Customer Reviews

Eat Where You Live: How to Find and Enjoy Fantastic Local and Sustainable Food No Matter Where You Live

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"Eat Where You Live" is a light-hearted how-to book on local and sustainable food. Its target audience is people with little to no experience with local food but who are interested in eating more sustainably. With chapters on shopping, gardening, foraging, food preservation, slow food, sharing, and seasonal eating, the diminutive book is chock full of hints in bulleted lists along with a glossary, lots of web links and other resources. The book has suggestions for how to get started without going to such extremes that one is tempted to give up. Overall, Eat Where You Live has lots of helpful ideas, and I think it would be a good resource for the target audience.

At the same time, however, I think the book would have benefited from additional discussion of two topics. First, it is unfortunate that canning was dismissed as too time consuming and involved for "the average person," perhaps discouraging some readers. Admittedly I took a class through the cooperative extension program at a local university before I felt comfortable canning smoked salmon in a pressure cooker, but I've been making (and canning) jam most of my life and canning rhubarb saves room in my freezer for other things. If the author is not comfortable with canning herself, she could have at least mention a few resources for folks who might want to try or include an "Ask the Expert" page on canning.

Second, the author's goal of helping people to "find and enjoy local and sustainable food no matter where you live" would have benefited from additional discussion on produce beyond the standard American fare. In some parts of the country, it is possible to grow just about anything. But in other places, the heat or the cold or the rain or the drought limit what can be grown. So it is helpful to think about strategies for adapting to what can be grown locally, including trying new vegetables. A few recipes for less common vegetables or suggestions about finding such recipes might have been more helpful than a recipe for hot chocolate.

This is one of the most practical guides to sustainable, delicious, healthy eating I have found.

(Disclaimer: I know Lou Bendrick, but we rarely agree on anything and I am hyper-critical, so she will be shocked if she sees this review)

This book contains really USEFUL, and some times humorous, information and good recipe ideas, too. Ok, I will try the beet sandwich really soon.

Lou Bendrick understands the locavore-persona and doles it out in down to earth sections in Eat Where You Live. This book not only made me hungry (for some good, healthy food) but also got my noggin's gears turning. Eat Where You Live, is more than helpful with its lighthearted and funny text which explains that there is more to the frozen food isle at the supermarket and actually there is more to food than supermarkets in general!
Most Americans have lost the food-land connection. Bendrick provides the insight of her experience in gathering what food she can as close to home as possible, depending on the seasons and the landscape.
I read the book over a few days but will likely use it as a reference for certain sections again and again. There are tons of web sites listed throughout for further exploration as well as recipes and little interviews with inspirational sustainable gardeners, farmers and eaters. I especially savored the section on foraging and taking meals at a slower pace. We could all slow down a little. Slow down, and start by reading about how your diet can become more sustainable and more enjoyable.

This was a great book. Very informative for the beginning organic/sustainable foodie (which is what I am). Couples very well with other books of its nature: Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
A great resource with many many many websites for locating your own local food.
A very good buy, kind of like the preemptor to hardcore organic eating.

Importing from far away can take its toll on the planet, with all of the emissions cars and planes leave behind. "Eat Where You Live; How to Find and Enjoy Local and Sustainable Food No Matter Where You Live" is a guide to finding truly fresh food, since even the freshest import has been chilled and kept before days before it hits one's personal refrigerator. With advice on tips on finding locally and naturally grown food, it offers a humorous guide to finding the best food one can buy and support your local farms. "Eat Where You Live" is a fine manual, a must for those looking to eat healthier and fresher.

Eat Where You Live is a great resource book. It's full of resources I would have never thought of. A good introduction to sustainable eating practices. A good place to start if you are looking to integrate sustainable eating or local eating into your diet. Made me want grow a garden in my apartment and throw on an apron.

Lou Bendrick has finally given voice to those of us who want to be more proactive when it comes to being "green" and made it easier for big city gals like me to do that. Her fun and witty repartee makes this an easy read. She makes me feel like I'm in her kitchen with her and the family. Set a place for me at the table!

A really great book and guide for eating healthy, locally-grown foods regardless of where you live. An interesting, funny and positive approach to eating locally!

Had an amazing time reading this book and I know that you will also! It is important to spread the word about reducing your carbon footprint. This book does a great job on giving detail to eating the healthiest food for yourself and for your family. An easy to read, and very funny book.

Eat Where You live focuses on finding local food in your area, and effectively harvesting and enjoying the fruits native to your geographic region. This book offers many great tips on how and where to find local food, as well as tips on growing your own food, and many great resources on sustainable food. This book would be a great fit for those who consider themselves to be a novice green person and want to learn more about sustainable food in their area. Overall very informative and a good read.

"Eat Where you live: How to Find and Enjoy Local and Sustainable Food No Matter Where you Live" by Lou Bendrick is a relatively casual how-to book on local and sustainable food. This book contains chapters ranging from topics such as food preservation to seasonal eating and is overflowing with all sorts of other resources regarding this topic. I personally think that this was not only an easy read, but it was informative as well. It has all sorts of helpful ideas and it definitely seems to be a useful resource for anyone seeking more information or just a little help with this topic... I recommend it.