The politics of food is changing fast. In rich countries, obesity is now a more
serious problem than hunger. Consumers once satisfied with cheap and convenient food now
want food that is also safe, nutritious, fresh, and grown by local farmers using fewer
chemicals. Heavily subsidized and under-regulated commercial farmers are facing stronger
push-back from environmentalists and consumer activists, and food companies are under the
microscope. Meanwhile in developing countries, agricultural success in Asia has spurred
income growth and dietary enrichment, but agricultural failure in Africa has left one
third of all citizens undernourished. The international markets that link these diverse
regions together are subject to sudden disruption, as noted when an unexpected spike in
international food prices in 2008 caused street riots in a dozen or more countries.
In a lively and easy-to-navigate, question-and-answer format, Food Politics
carefully examines and explains the most important issues on today's global food
landscape, including international food prices, famines, the politics of chronic hunger,
the Malthusian race between food production and population growth, international food aid,
controversies surrounding "green revolution" farming, the politics of obesity,
farm subsidies and trade, agriculture and the environment, agribusiness, supermarkets,
food safety, fast food, slow food, organic food, local food, and genetically engineered
food.
Politics in each of these areas has become polarized over the past decade by
conflicting claims and accusations from advocates on all sides. Paarlberg's book maps this
contested terrain through the eyes of an independent scholar not afraid to unmask myths
and name names. More than a few of today's fashionable beliefs about farming and food are
brought down a notch under this critical scrutiny. For those ready to have their thinking
about food politics informed and also challenged, this is the book to read.
Robert Paarlberg is the B.F. Johnson Professor of Political Science at
Wellesley College and Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs,
Harvard University. A leading authority on food policy, his books include Starved for
Science, Policy Reform in American Agriculture, and Fixing Farm Trade.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1.: The World Food Crisis
2.: Hunger Even When World Prices are Low
3.: "Green Revolutions" in Agricultural Productivity
4.: Agricultural Subsidy and Trade Policies
5.: Food Quality and Safety, Environmental Protection, and Animal Welfare
6.: The Future of Food
240 pages, Paperback