Benjamin Lorr / The Secret Life of Groceries

What really happens between the farm, the factory, and the fluorescent aisle? Benjamin Lorr — author of The Secret Life of Groceries and a practitioner of deep, immersive journalism — pulls back the curtain on an industry most of us walk through several times a week without ever really seeing. From the hidden costs baked into low prices to the surprising resistance to innovation in a $800B business, this conversation reframes the grocery store as one of the most revealing artifacts of modern life. ### In this episode Benjamin traces his unlikely path from writing about competitive yoga to embedding himself in the grocery supply chain — riding with long-haul truckers, working the fish counter at Whole Foods, and following shrimp back to labor abuses at sea. He unpacks why certification schemes often fall short of what shoppers assume they promise, why grocery stores are structurally allergic to change, and how food has quietly become one of our most potent tools for signaling identity and status. He also shares where he's heading next: a deep look at the American elder care industry. ### Key topics - The dark realities of the modern grocery supply chain and the human cost of cheap food - Why certifications and audits often fail to deliver what consumers think they're buying - The paradox of a massive industry that resists innovation at nearly every turn - Food waste, sustainability, and the systemic forces that keep both entrenched - Seafood as a case study in opacity, ethics, and consumer choice - Food as a Veblen good — how what we eat has become a signifier of status and self-expression ### Chapters - 00:00 — Innovations in grocery shopping - 02:45 — From yoga to groceries: a journey of discovery - 06:58 — The dark side of the grocery industry - 14:30 — The role of certifications in food safety - 17:38 — Future chapters: what's next for groceries - 22:21 — Reflections on seafood and consumer choices - 26:22 — Surprising feedback and industry insights - 30:20 — Memorable grocery experiences ### About the guest Benjamin Lorr is an author and immersive journalist known for embedding himself deeply in the worlds he writes about. His book *The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket* is a landmark examination of how our food system actually works — and who pays the price for its efficiency. ### Show Sponsors Thank you to the corporate partners that make SHELFSPACE possible: TD Business Banking https://www.td.com/ca/en/commercial-banking Fasken https://www.fasken.com/en/services/industries/agribusiness Rhema https://rhemamade.com/ Pacific Coast Distribution https://www.pacificcoast.ca/ Picnic Creative https://picniccreates.com/ Benchmark Sixty https://www.benchmarksixty.com/