**The food stories behind your favourite fruits and vegetables.
**
Have you ever wondered who picked your Fairtrade banana? Or why we can
buy British strawberries in April? How far do you think your green beans
travelled to get to your plate? And where do all the wonky carrots go?
Above all, how do we stop worrying about our food choices and start
making decisions that make a difference?
In an effort to make sense of the complex food system we are all part
of, Louise Gray decides to track the stories of our five-a-day from farm
to fruit bowl, and discover the impact that growing fruits and
vegetables has on the planet.
Through visits to farms, interviews with scientists and trying to grow
her own, she digs up the dirt behind organic potatoes, greenhouse
tomatoes and a glut of courgettes.
In each chapter, Louise answers a question about a familiar item in our
shopping basket. Is plant protein as good as meat? Is foraged food more
nutritious? Could bees be the answer to using fewer chemicals? How do we
save genetic diversity in our apples? Are digital apps the key to
reducing food waste? Is gardening good for mental health? And is the
symbol of clean eating, the avocado, fuelling the climate crisis?
As pressure grows via social media to post pictures of food that ticks
all the boxes in terms of health and the environment, these food stories
from the author of the award-winning The Ethical Carnivore are also a
personal story of motherhood and the realisation that nothing is ever
perfect.
