A Greedy Man in a Hungry World: Why (Almost) Everything You Thought You Knew About Food is Wrong

by Jay Rayner

The UK’s most influential food and drink journalist shoots a few sacred cows of food culture.

The doctrine of local food is dead. Farmers’ markets are merely a lifestyle choice for the affluent middle classes. And ‘organic’ has become little more than a marketing label that is way past its sell by date. That may be a little hard to swallow for the ethically-aware food shopper but it doesn’t make it any less true. And now the UK’s most outspoken and entertaining food writer is ready to explain why.

This engaging, witty and honest narrative is driven by the appetite of one large man: Jay Rayner – someone who lives to eat, but also understands that there is a world beyond the high-end obsessions of the farmers’ market. Combining sharply-observed memoir – growing up with the UK’s most famous agony aunt who also happened to be a bloody good TV chef; witnessing the arrival of McDonald’s and Dayville’s ice cream in Seventies London; working as a butcher’s boy – with hard-nosed reportage, Jay Rayner will blow conventional foodie wisdom apart. For here is the reality: within a few decades we will have nine billion mouths to feed, and we won’t be doing that by flogging free-range eggs from a stall in Borough market.

Jay explains why the doctrine of organic has been eclipsed by the need for sustainable intensification; and why the future lies in large-scale food production rather than the cottage industries that foodies often cheer for. From the the cornfields of Illinois to the killing lines of Yorkshire abattoirs, Rayner takes us on a journey that will change the way we shop, cook and eat forever. And give us a few belly laughs along the way.

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, Food and Drink, Science, Cooking, Biography, Politics

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2013

About the author

Jay Rayner is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster born in 1966.

Reviews

[Clare M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jay Rayner's mum (Claire) and dad used to frequent the haberdashery department of John Lewis, Oxford Street, which I used to visit to buy embroidery thread. I felt, therefore, I had some sort of homespun connection with the Rayners.

Well, that must have been with my namesake (with an 'i') only.

Disappointment pervaded my spirit when I read Rayner's treatise on solving the world's hunger problem: GM production, '60s style intensive farming.

His vision of agriculture lacks sufficient scientific and ecological analysis. It's based on economic tenets. Will Rayner reappraise his study when the food he gets served in fancy restaurants fails to tickle his palate? Or is it simply volume over quality?

Either way, he needs to go back to the drawing boards and write a reappraisal. Jay, old bean, you've got it wrong.

[Ugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read like someone took a decent book on the food industry and a decent food-based autobiography, ripped off the spines, threw away random clumps from both stacks and then interleaved what remained of both using a riffle shuffle.

I could just about tolerate Rayner's tendency to pad the text out with frequent not-so-brief self-berating asides and comedic exaggerations: he is a food critic after all - padding is what he does for a living. But the way he transitioned from convincingly fact-based and no-nonsense stuff about the food industry to lengthy autobiography almost at random simply became bizarre. I genuinely have no idea what a whole chapter about the deaths and illnesses of various family members had to do with the rest of the book, for example.

Could we have some sort of coherence next time, please?

[Marion Husband · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, a bit light on science, too much lazy condemning of fat, as all journalists do, always linking fat with junk food, yes, there is fat in junk food, but it's the carbohydrates that make humans fat, the only bad fat is trans fat. He writes that he lost weight by giving up carbs...this is said in one sentence and never referred to again. If so much land wasn't put aside for all the sugar beet and wheat for cakes, pasta and bread things might be better...eat less grains, people, more veg and eggs and yes, meat and dairy, but in sensible amounts. Don't blame meat for the obesity problem or resort to lazy cliches as this man sometimes does.

[Helbob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hybrid, Frankenstein book. Autobiographical, scathing comedy, serious reportage but difficult to work out the sum of its parts. Some important messages that got lost with wild swings and polarised arguments. I wish he wasn’t so sneery and just plain mean at times. Also probably a bit out of date. Sadly many of the issues addressed such as food security and global inequality in food supply are even more unstable. Good intentions….I think???

