Customer Reviews

All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?

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This is one of the best public policy books I've ever read. Why? Four simple reasons:
1. Joel Berg knows everything there is to know about hunger and the politics of food, and he's passionate about his subject.
2. He writes with vigor, intelligence, and great humor (a rarity among policy wonks!) You won't have to prop your eyes open with toothpicks. You'll zip through it, slowed down only because you'll stop a lot to quote from the pages and to ask other people in the room things like, "Guess how many weeks it would take a minimum-wage worker to earn enough money for a Hermes purse?"
3. He doesn't blame it all on the Republicans. He bashes liberals too, sometimes hilariously.
4. He offers solutions that make sense. Compared to some of the other problems this country has, ending hunger sounds like a breeze. Read this book and you'll agree. You might even help make it happen.

I devoured (pun-intended) this book; I loved it. I read it on the train to and from work (where I happen to be the director of two emergency food programs). It alternately made me want to rage and cry and I was sometimes tempted to throw the book across the car in frustration with the government's--and my own--complicity in perpetuating the cycle of hunger and poverty in America. Luckily, Berg is also very funny and diffused the tension with great one-liners, causing me to crack up at random times (earning me many suspicious stares from my fellow commuters). For the record, my favorite line is "I'd be my own worst enemy if there weren't so much competition for the title." Priceless.

All joking aside, it's a truly well-written and clear-cut book, mostly very easy to read. Some of the stats get a bit heavy but if you just take them slowly and give them time to digest (ok, not ALL joking aside) they really do add to the overall picture of the situation. I'm going to be buying copies for the volunteers of my food programs. Some may not consider it to be the most festive topic but when you see that the book ends with a comprehensive, well thought-out and practical solution to the problem of hunger, it's enough to put anyone in the holiday spirit!

Thanks for the book Joel. You've done the country a great service with it!

This book is funny, enlightening, and motivating. As an anti-hunger advocate I appreciated the stats and info that I knew I could use to fight stereotypes and mis-information about hunger and food stamps. When I am asked to present to college students I have used some of the sections that talk about the history and impacts of hunger and hunger programs to paint a picture about the current situation (the kids really got into it!). As someone who is looking for solid ways to end hunger, the concise and honest conclusion with Joel's ideas for ending hungry and making hungry programs work better is great. Seeing that it IS possible to end hunger helps to keep me motivated on those days when i need it most!
I recommend this book to anyone who works in this field, or wants to have a better understanding of the whats/whys/hows of hunger in the US and what can be done about it. Great book Mr. Berg!!!!

Joel Berg has written a fabulous book that details how a country with our type of wealth can have many of its people going hungry. It combines a serious depiction of the history of this problem, as well as the excitement that abounds to the solution. As director of the NYC Coalition against Hunger, Joel is a policy wonk with style! You are warned: once you pick up this book you will not be able to put it down, and you will observe things in a lens that will leave you ready to combat hunger and poverty.

I enjoyed this book and learned a great deal about hunger in our society. I see street people all the time (and I see the people walking by and ignoring them with disdain).

I see superficial TV reports about soup kitchens and holiday food events for the homeless every time December rolls around. But I never really knew that America still has a serious, systemic hunger problem that affects many more people than the press or public seems to realize.

And as Berg points out, it doesn't have to be this way! It's just a matter of national priorities...the money spent on Iraq for just a single day probably would go a long way to resolve the hunger crisis in America, if only politicians would understand that change is possible and necessary.

The chapter I enjoyed most is where Berg does an experiment and tries to live on a meager food-stamp budget (little more than $1 per meal) and experiences real hunger pangs himself. This is solid reporting. It's really an eye-opening experience for him and for us. We don't appreciate how accustomed we have become to eating "all we can eat" until we are forced to go on a very strict diet and live in continual denial.

I also liked the chapter where Berg painstakingly analyzes press reports about hunger over the past several decades, including major newspapers and network TV newcasts.

Amazingly there has been almost no coverage of hunger issues at all over the years and it has decreased to almost nothing recently. As a journalist this bothers me a great deal and makes me believe that reporters are, almost without exception, asleep at the switch -- covering trivial matters while failing to attempt anything close to substantial investigative journalism.

Berg deserves credit for tackling this issue, for "afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted," so to speak. The book is colorful, funny in parts, and not dry at all. I recommend it. I also think it would make a fascinating documentary, something akin to "Sicko" by Michael Moore. It could get a lot of additional attention on the big screen.

A really good read. I enjoyed the easy conversational style of his writing. Almost like sitting in the room with him and listening to him talk to you. And he made it all the more palatable with his humor. I learned much reading this book. I was surprised over and over again by some of the facts that he shares with us that make you wonder what has taken even this long to solve this problem, and yet it is still to be solved. I would highly recommend this for anyone who wants to know the truth about the hunger and poverty in our own country and really want to see something done about it. A well kept secret is finally exposed. Good for you Joel Berg!

I read Joel Berg's book in advance of having him speak at my church in New York City on the topic of ending hunger.

"All You Can Eat" is easy to read, full of statistics, and strongly persuasive. Berg argues that hunger in America can end--and he has a theory about how it can happen and statistical evidence to support his conclusions.

Joel is as passionate and persuasive an advocate for ending hunger as you will ever meet. Reading his book will either make you get out of your chair and act, or fight back with your best arguments. I've seen people try to fight back--I've just never found anyone to be as persuasive and statistically well-supported as Joel Berg.

If you think ending hunger is important and want a concrete plan to make it happen, read "All You Can Eat."

Joel Berg is a hunger policy "wonk" in the best sense of the word. His book is both humane towards the hungry and realistic. His facts are well presented and flow in a logical manner towards realistic conclusions. It is in fact, a book that I have already read twice and have recommended to others. If I were still teaching in graduate school, it would be a textbook for my class. In these terrible economic times, all of us need to know about hunger as the population of the hungry is growing rapidly.

We purchased this book for research for this year's debate team topic. It is excellent. Most recent info on poverty. Not sure I agree with all the recommendations for change. But definately worth reading if you are interested in this topic.

America has been hungry for this book for a long time! Joel Berg dissects years of hunger work into bite size analogies and an all you can eat buffet of helpful numbers, graphs, and anecdotes.

What I like most is it works on all levels. If you are a Hunger professional down to a hunger fighting greenhorn, this book will walk you through what you need to know to get started and where you need to be to finish the fight on hunger. Wherever your views are there will be something for you.

Joel's passion for the topic oozes out of the pages with undeniable vigor and wit. A must read if you care about anybody but yourself.