I normally love anything Mark Bittman writes so I was excited for this book. It starts with the whole history of agriculture and continues up until present day. Some of it was interesting but nothing I did not already know. The rest was kind of overkill and bored the shit out of me.

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

This is a fascinating book written by an expert in the field who has done his research well. I liked the author's focus on the environment and the idea that humans must work with nature, rather than against it, to keep ourselves and our world healthy. However, I also felt like the book was too log, and often time negative. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Wanted to like this book. Went into it loving the fact that the author takes us back into history to show us how we got to where we are today. However, soon after, a pattern started emerging - "we {humans] are responsible for every ill that's befalling us since we decided to 'put out' for agriculture - we literally f*cked ourselves, and there's no going back - also, not that we seem to want to, even, so in short, we're screwed!"
Felt overall the tone of this one, and the level of detail just turned pedantic and stretching words to seemingly say more, but in fact saying less and less throughout. So overall, writing a lot to not say much, or worse, just putting across a personal opinion (if this had been sold as a manifesto, great... But it wasn't)

A well-summarized look at the history of food production and the reality, and challenges, of the current food industry (primarily in the US, though with obviously a global reach and effect). Nothing in this book felt new, and I found myself speeding through it looking for some new angle, information, or analysis. But it's a decent synthesizing of a massive topic for the layperson. That being said, I think Bittman may have, ironically, bitten off more than he can chew; the book tries to cover perhaps too much ground, and so it winds up feeling like a survey course rather than really in depth in any of the topics or pieces of our history.

As featured in the 2020-21 Modern Mrs Darcy Winter Book Preview and live unboxing event. I appreciate Mark Bittman's recipes AND philosophy, and was eagerly anticipating this new book. I've enjoyed much of Bittman's work, and especially appreciate his recipe writing and commentary, but this one fell flat for me. While the pub description promises to show readers how "we can rescue ourselves from the modern wrong turn," this part of the book felt much lighter (and far more hopeless) than I had hoped for.

Mark Bittman has bitten off a bit more than he can chew with this book.

The good: I liked his focus on the environment and the idea that humans must work with nature, rather than against it, to keep ourselves and our world healthy. The middle section of the book, where he discusses the beginnings of factory farming and the advent of ultraprocessed foods, is the most readable section.

The bad: This book is simply too long. It tries to cover the development and history of agriculture from the very beginning up to present day. The first third of the book is very dry, and I almost stopped reading. It feels like a completely different book than the second two-thirds.

I also had trouble with the book's style - Bittman tends to be hyperbolic and make large blanket statements to suit his point, without statistics and evidence to back up his point. Like other reviewers, I found his tone preachy and over the top. There are references, but they are not footnoted; instead, they are in the back of the book linked to the phrase on a specific page, so basically they are very hard to cross-reference. Generally, when I read popular science, the author has spent time with experts in various subfields to get a grasp on current research - you won't find this here. In particular, I found the sections about breastfeeding and GMOs to be hard to stomach - Bittman is very anti-formula and seemingly anti-GMO (in tone), again, without much evidence to back him up.

I like Mark Bittman's cookbooks - that's why I picked this book up. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend it.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a super fun read. I really enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Bittman provides a much needed look at the food industry past, present and future. Really interesting and informative.

As a long-time fan of the How to Cook Everything cookbook series, I was thrilled to receive Animal, Vegetable, Jun from Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in exchange for an honest review. I have known Mark Bittman as a comprehensive cookbook author, but this book provided both an informative and enlightening look at the history of food and more specifically, the evolution of the food industry and all of the extraneous factors that ultimately determined what ends up on our plates. It is thoughtfully researched introduction to how the food industry we know today began and is sustained. A couple of takeaways for me was the power of the individual industry leaders such as milk and grain, learning about monoculture farming and what led to GMO farming products and ultimate yield being, and how farming has evolved to be a multi-billion dollar industry that has a tendency to favour the industry giants and ultimately extinguishing the longevity of family farm ventures. For those who are interested in food politics and the history of the food industry, you will not be disappointed by this book. What I have learned from reading this book has stayed with me.

The complete review of this book is available on my GoodReads profile

(direct link to it)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3792423104

Mark Bittman's advocacy for plant-based diets, cooking with locally-sourced foods, and stress-free cooking is amazing. In Animal, Vegetable, Junk, he lays out a persuasive case for reading history through the lens of the destruction, economic inequality, and lower quality of life that the development of food production has wrought. This is a powerful book about the harm we're doing by lazily eating junk and the possible solutions that could change the status quo.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Animal, Vegetable, Junk by Mark Bittman. For many years, I’ve been interested in the field of nutrition and all the ways corporations are involved in affecting plus controlling seemingly all aspects of food production, marketing, and information. This book presented clear and detailed information in a way that was easy to understand. I appreciate all the research and detail that goes into creating an informative nonfiction book and Bittman is one of the best at it.

Animal, Vegetable, Junk is a detailed history of humans and their consumption and creation of food. Bittman starts in prehistoric times when humans were hunter gatherers and moves forward through the agricultural revolution. He discusses how the development of agriculture lead to people living in larger groups leading to cities, which in turn lead to social classes. There is discussion how colonialism and the demand for crops such as sugar led to slavery and racial oppression. Into more modern times, there is analysis of factory farming and the current industrial food complex. He reflects on how our diets have impacted our health with poor "junk-heavy" diets leading to ailments like obesity, diabetes and heart disease. He wraps up the book with suggestions of how to help right our course to help improve the environment and humankind.

