Get your teeth into May’s book of the month

Ever chomped down on a burger or a donut and felt a little bit guilty… and then a little bit mad that you, a grown adult, feel guilty? Ever looked at a plate of healthy, local food and wondered why it feels so uninspiring? If so, you may be ready for a taste of our latest book’s provocative position.

I’m pleased to say that Feed the People!: Why Industrial Food Is Good and How to Make It Better by Jan Dutkiewicz and Gabriel N. Rosenberg is May’s Curious Reading Club book of the month.

Released this past February from Basic Books, Feed the People! points out that our modern food system embodies two serious contradictions.

First, is that it is deeply imperfect—environmentally unsound, cruel and often wildly unhealthy.

Second is that it is an incredibly wonderful machine capable of delivering tasty and interesting meals to millions (or billions) of people every single day.

But, Dutkiewicz and Rosenberg ask, are there ways to improve one side of the equation without losing the other?

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To answer that, they challenge the dogma about food that has captured the popular imagination over the last generation, and have fun along the way. They’re both academics, but this is an engaging read that tries to work out how we square a seemingly impossible circle—and remember what’s so good about the food we love. Like last month’s book, this is about systems. But it’s a different system, and a different approach, and while I didn’t agree with everything in it, the result felt like a refreshing blast amid a generation-long menu of worthy foodie books urging us to eat local and (ultimately) boring. 

The Wall Street Journal says it is “a worthwhile corrective” while George Monbiot says it is “a powerful and essential riposte to the reactionary nostalgia that blights the public discussion of food.”

Those are not two opinions that usually agree, but there’s a reason they come together on this book.

I’m excited to say we’ll be talking live with Jan and Gabriel later this month, so keep your eyes out for an announcement about that. In the meantime, books are on their way to club members right now.

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Feed the People! is available now for anyone who signs up to Curious Reading Club before May 20. It’s part of our Explorer strand—6 books per year that are specifically focused on society, history, and big ideas—but you can also join via our classic one-book-per-month package, paying either monthly or annually.