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published in 2013, and in many ways, the world has changed. Back then, Brexit didn't exist: now it's almost a fait accompli. Nor was the debate about climate change quite so centre stage.
However, much of what Rayner writes about concerning food imports, feeding an exploding world population and so on remains germane. He treats this extremely important subject with a light touch, leavening his writing with personal anecdotes which are in fact relevant to his argument. I don't agree with all his conclusions - I think the organic movement has much to teach us about sustainability and soil health for instance. But he has made me look again at the arguments round such topics as food miles. A thought provoking, interesting and entertaining read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book suffers somewhat having been written ten years ago - some of the facts are outdated in 2025 when I read it and much has changed in the food industry. However it is not completely irrelevant and is in many ways quite thought provoking. Told in the authors witty, slightly cynical style it certainly made me think more about the food I eat and the way it is delivered to me. I have read criticism by others, of the inclusion of personal asides and anecdotes in the book, but I felt they added a lighter touch and stopped it being a long list of facts and figures.

[Geraldine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most attractive aspect of this book is that he set out to show to us that there are very few clear cut arguments when it comes to the ethics of food. There's a great many over-earnest people I wish would read this book - be forced to, if that was possible.

Jay travelled to do his research and met with people who challenged his (or do I mean my?) preconceptions. It would have been fairly easy to write a lesser version of this book just from sitting behind a screen a trawling the internet.

I liked the way that he exploded some myths. For example, we all hold it to be true that supermarkets are utter evil and have destroyed society (or something like that). He illustrated how this is not really true. I remember the 70s when my Mother, who didn't go out to work, would go to the local Mace to get served by a man behind the counter. Mediocre quality cheese or ham. Tins and packets with limited choice. Variable quality and poor choice of fruit and veg from the greengrocers - actually we went to a farm for our veg, great for homegrown stuff. We'd drive up an unmade farm track, pitted with potholes, and be served in a shed that was freezing in winter. A really lovely family. Nowadays they have a fancy sign, for their Farm Shop. I expect their road is made up and the shed is no more! And I hope they are prospering.

I do try and shop at local independent shops, possibly some of the same as Jay Rayner does. But the supermarkets have introduced so much variety and choice, and, if you shop wisely, they are far more healthy than some of the junk we had to rely on way back when. The opening hours have killed a lot of small shops, I get that, but small shops were only open during weekdays and Saturday mornings. That doesn't suit everyone's working patterns - almost demands there to be a housewife.

I'm going off an a tangent. what I'm trying to say is that Jay Rayner has examined many aspects of the food industry and illustrates with well-written prose how it's simply not that straightforward. Some reviewers have complained that there's too much anecdotage in it. I actually really liked that aspect but I fully understand why that might not appeal to someone who likes their facts presented without padding. I guess if you're trying to do some serious research, it gets in the way. For me, it made it a pleasant book to read, mainly on aeroplane.

He looks at the flaws in the movement for local/seasonal (artisanally produced) fruit and veg. I've long been an advocate of flying green beans in from Kenya. Less energy used to fly them in than to produce them in glass houses in UK. Also, I remember Live8 when we advocated Trade not Aid.

I'd like to float about in a hippy skirt advocating extensive and organic farming. But I'm a relatively wealthy resident of a wealthy country. The world's population will rise to 9 billion in my lifetime. There is no reason for excuse for anyone to starve. As long as we don't rely on extensive, organic farming.

If you read this book you may find some of your sacred cows slaughtered. Literally, in my case. "I don't eat any products that involve the slaughter of animals, but I'm happy to eat eg dairy products"*. Jay informs me of all the male calves born to dairy herds that are slaughtered because they are surplus to requirements. So that I can drink milk, and eat cheese and yoghurt.

It's a good read. People studying the subject academically may find it a bit cosy/homespun and maybe overly simplistic. But it was an excellent read for me, the lay/leisure reader.

I found it moving where he discussed the death of his mother (national treasure Claire Rayner) and his mother-in-law. I envied the love that shone out from the pages. Not all families are like that.


* I also eat fish. Additionally, I overlook the use of animal rennet in cheese, it doesn't matter to me. But, you know, I'm telling a story here!

