Sébastien Rioux is assistant professor of geography and Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Food and Wellbeing at Université de Montréal.

"A welcome and important book, The Social Cost of Cheap Food highlights the significance of food distribution to the economic development of Victorian Britain and the enduring role played by retail markets, hawkers, and small shopkeepers in feeding the country's burgeoning population." Martin Purvis, University of Leeds "The Social Cost of Cheap Food provides an insightful perspective on the distributive function of the British food system and its important impact on the consumption levels of the working class as well as the wider political, economic, and social dimensions bound up in it." Cultural and Social History"Cheap food, Rioux convincingly posits, is the answer to the question of how modern free market societies have succeeded in shoring up living standards for workers even in the face of stagnating wages. In a capitalist society, viewed from the point of view of consumers, cheap food looks like an unequivocal democratic good, because it enables people to feed themselves, even on relatively low incomes. Cheap food, Rioux explains, can counter-balance "the structural effects of pay cuts, temporary employment, and economic uncertainly." The missing part of the picture, however, is that cheap food is also one of the factors pushing large swathes of the workforce into exploitation and poverty. Cheap food and cheap labour go hand in hand, and this is as true today in the US as it was in London in the 1880s." Times Literary Supplement"This book is thought-provoking and one of the first books, if not the only book, that attempts to understand the nature and meaning of those who labor in the middle of our food system, the middlemen—essential, invisible, yet marginally understood actors in our global food system." American Historical Review"With eloquent figures and vivid detail, Rioux draws the working and living conditions of these distribution toilers out of the shadow and re-evaluates their proper contribution to late nineteenth-century capitalist economy." Food and History"A concise yet compelling book that accounts for large structural change in the distribution sector without neglecting the diverse experiences of the working-class actors whose labours were essential to its functioning." Labour / Le Travail

Sébastien Rioux is assistant professor of geography and Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Food and Wellbeing at Université de Montréal.

"A welcome and important book, The Social Cost of Cheap Food highlights the significance of food distribution to the economic development of Victorian Britain and the enduring role played by retail markets, hawkers, and small shopkeepers in feeding the country's burgeoning population." Martin Purvis, University of Leeds "The Social Cost of Cheap Food provides an insightful perspective on the distributive function of the British food system and its important impact on the consumption levels of the working class as well as the wider political, economic, and social dimensions bound up in it." Cultural and Social History"Cheap food, Rioux convincingly posits, is the answer to the question of how modern free market societies have succeeded in shoring up living standards for workers even in the face of stagnating wages. In a capitalist society, viewed from the point of view of consumers, cheap food looks like an unequivocal democratic good, because it enables people to feed themselves, even on relatively low incomes. Cheap food, Rioux explains, can counter-balance "the structural effects of pay cuts, temporary employment, and economic uncertainly." The missing part of the picture, however, is that cheap food is also one of the factors pushing large swathes of the workforce into exploitation and poverty. Cheap food and cheap labour go hand in hand, and this is as true today in the US as it was in London in the 1880s." Times Literary Supplement"This book is thought-provoking and one of the first books, if not the only book, that attempts to understand the nature and meaning of those who labor in the middle of our food system, the middlemen—essential, invisible, yet marginally understood actors in our global food system." American Historical Review"With eloquent figures and vivid detail, Rioux draws the working and living conditions of these distribution toilers out of the shadow and re-evaluates their proper contribution to late nineteenth-century capitalist economy." Food and History"A concise yet compelling book that accounts for large structural change in the distribution sector without neglecting the diverse experiences of the working-class actors whose labours were essential to its functioning." Labour / Le Travail

Sébastien Rioux is assistant professor of geography and Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Food and Wellbeing at Université de Montréal.

"A welcome and important book, The Social Cost of Cheap Food highlights the significance of food distribution to the economic development of Victorian Britain and the enduring role played by retail markets, hawkers, and small shopkeepers in feeding the country's burgeoning population." Martin Purvis, University of Leeds "The Social Cost of Cheap Food provides an insightful perspective on the distributive function of the British food system and its important impact on the consumption levels of the working class as well as the wider political, economic, and social dimensions bound up in it." Cultural and Social History"Cheap food, Rioux convincingly posits, is the answer to the question of how modern free market societies have succeeded in shoring up living standards for workers even in the face of stagnating wages. In a capitalist society, viewed from the point of view of consumers, cheap food looks like an unequivocal democratic good, because it enables people to feed themselves, even on relatively low incomes. Cheap food, Rioux explains, can counter-balance "the structural effects of pay cuts, temporary employment, and economic uncertainly." The missing part of the picture, however, is that cheap food is also one of the factors pushing large swathes of the workforce into exploitation and poverty. Cheap food and cheap labour go hand in hand, and this is as true today in the US as it was in London in the 1880s." Times Literary Supplement"This book is thought-provoking and one of the first books, if not the only book, that attempts to understand the nature and meaning of those who labor in the middle of our food system, the middlemen—essential, invisible, yet marginally understood actors in our global food system." American Historical Review"With eloquent figures and vivid detail, Rioux draws the working and living conditions of these distribution toilers out of the shadow and re-evaluates their proper contribution to late nineteenth-century capitalist economy." Food and History"A concise yet compelling book that accounts for large structural change in the distribution sector without neglecting the diverse experiences of the working-class actors whose labours were essential to its functioning." Labour / Le Travail