Table of Contents
Preface: The Quiet Transformation ix
Part I Tracing Food from Farm to Table
Chapter 1 The Hidden Cost of Convenience 3
Chapter 2 The Joy of Going to the Source 25
Part II The Rise of the Middleman Economy
Chapter 3 The Retail Behemoths 45
Chapter 4 Helping People Buy Homes 67
Chapter 5 The Middlemen Behind The Middleman 81
Part III The Dark Side
Chapter 6 Who Do Middlemen Really Serve? 97
Chapter 7 Middlemen Perpetuating the Need for Middlemen 119
Chapter 8 The Myth of Supply Chain Accountability 143
Part IV Direct and the Path Forward
Chapter 9 Connections, Local and Global 169
Chapter 10 Almost-Direct, Quasi-Direct, and the Limits of Direct 189
Chapter 11 Five Principles for Policy Makers, Companies, and the Rest of US 211
Conclusion 237
Acknowledgments 239
Notes 241
Index 273