One of the books that arrived was called Precycle - http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_21?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=precycle+paul+peacock&x=0&y=0&sprefix=precycle+paul+peacock (I'm not good on the linkies on here)
I have only dipped into it, so I can't give a proper review. The book is about doing things so that we don't need to recycle eg growing our own food. The example I stumbled across was that he had made baked beans stored in jars instead of buying them. He cited the lack of air miles and growing the beans himself rather than encouraging monoculture and reusable jars rather than tins. The author isn't against recycling, but prefers to make it unnecessary.
That is all to the well and good. And he points out that the beans in his cupboard cost more in terms of time and even money when taking into account costs of cooking energy. However I couldn't grow much more than a few tomatoes and salad bits in my garden. I don't have the energy to make and bottle a dozen kilner jars of baked beans. I do have the space (not all do) and the time (certainly not all do). I feel a bit 'hmm' about it. I am all in favour of making your own passata, etc but baked beans are the thin of the edge when it comes to having less meat based protein, and that is also an important point. And all the jobs that come with growing, processing, transporting and selling that tin of baked beans. And so many people can't afford in any dimension the costs of making and storing their own baked beans.
The biggest 'hmm' so far comes from the recipe to make your own bacon. In theory I approve. Or try and find a decent butcher. However while he gives the recipe for the brine or cure to make the bacon, he doesn't give suggestions of the cut of pork to use. I have grown up with supermarket meat and haven't really shopped at a butcher's for twenty years. I have no idea where to start about which bit of dead pig to put in this brine etc to make it bacon.
It also has lots of ideas about eg soap nuts etc, and I will investigate those further.
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