DOWNTOOLS
BOOK REVIEWS
THE GARDEN OF VEGAN: HOW PLANTS CAN SAVE THE ANIMALS, THE PLANET AND OUR HEALTH
by Cleve West
Pimpernel Press, £20, ISBN 978-1910258477
A personal, thought-provoking argument for taking the step from being a wildlife-conscious gardener to living and gardening as a vegan.
Reviewer Mark Diacono is a writer, grower and cook.
The Garden of Vegan is a personal, persuasive take on why an animal-free diet might be for you and for the wider world. Issues are met head on, delicacies rarely sidestepped. Unpulled punches are intended to affect, in the hope that readers engage differently with the many environmental and health impacts associated with what we eat.
West is the man for this task. An inspiring garden designer, long-term allotmenteer, and one of the nicest people you could meet, West has taken a journey he hopes to encourage us on; from wildlife-centred gardener and vegetarian to vegan activist. His passion is clear, and while the book is not an invitation so much as suite of arguments intended to draw you into the vegan corner, the design and the use of illustrations and visual punctuations is excellent, and the inclusion of gardens and recipes helps break the discussion of often intense issues into more digestible
