The Good Eater

by Nina Guilbeault

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Good Eater is a broad ranging, engaging, and beautifully written monograph about society, veganism, vegetarianism, food systems and most importantly food, written by Dr. Nina Guilbeault. Released 16th April 2024 by Bloomsbury, it's 256 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the e-book format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is a thorough and logically laid out book examining food in the larger context of the systems used to create and deliver nutritive substances. The author has researched deeply and interviewed scientists who are engaged in producing cell-cultured cruelty free meat (directly from animal cells), to other manufactured foodstuffs, agriculture systems, regenerative farming, fads, and more general themes.

The author does describe her personal and family journey to vegetarianism, but there's very little proselytizing in the book. She links to peer-reviewed studies in the literature which make draw links between plant based diets and lifestyle associated cancers and cardiopulmonary illnesses... but there's no shaming or stridency. 

It's well annotated throughout, but it's not written in academically rigorous language, and it's perfectly layman accessible. The chapter notes include links and will provid avid readers with many hours of further reading. 

This is not a cookbook, and does not contain recipes. The author is, however, so adept at description and readers will find themselves wishing for a companion cookbook to many of her food descriptions.

Five stars. This would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition and for non-fiction readers.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.