Enough is Plenty

The title exactly describes the content of this stimulating book. It was started in 2006, before the credit crunch, and its thoughts have become even more relevant in the intervening period. There is an old adage that enough is as good as a feast, and the idea here is to formulate policies that can nourish human and currently well being, which means living in harmony with nature. This involves coping, critiquing, resisting and creating. There is a sustained critique of the monetarist and market outlook and the resulting growth-oriented system. Two chapters are devoted to the current food system, the first describing what the author calls suicidal agriculture based on an industrial model which is based on maximising profit rather than feeding people. The second describes intelligent, smaller scale agriculture and the development of a real food culture. There is no such thing as cheap food, which always results in externalities such as disease and environmental damage. Two other chapters deal with regulation and proposals for a citizen's income. All this will require leadership and reconnecting with our basic humanity while emphasising a new set of sustainable principles.