Obesity in the West, starvation in the Third World and multinational corporations

This 2009 video from the USA says about itself:

The World Affairs Council of West Michigan presents Raj Patel, University of California Berkely, speaking on “Stuffed and Starved: Global Food Issues“.

From British daily The Morning Star:

Capitalism’s calories

(Sunday 21 October 2007)

Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel
(Portobello Books, £16.99)

JOHN GREEN looks at obesity in the West, starvation in the Third World and the stranglehold that multinationals have on our diet.

Have you ever thought that there may be a direct connection between increasing obesity in the industrialised countries and poverty and starvation in the rest of the world?

That both are the direct result of capitalism and transnational corporations is perhaps not such a surprise, but Raj Patel explains just how this relationship comes about.

Patel has an interesting background. He has degrees from three of the world’s top universities and is, at present, a researcher at the University of Kwa Zulu in South Africa.

He is also a gamekeeper turned poacher. After working for the World Bank and as a consultant to the UN, he is now an avid campaigner for the other side and has been tear-gassed while demonstrating for the rights of small food producers.

Naomi Klein gives his book the accolade of “one of the most dazzling books I’ve read in a long time. The product of a brilliant mind and a gift to a world hungering for justice.” She is absolutely right. It is a must-read for anyone keen to understand how the present system of food production and distribution grinds down the poorest in the word while making the rich richer – all seen from a Marxist perspective.