Laura Hogan
'The hunger of 800 million happens at the same time as another historical first: that they are outnumbered by the one billion people on this planet who are overweight.' – Raj Patel (1)
While some battle obesity, others battle starvation.These epidemics are blatantly contradictory, and yet they are problems generated by the same system: that of the world food order. Raj Patel's Stuffed and starved is a comprehensive critique of the world food system. How much do we actually know about the food we purchase and consume? As the world becomes increasingly connected through the 'global economy' and free market, producers and consumers are increasingly disconnected. Conditions of land, labour, living standards, processing techniques, transportation and often even ingredients are all factors that we, as consumers of food, have learnt not to question or even consider.
In Stuffed and starved Patel 'invites us to become fuller and more politically responsible people' (313). The book offers examples throughout of communities and social movements whose actions engender values that resist the current world food order.
First, however, Patel personalises the concept of 'the global market' and gives an insight into the negative repercussions of a 'global economy'. In chapter 2, 'A rural autopsy', he shares stories of farmers in India, America, Australia, Mexico and Brazil and tells of their desperate situations, struggling to deal with the ramifications of 'free trade'.
Patel is skeptical about whether there are any benefits from free trade as it exists today. He sees it as a means for the rich to continue to dominate the poor, encouraging monoculture (which has detrimental environmental impacts, as well as making producers extremely vulnerable to fluctuations in the market), and encouraging dependency on imports (local and national markets often fail as subsidised imported produce floods the market) (82). In theory the free market, through competition, increases efficiency and lowers price, 'but the effect of turning food production over to the market has been to produce less competition, and offer more structural power to the largest companies' (104).
Patel expresses Marxist sentiments throughout his book and his appraisal of the global food market which 'fosters hunger and disease through its mechanisms of production and distribution' (312). He argues that 'unless you’re a corporate food executive, the food system isn’t working for you' (293). International trade 'in its high capital form, [is] premised on a great deal of exploitation' (81). It is producers and consumers who emerge as the losers in the current market exchange. There is a 'system bottleneck' (12), a centralised control over the buying, transportation and retailing of food, and in recognising this, we recognise the power of the food corporations.
Patel provides a context for the current problems and trends in the global market, in Chapter 4 where he traces historical developments and political motivations behind food dispersion, regulation and trade. He takes us through aspects of British colonisation, the history of displacement and the emergence of slavery and plantations. The Cold War, WWI and especially WWII were critical events in shaping the current market. For example, at the conclusion of WWII, a surplus of materials such as nitrates was left (nitrates were used to create bombs).The USA searched for a use for their stock, and experiments with nitrates eventually created fertiliser - rapidly changing agricultural practices (298). Patel also traces the establishment of the World Bank, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Green Revolution and the introduction of genetically modified foods.
From a Malthusian perspective, food has always been a powerful tool to suppress the threat of anarchy. Food is still recognised as an important tool in foreign relations. Food aid became a central part of US foreign policy in the 1950s and 1960s (91). In the 1960s the US looked for a market to offload their agricultural surpluses and also create a relationship of dependency with countries in the 'Global South' that were regarded as vulnerable to Communism (91).
Once Patel has established the complex nature of trade relations and some of the hidden motivations behind food distribution, he asks us to question the degree of control that we have over our food selection. He goes so far as to say that our palates are shaped by forces that we very rarely acknowledge or think about, our consumer 'choice' is an imagined freedom (5). Processing and additives make us easily targeted addicts of certain foods, and the very foods that are available are determined by the corporate giants who dictate the world food system. It is a disturbing thought that these same corporations which control the supply of food also have enormous influence over food regulating bodies (201). What is good for their business is often not good for our bodies or our environment.
Patel’s book is far from all 'doom and gloom', however. One of his goals is to reestablish the social relationship between farmers (producers) and us (consumers). Without changing our behaviour and before we even finish the book, Patel has to an extent succeeded in this goal, by giving examples of individual and community struggles and triumphs in the countries he writes about – the places where most of the produce in our supermarkets come from. Transnational social movements also feature, and in particular 'La Via Campesina' (The Peasant Way), a broad social movement that aims to create an alternative to the current food distribution system, redefine what food means and give dignity and choice to the people who grow, and the people who eat (16).
Patel provokes his readers to question and consider the ramifications of their actions. Stuffed and starved urges us to imagine a more democratic and sustainable world food system, to reclaim 'sovereignty' over our food and our relations to production (316). Patel does not advocate regression to 'old-fashioned values' but rather challenges us to radically re-shape the future (313). The dedication in the book is 'for the everyday heroines and heroes'. In his conclusion Patel gives us the ideas for how we can contribute to a new food order.
Some would label Patel an idealistic activist. It is true that for his broad hopes to come to fruition a revolution in the world food system would be necessart. It is also true that people are often dismissive of ideas that challenge the current order and assumptions. Patel does both. He questions the current order in the food system. He challenges the assumptions that we have learnt to regard as truths. Patel's background in economics, work at the World Bank, WTO and the UN give credence to his research, insights and opinions. He supports his statements with references and also provides comprehensive notes that further explain his position on issues.
Raj Patel's account of the world food system is comprehensive and provocative. Stuffed and starved offers insight into questions we have been taught not to ask. In an age when we often look to consumerism to define our identities, Patel urges us to question our 'choices' and consider the social ramifications of our food habits.