[Marge Rudman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Virtual Abattoir of Sacred Cows

Well, some are left standing. Rayner has written an engaging and thought provoking account of issues around food supply - carbon footprint, nutrition, economics. Some interesting and promising possible solutions are presented. This is an enjoyable read of a very serious subject. The author is so personable, it would be a delight to sit down to a meal with him.

[Chris Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems to me that for many people in the western world food philosophy has taken centre stage where 50 years ago it might have been a religious or political worldview. Food has become, if it hasn't always been, an emotional issue closely linked to how we feel about ourselves and who we think we are. It's probably just as difficult to be lectured on this as it was in the past on religion or politics and the urge to run out the door screaming is as strong when someone gets up on their soapbox about food and how it should be produced. A great tonic for this is Jay Rayner's book. Apart from being full of wonderful British putdowns such as "complete bollocks", this entertaining and humorous book, full of anecdote - but perhaps just a bit too much information about his mother, Claire, a well known British agony aunt - or more particularly about her clients - addresses the complexity of food production and the central issue of the world trying to feed nine billion people in the future.

Farmers will like his sympathy for their plight and for the fact that he sticks it up the supermarkets for what they pay their suppliers. But Rayner recognises that supermarkets and so-called industrial farming, however repellent to self-absorbed foodies, are not going to disappear from the landscape while we have so many mouths to feed. And that glasshouse production of the scale of Thanet Earth (www.thanetearth.com) while not the romantic picture of farming we will see printed on the produce packaging, is likely to become more common, along with, eventually perhaps, insect raising and growing in-vitro meat.

He argues for changes to ensure we continue to have the productive infrastructure to grow our own food in case the import tap is turned off, while admitting that it might indeed be more sustainable to grow the stuff in New Zealand. He also argues that all other types of farming and delivery to the market such as farmers' markets have their place (and indeed are embraced by Mr Rayner as a food lover because they offer him the high quality and taste which he is fortunate to be able to afford). However, ultimately we're going to need all varieties of farming, including GM, and a lot more of it, to feed the millions.

[Tom de Salis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well written and interesting book, it manages to balance the autobiographical sections with the more journalistic sections to create a satisfying whole, which is an in depth look into global food sustainability. It is, however, quite a short read (270 pages of large type) so don't expect it to last you very long.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jay Rayner may be telling us all the things we need to know in this book, pulling us up by our naive, emotionally stunted bootstraps. But he is arrogant, insulting and as a result incredibly irritating. I gave up before the end even though I was willing to listen to what he had to say at the start. Pompous.

[Mat Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part memoir, part manifesto, a thoroughly engaging book about food, food production which brilliantly debunks the nonsense spouted by some self appointed moral guardians. Excellent stuff

[Peter Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and informative. An essential read for those who care about food and the planet.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very thought provoking. Some parts talk about the unsavoury details of bringing our dinner to the table.

Very happy I read it.

[William Breen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended for those who eat food and care about our planet and the people who live on our planet. Entertaining and fairly well balanced reporting.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER: Before getting into this (hugely positive) review I should point out how much I like Jay Rayner. A great, big, hairy buccaneery-looking bloke who writers clearly, insightfully and with great humour, he also called me “a man of taste” when I briefly met him and praised his novel, The Apologist.

But even leaving aside my slightly fanboy-ish attitude, this is an excellent, wide-ranging book on a hugely important issue. It just so happens to have been written by someone with the wit and self-awareness to describe his career as a food writer as follows: “I swan around on somebody else's dime, licking the plate clean, trying not to order pork belly too often and writing smartarse things about it all.”

Usefully, he takes a look at the food industry from a number of viewpoints, ably demonstrating why supermarkets are both a fantastic innovation and inherently, ruinously evil. He discusses the snobbery attached to farmer's markets and scandalously poor quality of cheapo foods (a minced beef an onion pie that's 7% beef comes in for a good kicking).

Rayner also looks beyind the UK, offering some thoughts on the quality of Chinese restaurants in Rwanda, talks about the Chinese middle class' rapaciously growing appetite for meat and takes a trip to the US to write about industrial scale farming and to bash the market-distorting nonsense of biofuels.

Back in Britain, his description of modern day apple-growing, harvesting and storage, and why farmers are pushing towards a carbon-free business is fascinating. As is, in a very different way, his description of the time he spent working in an abattoir.

