Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry, by Austin Frerick

If you’ve ever wandered the grocery store, wondering how prices could have gotten so out of control for so many families, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry is a terrific place to start finding answers. Austin Frerick is a nationally recognized economist, agricultural expert, and marvelous storyteller who breaks down just how our food systems have been co-opted to benefit a few small stakeholders at the expense of both the growers and consumers. Organized by industry—such as “The Hog Barons,” “The Grain Barons,” and “The Slaughter Barons”—Frerick picks apart America’s food policies to reveal who is to blame for the state of our grocery stores and how we can get things back on track. As an Iowa native, Frerick is consummately in the farmer’s corner, and he does a good job of holding elected officials accountable across the political spectrum, without party bias. This small volume is a quick, informative book that reads more like a discussion than a lecture and leaves readers with a sense of empowerment and hope.