Now with a new chapter on the Distribution Barons! "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 2025 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Winner Kirkus Reviews "Best Books of 2024" Food & Water Watch's " Book of the Year " American Library Association "Outstanding Academic Titles 2024" Electric Literature "Best Books of Spring 2024" 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. "Winner of the Food Issues & Matters Cookbook Award, International Association of Culinary Professionals" "“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 " 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 "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 "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 "After reading [Austin's] book, I have come away with a completely different idea of agriculture that I cannot unsee." ― Bloomberg Odd Lots "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 "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, Food Systems, and Commu