{"product_id":"cleanup-on-aisle-five-ann-larson-9781668094501","title":"Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn the tradition of bestselling classics such as Barbara Ehrenreich's \u003ci\u003eNickel and Dimed \u003c\/i\u003eand Benjamin Lorr's \u003ci\u003eThe Secret Life of Groceries \u003c\/i\u003ecomes a character-driven exploration of the modern supermarket, unpacking what works and what doesn't, and delivering a blueprint for a better way to shop.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGrocery stores may all seem the same. But the supermarket as an institution is anything but ordinary or one-dimensional. At the supermarket where I worked, I found a microcosm of society: a place of brutality and violence as well as solidarity and the promise of change. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUnemployed and looking for work during the pandemic, journalist and activist Ann Larson found a job as a cashier at a supermarket in Utah. Though she had written about low-wage work for years, nothing could have prepared her for what she experienced. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Informed by her time behind the register, \u003ci\u003eCleanup on Aisle Five \u003c\/i\u003eis Larson's deep dive into supermarkets and how they operate from the inside out: from the low-wage workers stocking the shelves and the customers coming through at all hours, to the communities these stores serve and the larger capitalist forces and corporate interests at play that control how we shop for food. In the process, she chronicles the evolution of the grocery store, unpacks the political implications of the battles between shoppers and staff, and invites us to imagine grocery stores as places where one can foster community and even equity--if we can separate food distribution from profit motive. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Deeply reported and refreshingly insightful, Larson follows the interactions between the workers, including Stanley who can't afford a sandwich, Nick who doesn't have health insurance, and Scarlet who is all out of patience, and customers, including the old lady who finds comfort in tidying the shelves to the one homeless guy who only comes in to use the facilities. From the unforgettable characters to the common challenges we face when it comes to food, \u003ci\u003eCleanup in Aisle Five \u003c\/i\u003ewill forever change the way we look at grocery stores.","brand":"Atria\/One Signal Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50060043911361,"sku":"9781668094501","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0781\/5512\/0833\/files\/9781668094501.jpg?v=1773777234","url":"https:\/\/www.porchlightbooks.com\/products\/cleanup-on-aisle-five-ann-larson-9781668094501","provider":"Porchlight Book Company","version":"1.0","type":"link"}