A definitive exploration of how we grow, make, buy and eat our food around the world, and a guide to building a food system fit for the 21st century, from the Sunday Times-bestselling author of How the World Thinks.

How we live is shaped by how we eat. You can see this in the vastly different approaches to growing, preparing and eating food around the world, such as the hunter-gatherer Hadza in Tanzania whose sustainable lifestyle is under threat in a crowded planet, or Western societies whose food is farmed or bred in vast intensive enterprises. And most of us now rely on a complex global food web of production, distribution, consumption and disposal, which is now contending with unprecedented challenges. The need for a better understanding of how we feed ourselves has never been more urgent. In this wide-ranging and definitive book, philosopher Julian Baggini expertly delves into the best and worst food practises in a huge array of different societies, past and present. His exploration takes him from cutting-edge technologies, such as new farming methods, cultured meat, GM and astronaut food, to the ethics and health of ultra processed food and aquaculture, as he takes a forensic look at the effectiveness of our food governance, the difficulties of food wastage and the effects of commodification. Extracting essential principles to guide how we eat in the future, How the World Eats advocates for a pluralistic, humane, resourceful and equitable global food philosophy, so we can build a food system fit for the twenty-first century and beyond.

"Debunks myths aplenty... Baggini's arguments are both readable and reasonable, which should find common ground across the food industry, whether you are a committed vegan or part-owner of a meat processing plant" - Irish Times

"With insights gained during interviews with food producers, activists, and academics, Baggini develops a food philosophy that seeks to understand how we feed ourselves and identify principles to help us repair our broken food world" - Arts Quarterly

"Profoundly important, informative and rigorously analytical... Baggini's canvas is worldwide, his approach forensic... balanced and meticulous... Jaw-dropping... It's an exciting display of joined-up thinking" - TLS