Author: vale

[Originally published in the LSE Review of Books blog]

Falling Inequality in Latin America. Giovanni Andrea Cornia (eds). Oxford University Press. January 2014.

You have been transposed to a country where every person has a height equal to their income. The very poor are tiny dwarves and the very rich unimaginable giants. Someone has lined up all those people from shortest to tallest and asked them to parade. As the curious event develops you observe the march from your hotel’s window. What exactly do you see? Continue reading “Book Review: Falling Inequality in Latin America, edited by Giovanni Andrea Cornia”

[Originally published in the LSE Review of Books blog]

The Ecological Hoofprint: The Global Burden of Industrial Livestock. Tony Weiss. Zed Books. November 2013.

Let’s face it: most of us have recently considered diminishing our meat consumption on environmental and ethical grounds. With the livestock sector pointed out as responsible for one seventh of greenhouse-gas emission, poor animal welfare standards, and increasingly unhealthy human diets, the act of consuming animal products is in the verge of becoming a genuinely political decision. One that Tony Weis, the author of The Ecological Hoofprint and an Associate Professor of Geography at Western University (Canada), believes must become the centrepiece of any global food policy that intends to shorten the gap between the current reality and a more sustainable food production and distribution system. Continue reading “Book Review: The Ecological Hoofprint: The Global Burden of Industrial Livestock by Tony Weiss”