Raj Patel

Half the world is stuffed, half of it is starved. How can this be? With a world food crisis going on, food policy expert, journalist, and author Raj Patel traces the causes from farm to fork, revealing startling truths about a greatly flawed food system that is dominated by a few, but powerful, major corporations.

Author of the international bestseller Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, Patel exposes how the food market is structured between consumers, farmers, and a handful of corporations in-between. Ultimately, it is the power of these modern food giants that influence the environmental, social, and economic factors that determine how food ends up on tables throughout the world.

Intelligent and thought-provoking, Patel follows our food from seed to store to plate. Examining the scope of hunger and globalization, he explains the steps necessary to regain control of the global food economy, stop the exploitation of farmers and consumers, and rebalance global sustenance. Taking aim at supermarkets and financial institutions that perpetuate these inequalities, he suggests ways we can bypass the industrial food system and get back in touch with what we eat and the people who produce it.

Moving from the ongoing food crisis to our nation's economic collapse, Patel explores cost and value in his latest book, The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy. Hailed as a thought-provoking piece that deeply probes the nation’s economic structure, Patel discusses the economy’s collapse and paints a clear picture of how achieving a fairer society and sustainable economy are possible.