Avocado Anxiety and Other Food Stories

The food stories behind your favourite fruits and vegetables.

Have you ever wondered who picked your Fairtrade banana? Or why we can buy British strawberries in April? How far do you think your green beans travelled to get to your plate? And where do all the wonky carrots go? Above all, how do we stop worrying about our food choices and start making decisions that make a difference?

In an effort to make sense of the complex food system we are all part of, Louise Gray decides to track the stories of our five-a-day from farm to fruit bowl, and discover the impact that growing fruits and vegetables has on the planet.

Through visits to farms, interviews with scientists and trying to grow her own, she digs up the dirt behind organic potatoes, greenhouse tomatoes and a glut of courgettes.

In each chapter, Louise answers a question about a familiar item in our shopping basket. Is plant protein as good as meat? Is foraged food more nutritious? Could bees be the answer to using fewer chemicals? How do we save genetic diversity in our apples? Are digital apps the key to reducing food waste? Is gardening good for mental health? And is the symbol of clean eating, the avocado, fuelling the climate crisis?

As pressure grows via social media to post pictures of food that ticks all the boxes in terms of health and the environment, these food stories from the author of the award-winning The Ethical Carnivore are also a personal story of motherhood and the realisation that nothing is ever perfect.

Louise Gray is a freelance writer based in Scotland. She trained with The Press Association and was a staff writer for The Scotsman. She covered UN climate change talks, GM foods and the badger cull during five years as the Environment Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph. Louise specialises in writing about food, farming and climate change. She has written for The Sunday Times, Scottish Field, the Guardian and The Spectator, among others. She has also appeared on BBC television and radio.

Louise is passionate about environmental issues, increasingly focusing on how individuals can make a difference through the choices they make, such as the food we eat. Her first book, The Ethical Carnivore, won best Food Book and Best Investigative Work at the Guild of Food Writers Awards and was shortlisted for the Fortnum and Mason Food Book of the Year.

@loubgray / louisebgray.com