An incredibly thought-provoking and cool book. More and more, thinking about where food comes from has become a part of everyday conversation. This book was so interesting, and I came away learning a lot about food sustainability and sourcing.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
Each chapter is about a different food and is followed by a recipe. While the information is interesting, the chapters are written with different levels of skill and interest. If you are not expecting it, having everything focus on the UK was unexpected.

I really enjoyed Avocado Anxiety and encourage everyone to read this book! Since we all eat it's incredibly important to understand where our food comes from - each chapter focuses on a specific fruit or vegetable and dives into where it comes from. I didn't realize that this author is based in the UK and so much of the book focuses on the UK ecosystems.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

An interesting book about the origins of our food. The chapters were hit and miss for me but overall an engaging read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In her quest to know where the food she feeds her daughter is from, Louise Gray takes us on the journey to learn more about what goes into growing our food, from avocados to zucchinis.

I found the author’s writing style not only incredibly informative but approachable as well. She expertly weaved complicated concepts into the writing in a way all readers can understand. This book is more than just describing how the food gets from point A to point B, but rather an overarching look of the historical, scientific, and cultural impacts of these foods as well.

While the book is written specifically about food in the UK, the takeaways regarding climate change, sustainability, and the like are applicable regardless of where you live and therefore everyone would benefit from reading this book.

Thank you NetGalley, Bloomsbury USA, and Bloomsbury Wildlife for access to an advance copy to review.

Part eco-journalism, part recipe book, part memoir, this book checks so many boxes for me. This is why I kept endeavoring to read every word, despite my finding it somehow an interminable task. I read many difficult books about human-induced climate change, so I don’t think gloom-and-doom itself is the issue. I think the book’s structure — telling the story of an ingredient, from the history of its cultivation to its current place in globalized, industrial agriculture — might be especially challenging for me, circling back as it does for each problematic ingredient. It becomes dreadful to complete a chapter, knowing another sad story will begin. Appropriately difficult medicine for the modern eater, perhaps.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There were a lot of parts of this book that were interesting and a few parts that were not as interesting.

An interesting dive into the world of where our food comes from. I thought some chapters were more interesting than others. Like bananas was really interesting, but I was not as interested in potatoes. I did find it interesting there were recipes included for each chapter.

1. This book is very much U.K. based. It covers topics like food waste and pesticides that are applicable everywhere, but I often felt the ways that food distribution is a very different issue in Canada. Also, every time Gray mentioned a cool initiative or product I wanted to see if I could… oh right…

2. There’s a level of privilege in being able to make food choices based on the best food for the environment rather than your wallet, and it’s one that fewer people have now than when this book was being written. I don’t think Gray is trying to write a preachy book, and attempts to keep the economic realities of both producers and consumers in mind when talking about ways to approach changing issues within the industry. Sometimes just the act of writing about everything wrong with the food industry will inevitably make people feel bad about their choices, though.

3. Each chapter is essentially its own article focusing on a different produce, but really on a different aspect of the food industry. It’s easy to dip in and out of, which is probably why it took me a very long time to finish. The writing switched between being engaging and a bit dry depending on the topic, but overall worked for me.

There is a lot of good information in this book on what it truly means to eat locally. However, it was very hard to read in the ARC form because of the printing diagonally across the pages that partially obscured the type. I did not finish this book because it was too annoying to read around it after about 50%. The story was not original enough to fight through.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review!
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As somebody who tries to eat locally and seasonally and plant-based when I can, the concept of this book immediately intrigued me. Each chapter focuses on a different fruit or vegetable and dives into some of the particulars about where it comes from, both locally (to the UK) and abroad. While the book does touch upon other countries, briefly, the very extreme focus is on the UK, which I hadn't realized when I picked it up. Being from the USA, where *so* many books are centered, I cannot fault the author for focusing on where she lives, but I do think a lot of the book did end up feeling a little inaccessible. While, of course, many of the topics covered can apply more broadly, there were so many references to things that felt hyper-specific to the UK--foraging in hedgerows, the British tradition of orchards, etc--that it made me feel less invested and connected to the content. I do wish the blurb made the British/UK focus a lot clearer. Beyond that, the stories did sometimes feel a little unconnected and scattered--I was left with the feeling of a broad and shallow coverage of many topics, but the direction to me never felt entirely clear or distinct. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what the broader message of the book was supposed to <i>be</i>--it felt sometimes like the author was saying we're all doing the best we can, and sometimes saying we all need to do better, and I just think the author needed a stronger team of editors to help her hone in on the ultimate narrative thrust of her book and then focus in each of the stories to support that message. I did enjoy this overall, but it didn't quite live up to it's potential.