Of course he bashes veganism (he lasted five days on a vegan diet, I managed 60 hours) but at least acknowledges some kind of logical consistency, unlike that of cheese and dairy-scoffing vegetarians like me. He's right, I don't have a decent argument for it that doesn't fall apart under a few moments of scrutiny. Luckily, he barely mentions fish so my pescetarianism (an ever more ludicrous position, really) isn't challenged.

Rayner convincingly argues his case that small-scale, organic farming, and people growing their own food are only the answer if the question is 'what's the dumbest thing we can do about food security?' and he dismissively savages celebrity hobbit chef Anthony Worrall Thompson's 'instead of popping pills we should eat more organic food' approach as “that just tells you more about him than it does the food.”

Still, the book has its weaknesses. There's his ignoring of fish, for one thing. For another, there's a little too much about big, fat, young Jay and his teenage misadventures with drugs (not that it isn't interesting, it just feels out of place) and he misleadingly rips into Monsanto for suing farmers who plant last year's seeds without paying royalties as if this is a specifically Monsanto-ish bit of dodgy business. It's not. It's widespread in the industry.

However, he's even-handed in his approach to GMOs, offers some great solutions to supermarket food wastage and he writes movingly about the death of his mother (again, some of this feels somewhat out of place but is written with such love and skill that it's a sad sort of joy to read).

And, going back to his comments early in the book about his food writing, his epilogue description of Pizza Hut's cheeseburger-stuffed-crust pizza is worth quoting at length:

“An item so terrifying, so nightmarish, so clearly the product of a warped and twisted mind in matters edible, that I feel I have no choice but to try it... When I prise out one of the mini burgers, the greasy, insipid dough beneath looks like the white flesh of an open wound that's been hidden under a plaster. Do I need to tell you that the burger is a sweaty, grey orb of deathly protein? It is advertised as 100 per cent British beef, but origin is irrelevant after this has been done to it... As I bite down on the meat, hot salty water leaks into my mouth. There is the fat-soaked dough, the wretched insult of the cheese sputum, and a general air of desperation and regret.”

[Willow Rankin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this pretty quickly, and whilst I don't agree with everything Jay Rayner includes in his view point of food I did learn a few things.
I will caveat my review in I expected this book to be more of a deep dive into restaurant culture in the UK, as I know Jay as a restaurant critic. However, what I got was a well written part autobiography of Jay and his thought process (his beliefs and idiosyncrasies) and part analytical review of modern western diet and the way food is grown for our consumption.
Whilst the book is dated - having been previously published in the early 2010s with an updated appendix.
I did find that some of his arguments never really went anywhere and kinda delved into a topic without a thorough review of the facts, and a conclusion.
Overall, I wanted more from this book - than overpriced chicken and tales of his mum. If you are going to write about the climate and the affect of agriculture on the climate and what each of us can do about it, its probably worth removing emotions of apathy and some of the more irritating and grating and downright insulting comments to bring people along with you.

[Kimberly Eyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is too much Jay Rayner and his fast and loose style of writing contaminating this book. If he omitted his personality from his writing and everything autobiographical from the book, I might not have been as distracted from the factual underpinning of his argument. (The facts are the good part.) I am persuaded that 'sustainable intensification' must be the important consideration in the global debate about food - at times when reading this I was really frightened about my own future food security - but I haven't learned how it contextualizes with my own food consumption. Since Rayner's own persona is 'greedy bastard' and his book ends with a description of he and his family eating a £31 chicken it doesn't seem like he has either.

Nevertheless, there are some ideas and facts in this book I found interesting that I might want to reference again.

'According to the United Nations, by 2030 we will need to be producing 50 per cent more food, and a system built around the holy trinity of local, seasonal and organic simply won't cut it...According to Oxfam, between 1970 and 1990 global agriculture yield grew 2 per cent a year. Between 1990 and 2007 the yield growth dropped to 1 per cent.'

'[Sustainable intensification] is about the need to produce more food in as sustainable manner as possible.'

