• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
The Flexitarian
  • Recipes
    • Recipes by Course
    • Recipes by Ingredient
    • Recipe Collections
    • RECIPES BY DIET
    • Seasonal Food
  • Shopping List
  • MY BOOK
    • My Cookbook: Less Meat, More Plants
    • DOWNLOAD a FREE Preview Copy
  • Flexitarian
    • The Flexitarian Diet
    • Why Go Flexitarian?
      • Meat & Health
      • Meat & The Environment
      • Animal Welfare
    • Tips & Hints
      • How To Cook Veggie
      • Cooking With Less Meat
      • Beginners’ Guides
      • Do It Yourself Recipes
      • How To Cook Without A Recipe
      • Left Over Recipes
  • Eco Living
    • Health & Nutrition
    • Green Living
    • Eating Out
    • Fighting Food Waste
    • Competition
    • Eco Travel
    • Fitness
    • Grow Your Own
    • Gift Guides
    • Product Reviews
    • Cookbook Reviews
  • ABOUT
    • CONTACT ME
    • In the News
    • Privacy Policy
  • SHOP
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
The Flexitarian Logo

The Flexitarian

The Flexitarian Diet - A Flexible Vegetarian Diet

  • Recipes
    • Recipes by Course
    • Recipes by Ingredient
    • Recipe Collections
    • RECIPES BY DIET
    • Seasonal Food
  • Shopping List
  • MY BOOK
    • My Cookbook: Less Meat, More Plants
    • DOWNLOAD a FREE Preview Copy
  • Flexitarian
    • The Flexitarian Diet
    • Why Go Flexitarian?
      • Meat & Health
      • Meat & The Environment
      • Animal Welfare
    • Tips & Hints
      • How To Cook Veggie
      • Cooking With Less Meat
      • Beginners’ Guides
      • Do It Yourself Recipes
      • How To Cook Without A Recipe
      • Left Over Recipes
  • Eco Living
    • Health & Nutrition
    • Green Living
    • Eating Out
    • Fighting Food Waste
    • Competition
    • Eco Travel
    • Fitness
    • Grow Your Own
    • Gift Guides
    • Product Reviews
    • Cookbook Reviews
  • ABOUT
    • CONTACT ME
    • In the News
    • Privacy Policy
  • SHOP
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
The Flexitarian » Tips & Hints » Cookbook Reviews » Cookbook Review: Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet by Tom Hunt + Competition

Cookbook Review: Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet by Tom Hunt + Competition

Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet by Tom Hunt Cover

I fell in love with Tom Hunt’s food back in 2013 while attending his Forgotten Feast Alternative Christmas Banquet at the Brunel Museum. Simple yet creative, the menu was crafted from surplus food that would have otherwise gone to waste.

As an ambassador for Action Against Hunger, the Soil Association, Slow Food International and the Fairtrade Foundation, the eco-chef campaigns tirelessly to reduce food waste and fight hunger, while promoting small farmers.  You will also find his ingenious no-waste recipes in the Guardian’s Feast magazine where he writes a regular column.

As a young chef, Tom Hunt worked with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River Cottage. He then went on to work on projects throughout the UK to revive our cooking heritage and help reduce food waste.  His award-winning Bristol restaurant Poco is renowned for using only local, fresh ingredients.

‘If we could all live and eat a little more like Tom the world and the food chain would be in much better shape.’ Anna Jones

In his first cookbook – The Natural Cook “Eating the seasons from root to fruit” Tom Hunt put fresh, flavoursome, vegetable-focused food centre-stage, featuring recipes that make use of every ounce of each ingredient.

Eating for Pleasure Tom Hunt © Image credit Jenny Zarins
© Image credit Jenny Zarins

Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet

His latest cookbook “Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet” also stems from Tom Hunt’s unique cooking ethos, Root to Fruit, that celebrates the entire vegetable, wasting nothing. Each recipe is designed to show how easy it can be to cook with plant-based ingredients that are local, seasonal and traceable while making sure as little as possible goes to waste.