As an aside to NetGalley/the publishers--I don't understand why one would provide such a messy and difficult to read ARC. There were often entire sentences cut-off in the middle, possibly even missing. The formatting was atrocious. It made for an extremely difficult and unpleasant reading experience, which doesn't exactly predispose readers to think positively of the work their reading which is a shame.

*This book was received as an advanced reviewer's copy from NetGalley.

Well this book is aptly named. It definitely gave me anxiety. It seems like despite everything you may try to do, it's never quite enough. Gray, in this book, takes us through some of our common grocery store items, and their purveyance, issues, carbon/water/whatever impact, and how some people are looking to develop better foodways for them (although it should be noted this book is centered in the UK and may not be quite the same for the USA).

It's interesting to hear about what local farms are doing in the UK, the revival of certain heritage breeds, and some of the trades that happen with other countries for common items (like green beans). What's maybe not as fun as hearing how terrible all these things are for the earth. That's where the anxiety comes in. Most of our common grocery store foods don't really have a great carbon footprint, or water footprint, or human exploitation background.

Gray spends most of the book (when not telling us of the few positive things happening in the UK) telling us how bad most of our choices are for the environment. But then finishes saying "do the best you can, really". Which sounds great, but it's such a small amount compared to the rest of the book that the shame is already there and pervasive. I have a garden, I try to recycle everything, etc. But I am one person with a full time job, carer for a parent, etc. and yes, I could do more but I'm utterly mentally exhausted most of the time. But now I feel like crap because I know I can do better apparently.

Not the author's intent I'm sure (as noted by her ending on do the best you can), but at the same time as gentle as this message is, it's still rough and maybe I just wasn't in a good headspace for this book.

Review by M. Reynard 2023

In my opinion, this book is meant to shame the contents of your fridge and grocery store..but honestly, if they are the only foods one can afford these days, carbon footprint and water consumption are not really a factor for this home or should it be for yours.
Food costs have doubled in many parts of North America and we eat what is affordable and take vitamins to make up the difference..that is one way to deal with rampant inflation and shrinking pay cheques.
Interesting read but it's like shaming from a soapbox

I gobbled up this book in one sitting - and then trotted out to the kitchen to inventory my fresh veggies. I'll need some beans to make a clever, tasty-sounding version of avocado toast, sans avocado. I love avocados, probably a lot more than I should, But now I know more about their carbon footprint and the water consumption that goes into growing this popular food. Louise Gray made a clearly-stated, intelligent case for cutting back my consumption, (though I'll still love them forever, and will have one now and then.)

That's just one of the many eye-openers packed into this super-informative book. By focusing on just a dozen fresh foods, there's plenty of room to share information about the ethics, politics and health benefits of each item,

But this isn't a dry textbook. It's written in a friendly, conversational tone, and peppered with personal anecdotes that are sweetly nostalgic and genuinely interesting. As a bonus, each chapter ends with a recipe that steps outside the ordinary recipe box. All in all, it's a well-balanced read. I'd recommend this for younger folk just setting out on their own and learning how to shop and cook, but also for us older cooks who've fallen into food-ruts and preconceived notions.

My thanks to author Louise Gray, Bloomsbury USA, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.