Mission: Explore Food
This is the latest offering by the self proclaimed group of ‘Guerrilla Geographers’ – a collective of activists, teachers, therapists, academics and artists who want to inspire young people to be more curious about the world around them. Unlike previous books from this group this is not a pocket guide. In fact at 270 pages it is less of a field guide and more of an atlas.
In some ways this works; in others it doesn’t.
On the plus side the book takes a holistic view at the human food cycle from the sprouting of the seed to the flushing of the toilet. It mercifully ditches the kind of food and organic ‘porn’ photos in similar books or quirky illustrations by Tom Morgan-Jones.
Each chapter is divided into ‘missions’ and challenges – 159 in all covering a spectrum from growing your own food and nose to tail eating, to making ginger beer or soft cheese, to making a ‘food map’ of your neighbourhood, building a compost heap and using up leftovers. The emphasis is on encouraging learning by doing and on getting kids outdoors and the meta-message is sustainability and sensible use of resources.
If there is a downside it’s that there’s almost too much to take in. It’s not hard to imagine a young person (or even an older person), who may not even know that butter come from cows – fewer than half of all young adults, according to the latest survey – being a bit overwhelmed an unsure of where to start.
In this respect a little less self-conscious hipness and a little more curation on the subject might help young readers on their journey of discovery. That curation may be best applied by an involved parent or teacher and in particular this book would make a really outstanding teaching aid. Every classroom should have one.
Mission: Explore Food
The Geography Collective with City Farmers
Can of Worms Kids Press
Hardback
£20
- This review appeared in Geographical magazine circa November 2012.
