I’ve just finished a panel here at the Edinburgh International Book Festival with two exceptionally thought-provoking authors who have also been picking over the international food system, past and present. Andrew Simms’ Tescopoly is a punchy, thoughtful and entertaining romp through the aisles and annals of the UK’s largest supermarket chain: Tescos. Andrew is also part of the team putting together ‘Interdependence Day’ later on this year in London, an event designed to move us towards a better and more sustainable economics. More news about that as it comes in.
The second book is by Peter Chapman, a journalist at the Financial Times, who has written
Jungle Capitalists, an examination of the world’s first food system mega-corporations: The United Fruit Company. Drawing on his deep familiarity with central America, and through a gripping narrative, Peter’s book pulls us through the history and misdeeds of the company known locally as ‘el pulpo’ – the Octopus. Although the company itself is now no longer with us, Peter’s is a searing indictment of a kind of capitalism that persists in the Global South’s agricultural economy.
Highly recommended, both of these books.