Joanna Blythman

Review of the many ways processed food can apparently kill us or at least make us sick enough to wish for death. By a British food journalist, it covers manufacturing of processed foods where even the producers do not think of their product as food. Chemicals used in production are not listed in ingredient listings but can leave a residue at a supposedly safe level. But what about that trace amount times the gallons of soda I have drank in my life? Books like this just (helpfully) ruin my love of junk food… (mais)

Audiobook for me, although I have the paperback version too, and I'm glad I got that too!
This is not a book that could be easily read in one go, as it is more like one you want to check out a specific food. As an Italian who was brought up in a household where everything was cooked from scratch, it is a no brainer to me that the less processed food we eat, the better it is for everyone. Still, after living for many years abroad, it is easy to lapse at times, and purchase processed rubbish, just because it is readily available in the supermarkets, or because I'm travelling and need to rely on the display in the shops. When I was younger and living in Italy, if I wasn't at home and was hungry, I could always walk into a shop that sold a bit of everything: food, packed pasta, soap, laundry powder, bread, cheeses, and cold cured meats. The lady or man behind the counter would prepare bread rolls filled with your choice of cured meat/salami/ham or cheese, or both, wrap it in a piece of oiled paper and you were set. No water in bottles to be bought, but the city was full of small fountains where one could drink from.
While that particular shop near my home is no longer there, you can still order a roll to take with you in many italian Delicatessen shops. The difference between them and, let's say, a Subway, is that they use real bread and proper cheeses/meats.
Anyway, the book gives not just the time of the year when one should buy a certain produce (which, obviously, will be the time the item is in season) but also their environmental qualities, and gives ideas to those who are not familiar with them on how to cook or prepare them.
Thumbs up for me!… (mais)