'The [supermarket] buyers drive such hard bargains, under such extraordinarily unfair terms, that British farming is being decimated...[T]he supermarkets would insist upon legally binding contracts that would tie producers int supplying them, but without a specified price. The supermarkets could, with little or no warning, simply reject a consignment of produce, insisting it did not hit quality thresholds.'

The welfare standards of animals raised in other countries, Denmark, for example, or the Netherlands imported to the UK and sold to British consumers are lower than those of British farmers.

'[The Chinese] are buying up huge plots of Africa, offering to build infrastructure in return for farming rights to vast tracks of land. The West, he said, was hooked to an aid model in Africa. Send them money. Send them skills. Teach them. It was an old-fashioned model built on the blood-stained guilt of a history of colonialism. The Chinese, meanwhile, were taking a totally different tack. Western governments might find many of many regimes in Africa too obnoxious, too repressive, too corrupt, too dysfunctional to trade with. Giving them handouts was more palatable. The Chinese meanwhile just don't care.'

'[No-till technology]:instead of ploughing up the field and grinding the remnants of each crop back into the ground, the surface is left undisturbed and the seeds are simply drilled into the earth. It vastly reduces the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere because the surface is not broken, preventing oxygen from speeding up microbial activity. As a result the organic matter from previous crops is not broken down within the soil. Water runoff and soil erosion are much lower and, more importantly for the farmers' costs - and for the environment - it requires up to 50 per cent less use of fertilizers.'

'A whole bunch of studies looked at the question and found that between 12 per cent and 75 per cent of the food price rises in 2006 - 8 were caused by the biofuels industry.'

''Big Ag Gag' bills [are] legislation which prohibits the photographing or documenting of abuses on farms without the owners' consent.'

'We have been storing apples in Britain since Roman times, the fruit piled into a space that's as airtight as possible so that the ripening fruit uses up the available oxygen until its all gone, ripening stops, and the fruit falls into a state of suspended animation. The methods used now are a little more sophisticated, though the principle is the same.'

Mansfield's is the biggest grower of apples in Britain.

'It is in the nature of farmers' markets that the produce they sell is biased towards the premium end of the market. Even on the very rare occasions when the prices charged for that organic chicken or those free-range eggs are slightly lower than those available in supermarkets, the exercise is still exclusive because there is little or no budget choice for shoppers with less money. The market traders, not unreasonably, guard their competitive advantage fiercely; generally they get guarantees from those running the market that theirs will be the only stall selling their kind of produce. Unlike in a standard street market, nobody is ever allowed to undercut anyone else on price. They are merely allowed to offer points of gastronomic difference.'

'The only way you can get some sense of the footprint of your food is by using what is called a Life Cycle Analysis, or LCA, which brings everything about the production of that item into play: the petrochemicals used in farming and in fertilizers, the energy to build tractors as well as run them, to erect farm buildings and fences, and all of that (and so much more) has to be measured against yield.'

Studies have put the the global carbon footprint of your food as a result of transportation at 2-4 per cent.

'In the short term British supermarkets must simply start paying their suppliers more. That will enable farmers to invest in agriculture so, in turn, our food self-sufficiency can start to rise again.' Supermarkets donating money for agricultural research is not a good enough substitute for this. 'Even a few million pounds' worth of research grants is nothing compared with paying farmers enough so they can actually stay in business and expand. And, of course, all of these research initiatives put the onus on the food producers to improve their efficiency so they can better cope with the moment when the retailers roundly screw them on the deal.'

[Flapper72 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Jay Rayner's writing. Yes, he's extremely opinionated but this was all very well researched and sourced. Things that you start reading and thinking, 'Don't be stupid, of course small scale, local farming is less environmentally damaging' yet by the time he's talked you through his reasoning it become, 'Oh OK. Maybe'. It makes you think. I'm not suggesting that you'll, necessarily, agree with everything he says but it's written in such a creative, informed way that it at least makes you realise that the way we source and grow our food is really not as black and white as some facets of the tree hugging media lead us to believe. In amongst that he's also very open about his upbringing and the importance of food within that and many of his overriding childhood memories.

