When Zackary Vernon moved to the Appalachian town of Boone, North Carolina, he had a goal: to make more ethical food choices. Soon he was working on an organic farm; volunteering at a pay-what-you-can restaurant; and interviewing a range of people, from fishermen and farmers to biologists and even reality television star Eustace Conway. He found that when he stepped outside the industrial food system, he often ended up in the company of folks on the fringe—people who rejected not only industrial farming methods but also many modern beliefs and conventions that have proven harmful to our food system.

Disillusioned by extremist positions on the left and right, such as anarchist fantasies and myopic conservative worldviews, Vernon, like many of us, struggled to be an ethical eater without fully sacrificing pleasure and joy. While there are no easy answers, he invites readers to consider their own responsibilities to both the places they live and the far-off places their lifestyles affect. With dry wit and personal stories, Vernon offers ways for us to fail better as we consider how to eat more ethically in the future.

Zackary Vernon is author of Our Bodies Electric and associate professor of English at Appalachian State University.