Your purchase will feed you, us, and many others for years to come, as it is the core of our fundraising efforts to build an abattoir at Jonai Farms. Viva la revolución!

In 2011 we left our rather farm-like suburban backyard to raise pastured rare breed Large Black pigs on Dja Dja Wurrung Country in the central highlands of Victoria. My journey from thoughtless consumer of industrial food, to vegetarianism, and finally ethical omnivorism tracks my generation’s escalating concerns with how food is produced and the complex ethics of eating animals.

Forget about flexitarians and pescatarians with their wishy washy dietary rules and lack of framework for why it’s okay to eat tuna but not grass-fed beef - the time for the ethical omnivore is now. With increasing public awareness of the unconscionable conditions in which animals are raised in intensive livestock systems and the urgent need for action on climate change from your plate to the petrol bowser, people are seeking guidance on how to eat with a clear conscience.

Eat Like the Jonai is a celebration of good food and company. It is a guide for eaters as you navigate the complicated world of shopping for ethical and ecologically-sound food - how to know whether that bacon or those eggs are genuinely ‘free range’, unravelling certification schemes, and deciphering labels. It does so while providing the pleasurable side of eating ethically with a cosmopolitan range of recipes that use easy-to-find ethically-produced ingredients. Woven through the recipes are stories of a lifetime of deep engagement with food and its means of production - from family feasts and the culinary inspiration of travel to the importance of trusting your tastebuds and getting creative in the kitchen.

The book provides a balance of recipes - many are vegetable based, and others feature a range of beef, pork and other proteins. There is an extensive breakfast chapter (I reckon I can cook eggs in some 17 different styles from 10 cultures), soups (showcasing the use of the whole animal with bone master stocks), and preserving (everything from cured meats to pickles and my trademark fermented chili & garlic). The dessert chapter brings in the voices and recipes of the rest of the Jonai (Stuart, Oscar, Antigone & Atticus), as they are the sweet-tooths of the family. There is a celebration of feasts - at Jonai Farms and elsewhere (Olive Fest with the Binks, Cider Pressing, Passata days, and la matanza, the annual killing of the pig), with tips about how to make the task of feeding dozens of friends less daunting & a focus on the joys of a potluck meal.

Eat Like the Jonai will make you feel like you’re joining us at the table for a legendary Jonai lunch, and it will give you the inspiration and knowledge you need to nourish others with soulful, mindful, uncommonly delicious meals.

COOKBOOKS WILL BE DELIVERED BY XMAS 2024!