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Jenny Hill

You Are What You Eat (and How You Eat)

Book review: How to Be a Conscious Eater: Making Food Choices That Are Good for You, Others, and the Planet by Sophie Egan, 2020, Workman Publishing

Navy blue book cover with food symbols

This book might be for you if you’ve ever been confused by issues like: 


  • Can almonds (and almond milk, almond butter, etc) be a good thing to eat when we are told it takes so many resources to grow them? (Almost a full gallon of water to produce ONE almond I learned from this book)


  • How can I get motivated to drink more water when the tap water tastes funny but I can’t afford/abide by bottled water? 


  • Everyone says fruit is healthy, but it’s high in sugar…and everyone also knows too much sugar is bad.


This handy guide, published in 2020, won me over right away by acknowledging there are a bewildering number of decisions to make when it comes to choosing what to eat. It reads quickly, despite being over 250 pages long, thanks in part to Egan's conversational, pithy writing style and useful charts, lists, and graphics.


Egan describes herself as “working in the intersecting fields of American food culture and sustainable food systems, human health and social behavior.” Some of her roles include consultant with The Culinary Institute of America, leading initiatives with major US food service companies to make their menus healthier and better for the environment. She is also a writer for the New York Times’ Well section. Her first book, Devoured: How What We Eat Defines Who We Are was published in 2016. 


In the introduction to How to Be a Conscious Eater, Egan asserts “This guide is radically practical in the sense that being practical about eating is now more radical than following any number of super-restrictive diet regimens that historically would have been seen as radical.” (ix) 


In explaining her assertion, Egan cites the statistics that in 2019 the percentage of American adults following a specific diet was 38 percent. Egan feels the popularity of things like Whole 30, keto, paleo, gluten-free and things like intermittent fasting are all examples of people’s willingness to follow a bandwagon. “What if we could all jump on a sane bandwagon instead?” she asks 


The rest of the book, peppered with clear descriptions, data and infographics, gives details on what that sane bandwagon should look like.


The book has four main sections

  1. Stuff that comes from the ground

  2. Stuff that comes from animals

  3. Stuff that comes from factories

  4. Stuff made in restaurant kitchens


The first section, Stuff that comes from the ground, gets top billing because it often delivers the highest nutrition with the least environmental cost. “The Best Produce Is the Kind You Eat” is the title of chapter 3. This chapter, complete on a single page, has a simple message. “Of all the things...eating more fruits and vegetables is far and away one of the best. It’s that simple.” In her economic prose, Egan acknowledges that five servings of fruits and vegetables per day may seem daunting, and then provides a super-helpful graphic of what constitutes a serving:

Graphic on yellow background showing objects equivalent to serving sizes of fruit, frozen fruit, leafy vegetables or canned vegetables

Throughout the other sections, Egan tours us through fascinating territory like Processed Meat and Cancer, Processed Foods: Not All Bad, The Case for Calorie Labeling 


Another favorite point with an excellent illustration was in the final section, Stuff made in restaurants, centers around food waste that could be avoided by reversing the trends of increased portion sizes.


Did you know, for example, between 1982 and 2002, the estimated portion size doubled for a basic bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, tripled for a soda, and quintupled for a chocolate chip cookie.


Graphic on yellow background showing average size of cookie and pop in 1982 and 2002

Each of the main sections listed above wraps up with 5 takeaways. If you had to speed-read the book, you could do much worse than absorbing those 20 points which include both practical tips (“In the face of seedy practices–treating animals and workers inhumanely, fishing illegally, adulterating premium products–don’t get mad, get even. Vote with your grocery basket.”) and philosophical ponderings (“When it comes to calories, both quantity and quality matters–for both human and environmental well-being.”)


As a former librarian, my heart is warmed by non-fiction books that include an extensive index and glossary, which this one does. Last, but certainly not least, Egan shares ten sources (and their websites) she recommends consulting for other questions that come up.


OK–now for the big reveal


  • Can almonds (and almond milk, almond butter, etc) be a good thing to eat when we are told it takes so many resources to grow them? (Almost a full gallon of water to produce ONE almond I learned from this book) Egan follows up by pointing out that almond milk still uses less water than milk from cows. She suggests asking the following question when comparing benefits or detriments of a food: “As opposed to what?” I would further add: "What is your priority? Maximum nutrition? Least dollar cost? Most eco-friendly?"


  • How can I get motivated to drink more water when the tap water tastes funny but I can’t afford/abide by bottled water? According to the Food & Water Watch report, Egan writes, tap water gets more rigorous safety testing than bottled water. She cites the 4 main benefits of tap water: It’s free, it’s safe, it’s better for the planet; it provides you with fluoride (depending on your location).


  • Everyone says fruit is healthy, but it’s high in sugar…and everyone also knows too much sugar is bad. After a brief explanation of fructose, the form of sugar in fruit, Egan writes: “Sugar eaten in fruit has not been tied to negative health outcomes.” Instead, she points out “higher fruit intake has been linked to lower body weight and reduced risk of obesity-related illness.” And then goes on to explain why.


More than just food for thought, this is a book that can nourish your ability to make food choices that are good for personal health as well as the planet.


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