Waste

Tristram Stuart's second book is an informative and energetic investigation of the global food crisis.

At the heart of this study is the startling paradox that whilst in the developing world, nearly one billion people go hungry, farmers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers in affluent nations discard up to half their food. Yet Waste is not simply a didactic, moral lesson about the perils of profligacy, but also an engaging read, exploring everything from foraging pigs to freeganism, sushi restaurants to pie factories, travelling from Cornwall to China and beyond.

Bringing together anecdotal evidence with rigorous analysis of the statistics, and quoting everyone from Hippocrates and Locke to Bunk Moreland from The Wire along the way, Stuart offers us both horrifying examples of the wastefulness of our food industry, and innovative suggestions of how we might better make the most of what we have.

This powerful investigation concludes with an inspiring call to arms to readers, urging them to take steps to address the urgent need to reduce our food waste, and to help work towards the creation of what Stuart terms 'Utrophia' - a future land of good eating.