Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System (Paperback)

by Raj Patel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From 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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

“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 and The Shock Doctrine

Half the world is malnourished, the other half obese—both symptoms of the corporate food monopoly. To show how a few powerful distributors control the health of the entire world, Raj Patel conducts a global investigation, traveling from the “green deserts” of Brazil and protester-packed streets of South Korea to bankrupt Ugandan coffee farms and barren fields of India. What he uncovers is shocking—the real reasons for famine in Asia and Africa, an epidemic of farmer suicides, and the false choices and conveniences in supermarkets. Yet he also finds hope—in international resistance movements working to create a more democratic, sustainable, and joyful food system.

From seed to store to plate, Stuffed and Starved explains the steps to regain control of the global food economy, stop the exploitation of farmers and consumers, and rebalance global sustenance.

RAJ PATEL, policy analyst for Food First, a leading food think tank, is a visiting scholar at the UC Berkeley Center for African Studies. He has written for the Los Angeles Times and the Guardian, and though he has worked for the World Bank, WTO, and the UN, he’s also been tear-gassed on four continents protesting them.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Melville House; 398 edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933633492
• ISBN-13: 978-1933633497
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #91,761 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive overview of world food system filled with startling stories and data, April 9, 2008

By	B B (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I've known bits and pieces about how our food gets to us but nothing that lays it out as this book does. Chapters range from what's happening to farmers and farms here in the U.S. and in diverse places like South Africa, India, Korea. Patel then moves on to the middlemen in the food chain, the food companies that exert control on farmers and consumers, and finally spends time on supermarkets, as well as the corporate sculpting of our tastes.

It's an opinionated book - but doesn't try to hide it. Regardless of where you're coming from, the book is so engaging and chockerblock full of information that you're likely to come away with new knowledge, at least. I moved along further in actually changing some of my thinking. Prior to reading this book I understood perhaps intuitively that oligopolistic corporate control over anything is bad for everyone other than the corporation. But Patel, as his Time review said, really did connect the dots in the story from farm to fork, and as a result I have much more specific concerns, many of which will likely influence some choices I make.

Favorites include the chapter on soy - the hidden ingredient I had no idea existed in so much of the food I buy. Stories about the industrial allure of Soy include beguiling tidbits about Henry Ford. I learned that someone created a patent for the supermarket - the patent diagrams (reproduced in the book) are enlightening. Also, stories from farmers around the world - women selling their farm produce outside a new supermarket being built near Durban in South Africa, a farmer in 'green revolution' Punjab, India bemoaning the now complete leaching of his soil and wondering when the 'revolution' will bring him real freedom from his debt. These were valuable lenses into the lives of people I'd likely never meet, given my urban inclinations, but who clearly are connected to me in producing the food I eat.

If you're at all interested in either food or the structure of our world through a case study of the food system, you'll find this a worthwhile read. Whether you end up agreeing with Patel or not, there's enough here that you'll be alternately shocked, amused, entertained and informed.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars required reading, June 3, 2008

By	David Gleeson (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A very digestible read for the consumer that's liable to provoke dyspepsia in the bellies of food giants and governments alike.
In taking a moralistic view of starvation and obesity, our media, governments and many NGOs have condemned those suffering to more of the same. While the institutional causes remain unaddressed - in large part thanks to public sector responsibility being abdicated to private sector interests - we can only expect more headlines about food riots and editorials on farmer suicides, just as diabetes (II) continues apace.
The resounding conclusion is that `free market' policies remain accountable only to shareholders - not to farmers, not to consumers, and certainly not to the governments that unleashed them.
But Stuffed & Starved is as prescriptive as it is diagnostic. By identifying the grassroots organisations that have come to terms with the problems and begun to enact the social changes necessary for remedy, Patel brings to the page a message of hope and understanding with great clarity. To his credit, he is no less objective or critical in examining these social movements (as they struggle to develop) than he is of the corporations, WTO, and World Bank.
If you're interested in a comprehensive overview of what's behind the headlines, of what's causing the paradox of starvation at the same time as an epidemic of obesity, this is the book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Patel Stuffs Readers, In a Good Way, May 13, 2008

By	R. Heydon "lilhungrygrl" (ny, ny usa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In his new book, "Stuffed and Starved," Raj Patel hits a nerve, or rather a whole digestive system worth of nerves. Until late, these two hot topics-obesity and the food crisis- were discussed separately. Patel's research shows why and how there are now more obese people than ever before, and more starving people. Patel takes an original view and places the blame not just on the governments, but on their famous trade agreements that we all thought were so fabulous-NAFTA ring a bell? He discusses how the "consumer" market and trade agreements are what have caused an increase in percentage of farmer suicides, food riots, and starving communities throughout the world. The book is a fast read, full of stuff you definitely didn't know. Although perhaps intended for the political or activist type, it's a worthwhile, interesting read for anyone who shops at a supermarket, a Wal-Mart, is thinking of going organic, or is upset about the rising cost of food. Not only does Patel offer a hearty argument for his points, but he offers a 10-step "fix" for us, everyday folk to start taking to help the problem....that, at least is worth the buy/read-in...