{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260418T162306Z","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HYMBNVM?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"B00HYMBNVM","authors":["Ted Genoways"],"book_id":"9780062288769","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/the-chain-B00HYMBNVM","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062288769.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","description":"A powerful and important work of investigative journalism that explores the runaway growth of the American meatpacking industry and its dangerous consequences “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 “I tore through this book. . . . Books like these are important: They track the journey of our thinking about food, adding evidence and offering guidance along the way.” — Wall Street Journal On the production line in American packing-houses, there is one cardinal rule: the chain never slows. Under pressure to increase supply, the supervisors of meat-processing plants have routinely accelerated the pace of conveyors, leading to inhumane conditions, increased accidents, and food of questionable, often dangerous quality. In The Chain , acclaimed journalist Ted Genoways uses the story of Hormel Foods and its most famous product, Spam—a recession-era staple—to probe the state of the meatpacking industry, from Minnesota to Iowa to Nebraska. Interviewing scores of line workers, union leaders, hog farmers, and local politicians and activists, Genoways reveals an industry pushed to its breaking point—while exposing alarming new trends, from sick or permanently disabled workers to conflict between small towns and immigrant labor. A searching exposé in the tradition of Upton Sinclair, Rachel Carson, and Eric Schlosser, The Chain is a mesmerizing story and an urgent warning about the hidden costs of the food we eat.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780062288769","publication_date":"20151020","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"the-chain","subtitle":"Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food","title":"The Chain"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"BUS070010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Agribusiness","score":0.8084,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070120","confidence_band":"high","label":"The Food Business","score":0.787,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Manufacturing Industry","score":0.7414,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"BUS070010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Agribusiness","score":0.8084,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070120","confidence_band":"high","label":"The Food Business","score":0.787,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Manufacturing Industry","score":0.7414,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BUS038000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Labor & Workforce","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070010","confidence_band":"high","label":"Agribusiness","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS070120","confidence_band":"high","label":"The Food Business","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS077000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Corporate Histories","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS097000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Workplace Culture","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"POL029000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Social Policy","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC007000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Immigration & Emigration","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC015000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Human Geography","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Agribusiness","score":0.8084,"slug":"agribusiness"},{"label":"The Food Business","score":0.787,"slug":"the-food-business"},{"label":"Manufacturing Industry","score":0.7414,"slug":"manufacturing-industry"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Agribusiness","Good for readers who enjoy Agribusiness and The Food Business.","Strong fit for readers who prefer grounded, real-world context."],"related_lists":[{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-bus070120-food-industry","title":"Food Industry Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-bus070120-food-industry"},{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-bus070010-agribusiness","title":"Agribusiness Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-bus070010-agribusiness"}],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Christopher Leonard"],"book_id":"9781451645835","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781451645835.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":19.8853,"title":"The Meat Racket","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781451645835"},{"authors":["Benjamin Lorr","Blackstone Publishing"],"book_id":"9780553459418","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780553459418.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":16.1674,"title":"The Secret Life of Groceries","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780553459418"},{"authors":["Chloe Sorvino"],"book_id":"9781982172053","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781982172053.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":14.6612,"title":"Raw Deal","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781982172053"},{"authors":["Eric Schlosser"],"book_id":"9780547750330","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780547750330.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":14.2096,"title":"Fast Food Nation","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780547750330"},{"authors":["Mark Bittman"],"book_id":"9780358645528","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780358645528.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":14.1465,"title":"Animal, Vegetable, Junk","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780358645528"},{"authors":["Raj Patel"],"book_id":"9781612191270","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781612191270.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":14.1057,"title":"Stuffed and Starved","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781612191270"},{"authors":["Jan Dutkiewicz","Gabriel N. 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