Stuffed And Starved - Softcover

Patel, Raj

3.93

2,487 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1554680115 ISBN 13: 9781554680115

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2009

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The bestselling and groundbreaking book for readers of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation

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.

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About the Author:

Raj Patel was educated at Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell University. He is currently a fellow at the Institute for Food and Development Policy in Oakland, California, a visiting researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and a visiting scholar at the Center for African Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He has worked for the World Bank, interned at the WTO, consulted for the UN and been involved in international campaigns against his former employers. Visit Raj Patel at www.rajpatel.org.

Review:

One of the most dazzling books I have read in a very long time. The product of a brilliant mind, and a gift to a world hungering for justice.” (Naomi Klein, author of No Logo, The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything and No Is Not Enough)

“For anyone attempting to make sense of the world food crisis, or understand the links between U.S. farm policy and the ability of the world’s poor to feed themselves, Stuffed and Starved is indispensable.” (Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food)

“Compelling. At first glance, Raj is another depressing voice in the chorus. But in traveling the world researching the book, he also found hope in international social movements working to create more democratic, sustainable, and joyful food systems.” (Mark Bittman, The New York Times)

“A blistering indictment of the policies of multinational agribusiness conglomerates and charges that their drive for profit at any cost has left the developing world starving while wealthy countries like the United States are experiencing epidemic obesity rates and related health problems.” (Newsweek)

“Patel’s broad treatment helps the layman connect the dots, as well as hear the voices of those who occupy the lower rungs of the global food chain.” (Time magazine)

“A book full of insight, that makes an important contribution to understanding that the politics of food is not a narrow matter of shopping, ethical or otherwise.” (The Guardian (UK))

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