Eat the Planet Well: How to fix our toxic food system – one meal at a time

by Dave Goulson

How can we eat well without harming the planet?


The way we produce food today is damaging people and nature alike. Intensive farming, pesticide-heavy crops and ultra-processed foods are bad for our health and for the environment.

But there is real cause for hope. From supporting more sustainable farming to wasting less and rethinking what we eat, Dave Goulson shows that positive change is possible — and that everyday choices really do matter.

Clear, practical and optimistic, Eat the Planet Well cuts through confusion to help us navigate the decisions we face every day, and points the way towards a healthier future.

Genres: Nonfiction

328 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 14, 2026

About the author

After a childhood chasing butterflies and collecting bird’s eggs, I studied Biology at Oxford University, and then did a PhD on butterfly ecology at Oxford Brookes University. Shortly afterwards I got a lectureship at University of Southampton, where I stayed for 11 years. It was there that I began to specialize in bumblebee ecology and conservation. In 2006 I became Professor of Biology and Stirling University. In 2006 I also founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a charity devoted to reversing bumblebee declines. In 2013 I moved to Sussex University.

I have published over 200 scientific articles on the ecology of bees and other insects, and am author of Bumblebees: Behaviour, Ecology and Conservation (2010, Oxford University Press) and A Sting in the Tale (2013, Jonathan Cape), a popular science book about bumblebees. A Buzz in the Meadow (Jonathon Cape) is due to be published in September 2014.

I am a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 2010 I was BBSRC "Social Innovator of the Year" and in 2013 I won the Marsh Award for Conservation Biology from the Zoological Society of London.

Reviews

[Tanja Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two initial thoughts:
- Dave Goulson is one of my favorite authors and he has taught me so much about the life and creatures in my garden.
- As for the future of the planet, we're screwed.

This book is a departure from Goulson's insect insights, but a natural follow up to his last book "Silent Earth: Averting the insect apocalypse". Just as we are not doing that, we seem unable to save the planet from ourselves as well.

I grew up in norther Thailand in the 1980's. One of my favorite activities with my father was chasing tookay geckos that were also around the outside lights at night. They were there because there were always swarms of insects flocking around the lights. The insects and tookays were still around when I came back in 2000. They were mostly gone when I was back in 2016. During my visit in November 2025, I did not see a single tookay and heard only one. The swarms of insects are also gone. Not just from Chiangmai, but also from Mae Sariang and Doi Inthanon. We're dismantling the fabric of life in my own life time. I am alarmed.

That said, I don't know we're going to eat the planet well even if Goulson tries to describe how. We need so much fossil fuels to provide for us, in terms of plowing, harvesting but also artificial fertilizer. That's not to speak of the land needed and the methane produced by cows. What we need is fewer humans and it seems that the strong downward trend in most of the world except Africa, is viewed with alarm by our politicians. It will eventually mean smaller populations and shrinking economies. But maybe it is actually a good thing? Maybe the planet can actually support a smaller human population. However, time is running out.

If you want to learn about how to reduce your environmental footprint by eating the right food, then this is a great book. I don't agree with everything Goulson says here, and not all of it is good nutritional advise - but most of it is.

[James King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this. For such a complex and overwhelming topic, it's so clearly laid out with very strong evidence based arguments and clearly a care shown for the realities of every day life.