I’m cheating a bit today for this blog and using a review I wrote about five years ago for a friend of mine, who also happens to be an astonishingly fabulous cook and food writer. I met Vanessa in 2013 at a food photography workshop she was running at her home in Northampton.  I had been searching online for such a course for a while without any success and then one day suddenly her course popped up.  I couldn’t believe it, I was so excited. It was wonderful to meet Vanessa, who is so passionate about teaching her craft and is the most superb company. I don’t think Vanessa will mind me saying that I feel we hit it off pretty much straight away!  After that day, which I will share with you in future posts, I went back a few more times and have found Vanessa’s expertise and welcome to be a wonderful blessing. I’ve lost regular contact with her over the last few years and I think it’s time I went back!

This review was for Amazon and you can still find it on there today. Please do look into getting a copy of this book – apart from being very enlightening and helpful if you are serious about eating and living more sustainably, it’s exquisitely styled, photographed and put together.  I will return with more details on the food stylists and photographers soon, as well as some more about Vanessa herself who such an interesting life story and experience to tell.

Please find my Amazon Review for Food For Thought below.

 

‘One of the most superbly written and beautiful cookbooks I have ever come across!

‘I absolutely LOVE this book and I need a thousand copies to give to everyone I know!
Being interested in eating and cooking sustainably and ethically, I pre-ordered it; not least because the cover was so luscious, unlike so many books on sustainable living, which can look a little lack lustre and spartan. When it arrived I was literally blown away. For a start, the titles Vanessa has given her recipes are amazing; 

With names like ‘No Child Slavery Flourless Chocolate and Orange Brownies’, ‘Pork with Provenance Chinese-Style Dumplings’ & my favourite, ‘Rubber Gloves Nettle Soup’.
Each recipe is accompanied by an account for why it has ethical integrity, in some cases an explanation of the implications for choosing the non-ethical variety and also a wonderful insight into Vanessa’s culinary journey as a food-writer, trained chef, wife, mother, ethical eating enthusiast & pioneer.
I haven’t had a chance to try the recipes yet, but I have Vanessa’s other book Prepped and the recipes I have tried from there have been excellently sumptuous and trustworthy.
What strikes me about Food for Thought, is it’s so superbly written and winsome and has such exquisite photography, that it is the kind of book that would appeal to all kinds of people. Including those who are seriously lacking in food provenance de riguer or just plain clueless. A great and classy way to gently make friends and family aware of the issues at hand.
As Vanessa says “Love should be about cherishing what matters” and Food for Thought shows you how to do that.