Taking themes such as family, food and environment, and starting interestingly talking to people who have returned to farming or started it entirely, Jones' central point is that the town and the country really do not understand each other and both suffer from misconceptions, people from both communities need to move positions and a middle ground needs to be found.

She draws from both her own lived experience, growing up on a small farm in a family that has generations of farmers, going to live in the city and having her perceptions changed, living with a partner who's a foodie who doesn't think where that food is coming from and considering moving back to the countryside. But she also uses her work and research and member of / organisation of various initiatives to give a more rounded and diverse picture, leading to a fascinating and detailed book that includes a wide variety of voices.

Jones looks at what farmers can do to diversify their individual lives so they take time off and how diversity in farming and associated professions, like large animal vets, can be improved and also benefit the industry. The chapter on politics was fascinating, linking small-c conservatism to farming areas but also pointing out her own education in different ways of thinking when in an urban environment; but then also in the food chapter looked, as I said, at the way people in towns have become separated from knowing or thinking about where their food comes from, however foodie they might consider themselves to be.

Everywhere, though, she points out subtleties and people bucking the stereotypes (while also acknowledging people do match them, too, and we can't ignore that), trying to pull people together to reach an understanding that will eventually help food security and mitigate against climate change.

A deeply felt and passionate book that is well backed up with information and case studies, with a lot of interesting content.

Blog review published 25 November 2023 https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2023/11/25/book-review-anna-jones-divide/