Avocado Anxiety

And Other Stories About Where Your Food Comes From

By: Louise Gray

Narrated by: Louise Gray

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.©2023 Louise Gray (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

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. (Ben Cooke)

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. (PD Smith)

In a global food network, there are no black and white answers ... In the meantime, here are some food stories to munch over. (Boudicca Fox-Leonard)

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)

Inspiring

I listen to approx 3 books a week as I sit in my shop making wild blueberry powder and this is this first book in eons that has inspired the more creative part of my brain. Many books entertain but few inspire. Well done.