Tom Hunt is a man on a mission to inspire us to eat better in every sense of the word. In his own words, Root to Fruit breaks down sustainability into an easy-to-follow philosophy with three core principles:

  • Eat For Pleasure
  • Eat Whole Foods
  • Eat The Best Food You Can

‘This book is like a hybrid of Michael Pollan and Anna Jones. It combines serious food politics with flavour-packed modern recipes. This is a call-to-arms for a different way of eating which seeks to lead us there not through lectures but through a love of food, in all its vibrancy and variety.’ Bee Wilson

“Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet”  is a plant-based cookbook structured in two main sections. The first section explains in details the Root to Fruit manifesto, so we can better understand the importance of provenance and how our food choices not only impact our health but also the environment and the local economy. The second section is dedicated to the pleasure of eating, with a fantastic array of delicious Root to Fruit recipes.

Swede pretending to be a ham © Jenny Zarins
Swede pretending to be a ham © Image credit Jenny Zarins

The dishes are original and appetising with clever twists on old favourites. The Broad Bean Guacamole uses locally grown broad beans instead of avocadoes with their heavy carbon footprint. The Rotation Risotto contains a collection of soil-supporting local grains and legumes.

Putting vegetables centre stage opens the door to endless possibilities such as the Merguez Spiced Cauliflower, Baked Swede pretending to be a ham, Jackfruit Lasagne, Smoky Quinoa Salad or Cherry & Buckwheat Tabbouleh.

Some of “Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet’s” most innovative recipes have been crafted from ingredients we would normally discard. The moreish Spent Espresso Brownies are made with used coffee grounds. Another must-try is the vegan Pulp Fiction Burger recipe, below, in which Tom Hunt found a clever way not to waste leftover juice pulp. “It turns out juice pulp is perfect for making a delicious textural veggie burger, especially when it contains lots of delicious, blood-red beetroot. If you plan to make a juice, plan to make a burger, it’s a rather tasty bonus”. You will find the full recipe here.

The Pulp Fiction Burger by Tom Hunt © Image credit Jenny Zarins
The Pulp Fiction Burger by Tom Hunt © Image credit Jenny Zarins

I really enjoyed delving into Tom Hunt’s latest cookbook. A call for change, the Root to Fruit manifesto is truly motivational. Without preaching but simply cooking delicious food, “Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet” will inspire you to enjoy seasonal local food, while producing little to no waste, by eating whole vegetables (root, fruit, stalk and leaf) and composting what cannot be eaten.

This is a vibrant celebration of food as it should be. Food that nourishes us and the world around us. Food that is simple, yet innovative and delicious. There is no doubt that if we want to find a sustainable way forward, we need to rethink our relationship with food. Tom Hunt’s Root to Fruit manifesto appears the perfect way to do so.

“Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet” by Tom Hunt (Kyle Books, RRP £26) is available now in bookstores & Amazon.

Tom Hunt & Octopus Books were kind enough to offer a copy of “Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet” to one lucky reader.

TO ENTER THIS COMPETITION SELECT AN ENTRY OPTION IN THE BOX BELOW

Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet by Tom Hunt

Notice: Thanks to Octopus Books for sending me a complimentary copy of this book. I was not paid to review this book, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Competition, Cookbook Reviews June 13, 2020 · Created by: The Flexitarian Leave a Comment

Previous Post: « The Pulp Fiction Burger [vegan] by Tom Hunt
Next Post: Tofu & Spinach Peanut Butter Stew [vegan] »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate This Recipe




Primary Sidebar

* GET MY COOKBOOK *

Available from:
UK/IR
Blackwells
Amazon UK

US/CAN
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Bookshop.org
Additional Retailers

Hello, I am Annabelle!

Welcome to The Flexitarian.
I am passionate about food and the environment.
I hope my vegan and vegetarian recipes and eco tips will inspire you to embrace "more of" a plant-based diet and green lifestyle.
More About Me …

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Newsletter


* FREE E-BOOK *


LATEST RECIPES

Asparagus Puff Pastry Bundles

Pizza Bagels

Tortellini Pasta Salad

Asparagus Pasta

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Butter Bean Salad


* SPONSORED LINKS *

PromFormal

OUR ECO BOUTIQUE


Footer

The Flexitarian

Less Meat, More Plants

  • Amazon
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Threads
  • TikTok
  • YouTube

Newsletter


* SPONSORED LINKS *

PromFormal

MY COOKBOOK

Copyright © 2025 · The Flexitarian · Privacy Policy