Book Pick: The Way We Eat

I try to mix up my reading as much as possible, throwing in a mix of business, modern fiction, classic literature, history, sports, and some miscellaneous other genres. I’ve recorded write-ups on them all in a book report journal, which I mentioned in a past blog post, but I’ve only now discovered there’s no search form on my blog. Go figure.

One of the latest entries in the journal: The Way We Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. I found it downstairs at The Strand during a random visit. Without being preachy, Singer and Mason explore three families’ eating habits, determine where their food really comes from, and discuss the ethical choices people make nutritionally, especially when considering animal and environmental welfare.

Some of the authors’ recommendations are surprising, such as when they cast doubt on the growing movement to buy local, which can be harmful on a social level (this would mean we should care for nearby farmers more than those around the world) and on an environmental one (growing and distributing local food can do more harm than shipping food en masse around the world).

Whether or not you subscribe, it’s an eye-opener of a book. For me though, the gold standard on the subject is Fresh Choices, which is primarily a cookbook but more importantly a guide to organic eating, especially when you can’t buy organic. It’s the only cookbook I’ve read cover to cover, and for good measure I’ve read much of it more than once.