passion and a sense of mission . . . He should get people thinking about the trade-offs that the public makes in return for low-cost meat.
Michael Kramer’s persuasive and unfaltering performance reinforces the disturbing information in this portrait of the American food industry. Kramer’s articulate narration tempers the author’s tone, offering mild intonations and a steadiness that balance the stark, and sometimes shocking, information. The author’s point is that the food supply chain—which rewards high-density animal farming and increased speed at production plants—is compromising the safety of workers as well as the quality and wholesomeness of our meat. Kramer’s good timing and clarity of voice clearly convey the shocking statistics and poignant message about the true price of cheap meat. M.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
2014-07-27
