Reimagining the Food System: Activism and Local Solutions

Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. In 2024, he published his debut book, entitled Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry. The book profiles a series of powerful magnates to illustrate the concentration of power in the global food system. Barons has received universal acclaim, including a coveted starred review from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, and has been named one of the “Best Books of 2024” by the latter. The host of Bloomberg's Odd Lots applauded the book, remarking, "I have come away with a completely different idea of agriculture that I cannot unsee." Frerick previously worked at the Open Markets Institute, the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Congressional Research Service before becoming a Fellow at Yale University. During the 2020 presidential campaign, he advised candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg on agricultural policy before ultimately serving as Co-Chair of the Biden campaign’s Agriculture Antitrust Policy Committee. He is a 7th generation Iowan and 1st generation college graduate, with degrees from Grinnell College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He also serves on the Board of Directors as Vice President for Common Good Iowa and as Treasurer for the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project.