This is clearly a well researched book. There is a lot of information packed into this tome and is a great read for foodies and history fans alike. Bittman is a well-known food writer and his passion and knowledge of the topic is on full display in Animal, Vegetable, Junk.

I love Mark Bittman, but this book feels like it's treading familiar territory to his previous work. Why not update and republish instead of having an entirely new book?

I never really think of food as a driving force in our prehistorical context. Or even historical. But then I tied it in to various "famines" the world has experienced and had an "A-HA!" moment. Kudos Mark Bittman! It all makes a whole lot more sense now. Food really is the key in a big way. I'm not sure I buy into everything the book discusses, but it has given me plenty to research and mull over. Good read! I think it would make a fine addition to food, climate, population collection.

“We are what we eat,” that much is true when we talk about what constitutes us as human beings (at least, organically). I personally think that this book will be a nice complement to Yuval Noah Harari's 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind' and Jared Diamond's 'Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years' in explaining the history of mankind. Many pieces of literature start analysing the history of mankind through the lenses of politics, geography and culture, but little of those which treating the roles of foods as the defining factor which constitute our civilisation.

According to many works of literature, our daily consumption began to change as humans began to practice agriculture which favours monoculture practices and sedentary lives, which finally contributed to the rise of the human population as well as more technological and cultural innovations. And this is the central theme repeated throughout this book, that we are basically f*cked-up with our current food system, whose purpose is no longer to provide nourishment to the people, but rather generating more profits for the actors behind the heavily-industrialised food industry. Capitalism is one thing to blame in this book as it promises everlasting economic growth, an idea that at times threaten the sustainability of nature.

Basically, Mark Bittman has two proposals in this book. First and foremost, there is the need for the whole agricultural and food industry to change their system, by relying less on technology and follows the traditional practices in many parts of the world that have been proven more sustainable. At times, this first proposal would need the backing of government support or some powerful local actors who are able to influence government decision in passing some legislation that could benefit small and local farmers. The second proposal is addressed more on the consumers, to change their habits and eating fewer junk foods which contribute to many of our chronic diseases. This is less sound, and the author himself acknowledges that changing our habits is not an easy task especially when we are educated in a culture that favours instant edible foods and there are countless supplies from the industry.

Most of Mark Bittman’s ideas in this book are depressing. And it will be more depressing if you read it while eating your big burger procured from the closest McDonald’s franchise while drinking ultra-sugared Diet Coke (I wouldn’t recommend both). Mark Bittman tries to avoid statistics in his book, but each paragraph speaks volume about the danger we have been in and the need to advocate for more sustainable agricultural practices which cause fewer harms to nature and farmers. If you are afraid that this book will all be on the negative sides of our food security, there will be a penultimate chapter which discusses the positive achievements in some parts of the world to regulate better foods for society, which I think deserve more mention in this urgent discussion.

Overall, this is a really enjoyable book for me and changed my view regarding the food industry and our daily food consumptions. However, it remains curious as to how the author’s ideas could be implemented in influencing several parties that have been benefited from the status quo in the food industry. I could easily imagine there will be many parties whose positions will be threatened by the existence of this book (maybe they will hire some researchers to publish books or articles to counter the ideas).

Fascinating look into the history of agriculture and what we can do to solve today's food problems. There are areas where the book does feel a bit dense and textbookish, but overall it contains solid insights into industrial agriculture and factory farming, and the need to make significant changes to our food supply methods.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I was pulled into the framework of this book with statements like "Food has always been political, but as time passed, our relationship with food--how it gets into our hands--has been shaped more and more by government and policy" and "If you are looking for the roots of today's income inequality, you might start here, with a federal donation of land--the foundation of most wealth--to an exclusive club of white men."

As I got deeper into the reading I loved how the author touched on so many aspects of our evolving food production and eating habits, and when I say "so many" I mean "sooooooo many." From cooking/freezing/sealing methods and the commercialization of sugar, corn, soy, and GMOs to creations of The National Dairy Council, The National School Lunch Program, The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, and Food for Freedom--this book covers A LOT.

The parts I had problems with (you know when you read something and think "that doesn't sound right" or "really?") were difficult to follow up on because there were no citations. This may be because this is an eARC, but I felt like some statements were being pulled from unreliable secondary sources.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, specifically the section on the origins of ketchup and the "smart" aka ruthless measures Heinz took to eliminate all competition at the turn of the twentieth century.

The history of humans and food. Hunting and gathering and growing your own food. Exploration, slavery, capitalism and how they all connect. Fascinating book worth reading.

Animal, Vegetable, Junk is Mark Bittman's take on the current state of food, serving as a historical and political bridge from the hunter gatherer era to our current times of factory farms and GMOs. While books on this subject are always going to be timely, I found Bittman's take on it to be a bit dense and a tad too political for my taste. I've read a lot of similar books to this one, so perhaps this is merely a case of myself being a bit burned out on the subject, but I couldn't really sink my teeth 100% into this at any point. I do appreciate Bittman's analysis of the role of women in the evolution of food, as he focuses on peeling back the patriarchal curtain and shows the reality of women heavily involved in food evolution as opposed to the traditional "stay at home" veneer.

**Thanks to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ARC for an honest review**