Paul reviewed Green Grocer by Walker, Richard
Smug and hasn't aged well
1 star
Some interesting points in this book, but it does suffer from the fact that it is written by a very wealthy man, living in a country that is low down on the list of those most affected by climate change (though there will still be some major impacts). Although Walker does say that we should persuade rather than order, and we have to not hit that old favourite 'hard working families', he ends up coming across as rather preachy. It's also very much 'Iceland does this and we are great, you should do what Iceland does', which is of limited use to anyone operating a business outside the food sector. I don't agree with his assertion that capitalism is great, given that unchecked consumption and negative externalities (e.g. companies like Iceland not being charged for the carbon they emit) are a major contributor to the current crisis.
The book also …
Some interesting points in this book, but it does suffer from the fact that it is written by a very wealthy man, living in a country that is low down on the list of those most affected by climate change (though there will still be some major impacts). Although Walker does say that we should persuade rather than order, and we have to not hit that old favourite 'hard working families', he ends up coming across as rather preachy. It's also very much 'Iceland does this and we are great, you should do what Iceland does', which is of limited use to anyone operating a business outside the food sector. I don't agree with his assertion that capitalism is great, given that unchecked consumption and negative externalities (e.g. companies like Iceland not being charged for the carbon they emit) are a major contributor to the current crisis.
The book also hasn't aged well either - there are references to what Boris Johnson is doing (we've had two PMs in the brief period since publication) and a recommendation to switch to Bulb (run by the author's friend) - an energy provider that failed so badly it was the first to be put into special administration.