We have so much choice over what we eat today because rural communities the world over have had their choices taken away. To understand how our supermarket shopping makes us complicit in a system that routinely denies freedom to the world's poorest, and how we ourselves are poisoned by these choices, we need to think about the way our food comes to us. "Stuffed and Starved" takes a long and wide view of food production, to show how we all suffer the consequences of a food system cooked to a corporate recipe. This is also the story of the fight against the unthinking commerce that brings it to us. In the wrecked paddy fields of India, in the soy deserts of Brazil, in the maize ejidos of Mexico, the supermarket aisles of California, French McDonald's and Italian kitchens, there's a worldwide resistance against unhealthy control of the food system.

About the Author

RAJ PATEL was educated at Oxford, the LSE, and Cornell. A former fellow at Yale and Berkeley, he is now at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has worked for the World Bank, interned at the WTO, consulted for the UN, and been tear-gassed on four continents protesting against his former employers. He is one of only a few activists trusted to work with the Via Campesina peasant movement. This is his first book. www.stuffedandstarved.org

Reviews

'Patel's range is impressive, and there is much that is original - a book full of insight, and makes an important contribution to understanding the politics of food.' Felicity Lawrence 'This is one book above all I'd love to see at the top of the bestseller lists: an important subject brilliantly handled by Patel. I hope it will be remembered as long as Small is Beautiful has been and gains as much influence.' Sue Baker, Publishing News 'Patel's broad treatment helps the layman connect the dots, as well as hear the voices of those who occupy the lower rungs of the global food chain.' Time Magazine 'Exhaustively researched... Patel writes with a precision and clarity that make his suitcase of statistics accessible.' New Statesman 'This critique of the world food system could not be better timed - Patel writes with passion and commitment.' Bill Jamieson, Scotland on Sunday