Avocado Anxiety

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents Avocado Anxiety written and read by Louise Gray.

WINNER OF THE GUILD OF FOOD WRITERS INVESTIGATIVE FOOD WORK AWARD 2024
JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION BOOK AWARDS NOMINEE 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2023
A TIMES ENVIRONMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

‘This is fantastic’ THE TIMES
‘Deeply relatable’ SPECTATOR
‘Rigorous, incisive, warm and brave’ LUCY JONES
‘Essential reading for anyone that eats’ JAKE FIENNES
‘Universally urgent. Everyone should read it.’ CAROLINE EDEN

The food stories behind your favourite fruits and vegetables.

Have you ever wondered who picked your Fairtrade banana or how far your green beans travelled to reach your plate?

We are all part of a complex food system. Trying to make sense of it, environmental journalist Louise Gray tracks the stories of our five-a-day, from farm to fruit bowl, and discovers the impact that growing fruits and vegetables has on the planet. Visiting farms, interviewing scientists and trying to grow her own, she asks important questions to dig up the dirt on familiar items in our shopping baskets. Are plant proteins as good for us as meat proteins? Why can we buy so-called ‘seasonal’ fruits like strawberries all year round? And is the symbol of clean eating, the avocado, fuelling the climate crisis?

As pressure grows to share our healthy, environmentally friendly lives on social media, Avocado Anxiety is also a personal story of motherhood and the realisation that nothing is ever perfect.

Critics Review

A portrait of a food system that has become miraculously proficient at giving us cheap produce whenever we want it but at the expense of so much else.
The Times
From farmers regenerating their soil and scientists battling a banana pandemic, this is essential reading for anyone interested in the global impacts of what we eat.
The Guardian
In a global food network, there are no black and white answers ... In the meantime, here are some food stories to munch over.
The Sunday Telegraph
Packed with insight, impeccably researched, and skilfully narrated, this book is attuned to the contradictions and possibilities of the contemporary diet and ripe with appreciation for the visceral importance of plants.
Rob Percival, author of The Meat Paradox and Head of Food Policy, Soil Association
Engaging stories and lively sanity for veg-forward eating in our complicated times.
Hattie Ellis, author of What to Eat?: 10 Chewy Questions About Food
[Explores] the nuances and complexities in a deeply relatable way.
The Spectator
Essential reading for anyone that eats, Avocado Anxiety takes you on a journey through food and its impact on our planet. Brilliant, just brilliant!
Jake Fiennes, author of Land Healer: How Farming Can Save Britain’s Countryside and Head of Conservation, Holkham Estate
In a quietly confident manner, Avocado Anxiety makes you think for yourself on matters that can only be described as universally urgent. Everyone should read it.’
Caroline Eden, author of Black Sea, Red Sands and Samarkand
A fascinating book full of surprising facts that will force you to reconsider everything you thought you knew about fruit and vegetables. Truly, this is food for thought.
Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment
Fascinating and informative.
Delicious
How what we eat every day has an impact on us and on the world, and the ways in which we can eat better ethically and gastronomically.
BBC Radio 4 Start the Week
By turns fascinating, moving and funny, Louise Gray gives readers the knowledge they need to make more informed choices about what to eat.
Emily Beament, author of 12 Small Acts to Save Our World and Environment Correspondent, Press Association
Gray makes an overwhelming topic digestible. … Avocado Anxiety encourages understanding the science behind one’s food and demonstrates the global impact of every meal.
Foreword Reviews
Gray, a journalist who specializes in food and environmental issues, is not afraid to get her hands dirty… With comprehensive research and intelligent, fair-minded writing, this is an informative, optimistic read.
Kirkus Reviews
Each of the stories is an engaging essay written with punch and flair … an intriguing read.
Read, Listen, Watch
Fascinating … Gray helps us to work out what’s worth worrying about and what’s not.
The Times

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