[Susan Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bloody love Jay Rayner. Knew nothing of him until seeing a blurb about him in the itinerary for the Auckland Writers' Festival. I was intrigued so booked tickets and then the week prior heard Jay interviewed on National Programme. I was hooked. The evening on his 10 Food Commandments was excellent and changed some of the ways we eat at home (eating pasta with your hands is so much fun, and not just for the kids). This book has really made me think. Today I will be abandoning the local fruit and veg shop in favour of trying the supermarket's produce again. I also now have plenty of ammunition to stop my
Husband getting chickens. Thanks Jay (eek, was about to use an exclamation mark but know he hates them, or is that just in book titles?).

[Kym Hamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an exploration about food: The things we believe about food and whether these are true and false; the food industry and its relationship with retailers; and food's role in our well-being and that of the planet. Rayner talks openly about his life-long relationship with food and takes on investigating - and either proving or debunking - the big narratives. He achieves this to a degree (eat less meat get a big tick) but he also concludes that rather than the black and white messaging about good and bad, it is a more complex and circular argument we need to deal with. Interesting, informative and eye-opening reading.

[Norma · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Format : Audiobook )
"Sometimes gluttony is a virtue."

Part autobiography of the food critic, Jay Rayner, (who also narrates), and part look at the present distribution and sustainability of food resources around the world. Although already a decade old, the issues raised are still as, or more, pertinent than ever. Rayner has obviously researched some areas, others are direct observation or speculation but the whole is a fascinating view of the current and possible future times to come as a growing world population faces that ever present question - how to feed us all?

Nicely written and a fascinating read: highly recommended.

[Gem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to on Audible.

Rayner uses his usual dry wit and humour to guide us through the messy world of food economics across the globe. Alongside a few autobiographical anecdotes, he explains the need for large scale agriculture, the reasons that supermarkets are not evil but need to take more responsibility, and why we need to reduce (but not necessarily cut out) our meat consumption.

Whether you agree with him or not, his writing is entertaining and I learned a lot from it.

I enjoyed listening to his narration for the audiobook.

[Patrick Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the unapologetic style of the writing and the balance between science and autobiographical diversions. Jay Rayner doesn't proofs to have the answers and goes out of his way to avoid polarised arguments/views so I guess he'll equally upset both sides of the debate? Some sections had me laughing out loud, which was an unexpected achievement in a serious book. I think Jay could well be a bit "marmite" for some but I thought he got a lot of information across in a fairly non-judgemental manner whilst being amusing.

[Purnima · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a whole lot of information packed into this book and it still manages to be filled with ramblings which tend to make you feel it is a bit of a drag. In terms of research, it is more or less balanced though the opinions expressed may not be so. It has a lot of interesting ideas on food security, food miles and organic food, but there are also sections that you are left wondering as to why they are in there.

[Guy Clapperton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book to have your preconceptions challenges

Jay Rayner is one of the most thought provoking writers on food I've ever read - can apples from New Zealand really be more sustainable than those grown at home? But he's also a rattling good storyteller so reading it never falls into the dull-but-worthy trap. Entertaining, funny, sad and in places downright scary - if you care about food security, and we all should, this is a nust-read.

[KJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally I like to avoid surrounding myself with people who have the same thoughts and philosophies as me, preferring to push the boundaries a bit. However, I cannot deny that there is a very particular kind of pleasure to be found in reading a book in which the author is virtually repeating all the rants I have had about current thoughts on food and food production. Mr. Rayner, either you are a man of impeccable good sense and stratospheric intelligence - or we're both sadly misguided wazzocks!

Only time will tell, I suppose.

[Udaibir Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rayner writes about sustainability in food and rids of the common perceptions surrounding it. He touches on big supermarkets, buying local, GM foods, eating meat and gives a well researched perspective on each. The book is peppered with personal anecdotes and quips which makes it an intersting rwad for an otherwise dry topic.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and thought provoking read; certainly lots of food for thought on how we approach food and sustainability. Yes, it's part memoir, part story telling, part op-ed. It's JR's classic tongue in cheek style of writing.

[Deevena Jemima · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really interesting with Jay Rayner's writing style. A mixture of sarcasm, humor, informative bits..This wasn't a book that I read in one go though..it took me quite some time...lot of research information too. I liked that very much.