Photo Credit: Andrea Scher in Berkeley, California.
Today I am thrilled to announce the launch of my book The Good Eater: A Vegan’s Search for the Future of Food! Read an excerpt on Habitus.
This book is the culmination of a decade-long journey that began while I was a graduate student at Harvard University. For my thesis, I conducted a rigorous ethnographic study of the emerging vegan lifestyle movement around the world, including in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. All told, I conducted five years of fieldwork in three languages and interviewed over 150 entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, activists, doctors, and influencers at the forefront of this growing movement.
Inspired by my research, I decided to write a book that asks a seemingly simple question: Is there a truly ethical way to eat? What I initially expected to be a straightforward question turned out to be as complicated as the food system itself. At the outset of the book, I had been a die-hard vegan on a mission to convince others of my perspective, yet one who came to the topic from the perch of a rigorous academic. At the end, I came to see that trade-offs are inherent in any “future of food” we envision, and that there are no “silver bullet” solutions. What we need instead is a deep cultural shift that puts real plant foods back at the center of our plates.
I open the book by tracing the lineage of veganism and vegetarianism from antiquity to the present, through iconic figures like Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, Leo Tolstoy, and Mahatma Gandhi. These origins set the table for present-day tensions in the animal rights movement and the dawn of the “alternative protein” industry. Taking the reader behind the scenes at prominent Silicon Valley startups, I explore both the promise and perils of plant-based and cell-cultured “meat”, and the motivations of the “Vegan Mafia” funding the entire enterprise.
Next, I take a look at veganism from the vantage point of its critics, including those who advocate for regenerative agriculture and grass-fed beef, whom I met when I joined the Sustainable Food Initiative at the University of California, Berkeley. I interview one of my mentors, celebrated author Michael Pollan, about how his thinking has evolved since he famously advised Americans to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” I then take the reader on a field-trip to a vegan regenerative farm in Maryland and learn just how hard it is to grow organic vegetables in a sea of conventional agriculture.
Next, I look at the groundbreaking work on the impact of a whole foods plant-based diet on health, including chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s. I show how chefs elevated vegetables from a hempy puritanism into a chic lifestyle (a strange twist on historically humble vegetarian diets) and then trace the often ignored radical history of plant-based eating as a form of liberation in the African diaspora, including its history in the Civil Rights movement. I end the book with a look back at the culinary legacy of plant-based eating around the world (while making tofu with a tofu master), showing how plants, not animals, have always been at the cornerstone of every world cuisine.
Ultimately, The Good Eater is a deeply researched and, it turned out, deeply personal account of why intentional eating matters. “Eating is an agricultural act,” wrote the novelist, poet, and farmer Wendell Berry. But eating is also a political, social, economic, and even a spiritual act, as it’s the most profound and intimate relationship we can have with our own bodies, the Earth, and with the other beings we share it with (both human and non-human). If we’re lucky enough to eat three times a day, then we can make a choice not only about what kind of food chain to be a part of, but the kind of world we want to live in. I hope this book sparks meaningful conversations and inspires readers to become good eaters in search of a more nourishing, just, and equitable future of food.
Order The Good Eater today, please leave a review, and spread the word!
Upcoming Events
Tuesday April 16th (TONIGHT!) in San Francisco
Book Launch Party at Manny’s 👉 Sign up here.
Tuesday April 23rd in Berkeley
In conversation with Naomi Starkman of Civil Eats at Books Inc 👉 Sign up here.
Thursday October 10th in Cambridge
In conversation with Michael Pollan at the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge. More info TBA!
Praise for The Good Eater
“The Good Eater reminds us that what we eat plays a definitive role not only in our physical, but also our emotional and even spiritual well-being.” — John Mackey, cofounder and retired CEO of Whole Foods Market
“A vegan sociologist’s remarkably open-minded exploration of the historical, ethical, health, environmental, and social justice implications of not eating meat. Guilbeault’s extensive research and interviews get right into the tough questions about this movement, leaving us free to choose for ourselves whether to eat this way.” —Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, emerita, New York University, and author of Food Politics
“Nina Guilbeault is the consummate guide to modern veganism. With grace and rigor, she presents a compelling case for a more conscious and sustainable way to answer the question of what might be for dinner tomorrow.” —Raj Patel, coauthor of Inflamed
“Guilbeault’s clear and relatable writing style makes these complex topics easy to digest and enjoyable to read.” —Melanie Joy, PhD, author of Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows
“Nina Guilbeault is a broadminded, whip-smart guide to some of the thorniest ethical problems involved in eating of any kind. The Good Eater is guaranteed to force reflection no matter how you fill your plate—even for those of us who will always keep a corner of it reserved for (grassfed) steak.” —Benjamin Lorr, author of The Secret Life of Groceries
“A groundbreaking deep dive into the obstacles we face in creating a future food system that is both moral and sustainable—for animals, for the planet, and for the hungry humans who inhabit it.” —Nisha Vora, creator of Rainbow Plant Life
“I am grateful for this book that dares to stop and question some of the most popular assumptions and solutions in the vegan food space. It’s critical we examine new approaches from every angle so we don’t repeat the mistakes of history. The Good Eater is a start to reflecting deeper on how we can participate in ‘making history’ more effectively.” —Miyoko Schinner, entrepreneur, innovator, and author of The Homemade Vegan Pantry
I am very grateful to my agent at Brockman Inc., Margo Beth Fleming, my literary team at Bloomsbury, including my editors Ben Hyman and Morgan Jones, as well as Lauren Ollerhead, Lauren Moseley, Akshaya Iyer, and Marie Coolman. I am deeply grateful to my brilliant mentors at Harvard University, Michèle Lamont and Bart Bonikowski, and Vanina Leschziner at the University of Toronto, who inspired and supported my intellectual trajectory. I am grateful to those featured in the book, to my family and friends, and most of all, my readers.
So excited to read!