World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008 - (Page 48)

Mixed Media Food for Thought The Story of Stuff www.storyofstuff.com Where does it all come from and where does it go? In this 20-minute online documentary, Annie Leonard explores the lives of things we buy. Review Africa Doesn’t Matter Giles Bolton Arcade, May 2008 Paperback | $15.99 By Austin Gelder, World Ark Associate Editor Be the Change You Want to See in the World: 365 Things You Can Do for Yourself and Your Planet Julie Fisher-McGarry Conari Press, 2006 Paperback | $14.95 If you’re determined to make next year better, this could be the book for you. Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods Gary Paul Nabhan Chelsea Green, 2008 Paperback | $35.00 Take a look at America’s dwindling native foods, region by region, from one of our foremost eco-culture writers. Reading editorials in the daily newspapers is a good shortcut to staying on top of the issues of the day. You may not agree with everything the writers say, but since they must present the facts to make their arguments, it’s a good way to pick up the basics so you at least know enough to decide for yourself. The same goes for Africa Doesn’t Matter: How the West Has Failed the Poorest Continent and What We Can Do About It, a new book by a former aid worker whose years in Kenya and Rwanda gave him some controversial ideas about what’s going wrong with development work in Africa and how to fix it. His prescriptions may seem drastic, but Bolton’s background, along with his patient, clear writing, make him a worthy authority to explain why, despite decades of aid and new opportunities in the age of globalization, many African nations still struggle. Bolton tackles the tricky subjects of corruption, globalization and international aid with such grace and simplicity that reading the book is almost too easy, something of an Africa for Dummies. Bolton even devotes a chapter to having his readers imagine they’re president of a make-believe African country whose budget, literacy levels and health statistics reflect the averages for sub-Saharan countries. This gimmick, which would fit seamlessly in any middle school social studies textbook, works surprisingly well here. Bolton pulls it off without condescension, seating his readers behind the desk of a leader whose constituents simply won’t make it on the budget he has to work with. Economics and trade make for heavy reading, but Bolton lightens it up with glamorous accounts of his stints in Kenya and Rwanda, where he guiltily lived in a Swiss-style chalet complete with a gardener and security guards. In these sidebars he comes off as a dashing and witty Brit who jokes about the perks of sharing a last name with Michael Bolton, a beloved singer in many African nations. He shares stories of shopping for used T-shirts in street markets and earning 48 November/December 2008 | WORLD ARK www.heifer.org http://www.storyofstuff.com http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked and Answered Finding Peace in Africa Sierra Leone on the Mend The Roma: A People Apart Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit Calendar First Person

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2008

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