Stuffed and Starved is like a stick of dynamite thrown into the middle of the food policy debate. Like a citizen’s handbook, Patel guides us through the history of our food system, and the origins of so many concerns around food, from hunger to the proliferation of soy in the market (which is then hidden in processed foods), to the epidemic of farmer suicides. It is a wealth of information, salt and peppered with Patel’s insights, in a compelling narrative that is never want for examples.

The United States is dominating the world food market, and shifting ideas about quality and price. In speaking with Patel, an Englishmen with an Indian background living in the San Francisco bay area, we discussed the prevalence of the United States in his narrative:

“America is the most obese country on Earth and yet there are [at least] 35.5 million families going hungry every year. This is the richest country on Earth, it produces the most food, and yet there are people here that go hungry. That for me is a telling contradiction of the food system. And that’s why I turn to the United States a lot because it shows what can happen when markets go wild, but its also the case for what happens when people get together and organize. There are some really inspiring things happening in the United States, people are fighting back. And that’s why I live here, because it is possible to fight back in some really creative ways.”

This is an empowering story. The goal is to get as much knowledge as possible so to take on the forces that be with better strategies. Because if we don’t change the food system in America, what will result will be much worse than anything we are seeing now for us and for the world. Our soil is denatured, we are unhealthy and without steady supplies of oil we can’t move food around at the rates we do now. But there really is hope that if we each chip in, beyond buying fair trade, if we petition local government for a food policy council, which Patel describes thusly: “Local government spaces in which people can democratically demand of their local government, for example, that food come from within 100-200 miles of where ever your municipality is. And demanding that there be space for farmer’s markets, and demanding that there be space for victory gardens, and demanding that there be adequate support for low income people to be able to eat.” In doing so we will see the seeds we are planting begin to grow.

Check out my two-part interview with Raj Patel for Slow Food Nation here:

Part 1

Part 2