Disillusioned chef and sustainable food advocate Lucy Ridge is sick of the barked orders, the long hours, the inappropriate comments in a male-dominated hospitality environment. It’s ruining her love for cooking. So she decides to go searching for a more meaningful relationship with food. Taking inspiration from her first female mentor in the kitchen, she seeks out other women working in food and farming across the country to teach her how to grow, make, harvest and live a different kind of life, with ethical food production at the centre.

Her kitchen sojourn takes her across the country: from wild-harvesting bush foods with an Indigenous Elder in Broome, cheese-making in country New South Wales and butchering pasture-raised pigs in Victoria, to stomping grapes in Tasmania and shucking oysters near Jervis Bay. As she develops a new understanding of the land and the women who work it, she finds herself transformed. Fed Up takes readers on a journey from paddock to plate, exploring the role of women in food production and prompting us to think more deeply about the people responsible for our dinner.

‘Lucy gains new skills, meets some fascinating women and appreciates the effort and dedication required to champion quality above all. The careful reader will come away with new understanding of process and respect for these farmers and growers who demonstrate care for country at the same time as following their own passions.’ – Stephanie Alexander, cook, restauranteur and food writer