Food is the one thing none of us can do without. Fortunately very few of us in the developed world ever have to. Yet strangely, in these times of plenty, food is talked about more and more. In the past, most people had very little choice over what they ate. Nowadays, we are genuinely spoiled for choice. Supermarkets provide a year-round cornucopia of foodstuffs from all over the world. Restaurants serve a bewildering variety of cuisines. TV chefs entertain us with a host of different dishes that we could make if we put our minds to it.
It seems as if, as the choice grows, we begin to question more and more if we are making the right choice. Maybe we should avoid food containing trans-fats because it’s bad for our health? Maybe we should eat berries because they are rich in anti-oxidants that slow ageing? Maybe we should buy organic because it’s good for the environment? Sometimes we even wonder if we should eat food at all, because it could be contaminated by bacteria that cause food poisoning or additives that cause cancer.
Faced with such a dilemma, you could, of course, simply give up and eat whatever you fancy on a day-to-day basis, and damn the consequences. But our choices do have consequences, not just for us and our health, but for the health of the world, too. The aim of this book is to arm you with 101 facts about food that will help you make an informed choice.
