Stuffed and starved : the hidden battle for the world food system / Raj Patel

Originally published: 2007.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [349]-381) and index.

A rural autopsy -- You have become Mexican -- 'Just a cry for bread' -- The customer is our enemy: a brief introduction to food system business -- Better living through chemistry -- Glycine rex -- Checking out of supermarkets -- Chosen by bunnies.

It's A Perverse Fact: There are more people starving in the world than ever before (800 million) while there are also more people overweight (1 billion). To find out how we got to this point and what we can do about it, Raj Patel launched a comprehensive investigation into the global food network. It took him from the colossal supermarkets of California to India's wrecked paddy-fields and Africa's bankrupt coffee farms, while along the way he ate genetically engineered soybeans and dodged flying objects on the protestor-packed streets of South Korea. What he found was shocking: from the false choices given us by supermarkets to a global epidemic of farmer suicides and the real reasons for famine in Asia and Africa. Yet he also found great cause for hope- in international social movements working to create a more democratic, sustainable, and joyful food system. Going beyond ethical consumerism, Patel explains, from seed to store to plate, the steps to regain control of the global food economy, stop the exploitation of both farmers and consumers, and rebalance global sustenance. Book jacket.