How the World Eats: A Global Food Philosophy

Summary

How we live is shaped by how we eat. You can see this in the vastly different approaches to growing, preparing, and eating food around the world, such as the hunter-gatherer Hadza in Tanzania whose sustainable lifestyle is under threat in a crowded planet, or Western societies whose food is farmed or bred in vast intensive enterprises. And most of us now rely on a complex global food web of production, distribution, consumption, and disposal, which is now contending with unprecedented challenges.

The need for a better understanding of how we feed ourselves has never been more urgent. In this wide-ranging and definitive book, philosopher Julian Baggini expertly delves into the best and worst food practices in a huge array of different societies. His exploration takes him from cutting-edge technologies, such as new farming methods, cultured meat, GM and astronaut food, to the ethics and health of ultra processed food and aquaculture, as he takes a forensic look at the effectiveness of our food governance, the difficulties of food wastage, and the effects of commodification. Extracting essential principles to guide how we eat in the future, this book is a thought-provoking and illuminating call for a pluralistic, humane, resourceful, and equitable global food philosophy that will guide us towards a food system fit for the twenty-first century and beyond.