Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

An insightful and astonishing book about our eating habits. The Way We Eat Now is a welcome addition to the food and drink scene, offering an informative and highly readable insight into what different cultures eat and why we do so. I can’t wait to see what Bee Wilson writes next.

Informative and insightful, The Way We Eat Now should be read by pretty much anyone who wants to take charge of their eating norms, or habits. This was an easy and interesting read which did not come across as being preachy and judgmental. I really think all of us can do with having a bit more awareness of the food we consume, the rapid and oftentimes adverse changes wrought by the huge (processed) food industry, and the impact of the rise of superfoods (think quinoa and avocado) on the environment and the people who produced them. There are some topics in here which I found truly enlightening - such as the Cavendish bananas and 'thin-fat babies' of India.

I do consider myself to be fairly well-informed about food, having been through various diets and fads, which included reading relevant books or materials, in the past twenty years or so. There had been a lot of trial and error before I came to the point of not thinking of the word 'diet' as a bad thing, but as a conscious and willing choice of how I feed my body and mind. Armed with all that I've experienced, I think The Way We Eat Now offers adequately well-researched information to assist us in making that choice. The long list of references in the Bibliography at the end of the book provides indicate as much, and is of great help for those who want to delve deeper into a topic of interest.

Recommended reading, simply because we all owe it to ourselves to have more awareness about food and what we eat, even if we are not going to drastically change our habits.

This is a difficult book for me to review. I read Wilson´s previous book about eating some years ago and found it an interesting read, so I decided I would give this one a try and I enjoyed it. The author has a way of making a non-fiction book about food an interesting and entertaining read.

Generally I´m very interested in food and eating. I definitely describe myself as a foodie and like learning about food, ingredients, nutrition and I enjoy cooking, so a lot of the ground covered in the book is familiar to me. However, a few of the topics were new to me.

While I was aware of supermarket bread having little nutritional value, I had no idea that there was a very different type of quality control for bread in the past, I thought that was super interesting. I know that ancient grains have gained in popularity recently and I know of several bakeries in Germany that returning to quality bread. Interestingly, these bakeries are incredibly popular and always full/sold out despite the higher prices compared to other breads etc. (which obviously leads to the question of accessibility for people who can´t afford anything other than cheap, low-quality supermarket toast).

I also agree with Wilson that there isn´t enough education related to food and healthy eating in schools. Hearing about the Lincolnshire primary school that grows food and teaches cooking gave me hope, I would love for my children to go to there (although I am fairly certain my children will do just fine without it too because to me it´s such an important part of life, family life in particular).

Some things surprised me, for example the research that shows: the bigger the supermarket, the greater the prevalence of obesity among its regular shoppers! This one really got me thinking. I´m not sure I fully understand the correlation. Yes, my shopping in large supermarkets tends to be bigger than when I shop in smaller shops, but I usually visit the bigger supermarkets when planning a big shop anyway so that´s no surprise. I also buy larger amounts of fruit and vegetables in bigger supermarkets and those aisles are usually where I get carried away, buying things I didn´t plan to buy, much more so than in the sweets or snack aisles. But I guess that might be a personal thing.

I also wasn´t aware that where quinoa used to be a cheap staple, people are no longer able to afford it because it is shipped and sold overseas. This is awful and clearly one of the biggest downsides of globalisation. I recently found a company who grows and sells British quinoa and many other seeds, pulses and grains and I wish more places would sell it. It took me months to find them and I think more people would buy them if they had the opportunity. Instead, all large supermarkets and even many small independent shops ship them in. I know there is a price difference and I appreciate that not everyone will be able to buy the more expensive local product but I know many people will, decreasing the demand for products grown elsewhere (and supporting local businesses at the same time).

At some point Wilson says that food eaten out is mostly less nutritious than food cooked at home but I´m not sure I agree with her statement. I´m sure this is true in some cases but I also think it assumes that those people eating out know how to cook. If a family eats oven chips and breaded chicken nuggets (or whatever other beige food can be put in the oven), I´m pretty sure that, other than fast food joints obviously, meals eaten out might have a higher nutritional value.

What I didn´t like about the book was the emphasis on eating meat (albeit little) and fish to have a healthy diet. Wilson completely neglects the large amount of research that shows that a vegan/plant based diet, if well planned, is considered to be the most supportive in fighting the nations´ food related health issues. She addresses issues such as obesity, cardio-vascular disease and diabetes but completely ignores the work of various physicians who have been successful in reversing heart diseases and diabetes through a plant based, whole foods diet.

Other than that, I completely agree with Wilson on the influence that corporations have on what we eat, which is one of the reason I try to eat and cook mostly whole foods and don´t buy into the whole "eggs and dairy are important sources of nutrients" argument that stems from research funded by the egg & dairy industry.

I think she´s right in highlighting that bad diet is often blamed on the individual and while, to some extent, I think this can be the case and people should take responsibility for their own diet, I completely agree that the system is making it incredibly hard for people to do so. In many countries there is money to be made from people who rely on medicine and surgeries and in others it is simply cheaper to buy a burger than a salad and coke instead of water. Additionally, in a world where people are struggling to make ends meet, despite working horrendous hours, there is so much going on that individuals have neither capacity, nor energy to think much about food and cooking.

So all in all I think this is a great book for anyone who is interested in food and food systems. I won't give it more than 3 stars simply because I think times are changing and she should have focused on the recent rise in veganism and its benefits, especially considering the topic of food related ill health and the fact that she spoke about ethical food choices. Maybe she will in her next book?

