Raj Patel's newest book, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World's Food System, addresses a perverse fact: of the roughly 6.5 billion humans alive today 800 million are starving and 1 billion are overweight. To find out how we got to this point and what we can do about it, 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 protester-packed streets of South Korea. Patel documents not only the systemic roots of a global food crisis, but also great cause for hope -- international social movements working to create a more democratic, sustainable, and joyful food system.
Raj Patel has written for the Los Angeles Times and the Guardian, and though he has worked for the World Bank, WTO, and the UN, he's also been tear-gassed on four continents protesting their policies. Read more about his work at http://stuffedandstarved.org
Praise for Stuffed and Starved:
Naomi Klein: "One of the most dazzling books I have read in a very long time. The product of a brilliant mind, and a gift to a world hungering for justice."
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma: "For anyone attempting to make sense of the world food crisis, or understand the links between U.S. farm policy and the ability of the world's poor to feed themselves, Stuffed and Starved is indispensable."
Tickets: $11.50 ($10 plus a $1.50 processing fee). Available by calling or visiting MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E North Loop Blvd, Austin, 78751. 407-6925.
Proceeds go to the Sustainable Food Center - http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org - along with MonkeyWrench Books and the Workers Defense Project/Proyecto Defensa Laboral.
Location: St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 14311 Wells Port Drive, west of I-35 off Wells Branch Parkway.
