This event has now finished.
  • Date and time: Sunday 11 June 2023, 4pm to 5pm
  • Location: In-person only
    Ron Cooke Hub, Campus East, University of York (Map)
  • Admission: Free admission, booking required

Event details

Have you ever wondered who picked your Fairtrade banana? Or why we can buy British strawberries in April? How far do you think your green beans travelled to get to your plate? And where do all the wonky carrots go? Above all, how do we stop worrying about our food choices and start making decisions that make a difference?

In an effort to make sense of the complex food system we are all part of, environmental writer Louise Gray tracked the stories of our five-a-day, from farm to fruit bowl, discovering the impact that growing fruits and vegetables has on the planet.

Through visits to farms, interviews with scientists and trying to grow her own, she has dug up the dirt behind organic potatoes, greenhouse tomatoes and a glut of courgettes.

As pressure grows via social media to post pictures of food that ticks all the boxes in terms of health and the environment, these food stories from the author of the award-winning The Ethical Carnivore are also a personal story of motherhood and the realisation that nothing is ever perfect.

Book sales

You can buy copies of many of our speakers’ books from Fox Lane Books, a local independent bookseller and Festival partner. In some cases, author signed bookplates are available too. 

About the speaker

Louise Gray is a freelance environmental writer. She spent five years as a writer at The Daily Telegraph and has also worked for the BBC, the Guardian, The Sunday Times, Country Life, The Spectator and Scottish Field. She is the author of the award-winning book The Ethical Carnivore, which discusses the ethics of meat by only eating animals she has killed herself.

Connect with Louise online:

Louise’s Twitter

Louise’s Instagram

Partners

University of York

Venue details

  • Wheelchair accessible