The author of The Ethical Carnivore takes a journalistic approach to questioning trusims about fruit and veg being better for you and the planet. The book has 12 chapters, each interviewing a banana, potato or avocado person and adding some history, some personal worries related to her baby and some scientific references.
Mike Berners-Lee wrote about the carbon footprint of 100 things in 2010's How Bad Are Bananas. As many businesses attempt to go carbon neutral, ethical and environmental sourcing is more of an issue than ever.
Avocadoes have long been used by anti-vegetarian campaigners as a stick to tell them they are being bad for the planet by eating the 'pears'. Gray quotes Berners-Lee's figures showing how much less carbon is produced importing avocadoes from abroad compared to producing beef in Britain. Avocadoes are a lot less bad than meat and airfreighted asparagus, but are worse than UK-grown potatoes.
For apples, English Apples and Pears' Ali Capper is the interviewee and the loss of apple biodiversity is a cause for anxiety.
I was worried Fairtrade bananas, more plant proteins and organic veg boxes would be bashed. But the figures seem to show this is all better than meat in terms of carbon footprint, thought there are many nuances in the journeys of fresh produce to the table.
Gray concludes that the perfect diet does not exist. 'Food stories', ie growing plants and selling plants is 'complex'. This book makes a great job of making those stories accessible.