This is an interesting and fascinating read. This is a well researched and well thought out book. Our relationship with food has definitely changed and this book makes you think about how you view food and how healthy your lifestyle is. Definitely worth reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Bee Wilson has written a brilliantly non-judgemental balanced book which thoroughly investigates our eating habits (past, present, future). In spite of the book title, I found the tone of the book, and even the information provided, happily devoid of moralism; Wilson isn't interested in making us feel bad about the way we eat but she is interested in providing a food education that allows the reader to be aware of the vast and considerable context behind our food choices.

The premise of the book lies in the terrifying fact that the way we are eating now is the cause of the highest rate of disease and death internationally (beating tobacco and alcohol). In the book she analyses diet transitions, for example the impact of sugary drinks and packaged snack food upon cultures and countries around the world, and the massive reverberation this has had upon our social, nutritional and psychological eating habits. Wilson presents the problems and horror stories of both clean eating and ready meals (or takeways or food substitutes) but in spite of the numbers, the facts, the consequences of a global mono diet, the paradox of choice, climate change and our obsessive food fads, she remains confident and hopeful about a future where behavioural change will set us back on track to healthy and happy eating.

An important book for our times and bellies!

What a superb book. Bee Wilson is such a knowledgable and well informed author. Her writing is authoritative and compassionate. Unlike so many books about current day food, she writes without condemnation and with real understanding of the issues involved. This is not about conspiracy theories and them against us, nor about berating overstretched families for poor food choices. It is a serious analysis of why and how, without apportioning blame. Above all, it is hopeful, rather than doom and gloom. Bee sees and predicts a hopeful future, where we rediscover the joys of cooking and eating, whilst accepting that this may take a different form from in the past. She draws our attention, encouragingly, to initiatives around the world that are already producing positive results, thereby suggesting ways forward. She doesn’t preach one size fits all, but celebrates the diversity of successful approaches. This book is accessible and highly informative. I found it inspirational and would love for it to push “popular” dietary books off their perches, and allow it to help us to fully understand both the problems and possible solutions. Compulsory reading for anyone with an interest in food, diet and nutrition.

An insightful and engrossing read for anyone interested in food, food culture and the sustainability of how it is produced and consumed. Bee Wilson has thoroughly researched this subject and some of the points she makes are quite jaw-dropping. We are now a very time-poor (or lazy) society that prioritises ease instant gratification and choice over sustainability and long-term health and prosperity and this has made us, despite living in an era of great abundance (which is not, as the book also goes into detail about, sustainable), very unhealthy. It makes me more determined than ever to stay away from the drive-thru (though Bee writes very compassionately about why this is such a compelling choice for so many people) and eat seasonally, locally and consciously. I know it's the most obvious pun but this is a book that will give you much food for thought!

The Way We Eat Now by Bee Wilson is an insightful and astonishing book about our present-day eating habits.

“The story of modern cooking is not a simple tale of decline but a more complex and hopeful one. When we say that ‘no one cooks any more’ we often have in mind a particular version of home cooking that depended on women being confined to a life of unpaid labour. By contrast, the new cooking of our times is done by a wider range of people in a wider range of ways.”(284)

When I was about two chapters into this book I felt that it was not really addressing something new. I love cooking and estimate that I have a fairly reasonable talent for making sensible choices when it concerns food. Meat is off the limits for me, and I feel that I approach food-related trends with a critical, yet fair mindset. So what was this book offering me that I did not already know? Rather a lot, it turned out!

Our modern food culture is based on so many interrelated elements. There will always be elements that you probably would never have considered to be relevant, which turn out to be crucial. From the plates, we put our food on, to initiatives from various countries aimed at improving our diet, Bee Wilson achieved to discuss a great number of important aspects. The book reads a little bit like a collection of separate essays, so you can easily put it down if you feel a little bit overwhelmed. Actually, I think that would even be a good thing because the points that Wilson brings up deserve some thought. She continuously managed to surprise me by related topics, that I was familiar with (tasty videos, meal replacement shakes, and cooking because you enjoy cooking), but would have never thought of as relevant.

Now, what is great about The Way We Eat Now is that Wilson never gets judgmental. She never fails to highlight the positive aspects of modern food culture. Especially her section on the phenomenon that we now have a generation that has learned to cook from a screen rather than learning from family members really spoke to me. Change is not always a bad thing. But the one lesson we can derive from this is that we have to be mindful and critical about how change will affect people, our diet, and our planet.

After reading The Way We Eat Now it is clear to me that I am not going to change the way how we treat our food by myself, and neither are you. But together we can become more aware of our habits, and eventually push for a more sustainable kind of progress when it comes to improving the way we eat.

My rating for this book is 4 out of 5 stars. I received a digital copy of this book for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This is an interesting and very thorough look at how we eat globally.

This feels like a lengthy book but is worth reading if this subject is something that interests you. If you only have a casual interest, it's probably not the right book for you, as this really is an in depth book. It's so well researched though and full of fantastic facts.

An excellent global view of the way we eat. Bee Wilson discusses not simply what we eat, but how we eat, how we cook, who we eat with, when we eat and why we eat - beyond assuaging hunger. Drinks are necessarily included too. The historical context is considered, together with the future of eating.

The author draws on published studies along with extensive interviews. Her storytelling and direct writing style engages and the book rattles along.

At the core of the book is the concern that although food has become more abundant, the trend is towards unhealthier eating on a global basis. She consider the resulting impact on people and on the planet. The author also makes the case that this is driven by structure and environment rather than individual or parental will.

Importantly Bee Wilson looks at successful healthy eating initiatives at a school, city and country level and suggests what interventions are required to transition to a better state or stage of development. She also puts forward suggestions for individuals in the current environment, such as using smaller plates and glasses!

Instructive, thought provoking and highly engaging.