Stuffed And Starved
Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World's Food System
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
At no other time in history have people in wealthy countries had so much choice and so much abundance in what to eat. But in countries locked in a vicious cycle of poverty, there is no choice. There is no food.
Raj Patel shows us that these two extremes are deeply and inextricably linked. In Stuffed and Starved, he asks us to think about the way our food comes to us, to understand how what we buy directly affects the world’s poorest citizens and to recognize how we ourselves are poisoned by our choices. Patel gives us a broad view of the global food industry and the all-encompassing machine composed of organizations such as the World Bank and the WTO, corporate lobbyists, government agencies and the all-powerful distribution networks. He also traces the specific journey of coffee, soy and high-fructose corn syrup, from the fields to the kitchens of fast-food restaurants. Stuffed and Starved is a shocking and timely story of commercial greed, desperate hunger and inspirational alternatives to the current food system.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist and scholar Patel (Promised Land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform) focuses attention on the unfortunate irony of the current world food situation, in which the imbalance of world resources has created an epidemic of obesity in some parts of the world while millions in the "Global South" endure starvation. To make sense of the situation, Patel addresses the entire system of global food production, distribution and sale, concluding that "unless you're a corporate food executive, the food system isn't working for you." "Record levels of diet-related disease" plague consumers, cruel market realities (and unsympathetic officials) doom farmers, and communities are beset by a supermarket system that provides "cheap calories" while "bleeding local economies." Patel analyzes what can be done, presenting logical recommendations and strategies for individuals-eat locally, seasonally, and ecologically; support local business, workers' rights, and living wages; create a sustainable food system-though several primary components of his big vision (including ending agribusiness subsidies and corporate farming, and levying a tax on processed foods) are clearly a long way off. Those concerned about global health, social justice and the environment will be aware of many of the issues presented here, but should still find much to learn.
