Raj Patel

Eric Holt-Giménez

Annie Shattuck

'In this very timely book, two of the world's most prominent critics of the global food system, Eric Holt-Giménez and Raj Patel, dissect the causes of hunger and the food price crisis, locating them in a political economy of capitalist industrial production dominated by corporations and driven by the search for profits for the few instead of the welfare of the many. The picture that emerges is a political economy of global production that is failing badly in terms of feeding the world and is itself contributing to the spread of inequalities that promote hunger.' Walden Bello, president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition and professor of sociology at the University of the Philippines 'I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in issues related to food distribution/markets, the current global crisis, the role of capitalism and international organisations, and hopes for an alternative future. I would also recommend, since food is such an intrinsic part of our lives, society, culture and economies, that this book be read by everyone with a concern for our present, our future, and our rights – and specifically our right to food.' Manmeet Kaur, Development in Practice, vol 20, no. 7, September 2010 Erosion of local and national control Food Rebellions! takes a deep look at the world food crisis and its impact on the global South and under-served communities in the industrial North. While most governments and multilateral organisations offer short-term solutions based on proximate causes, authors Eric Holt-Giménez and Raj Patel unpack the planet's environmentally and economically vulnerable food systems to reveal the root causes of the crisis. By tracking the political and economic evolution of the industrial agri-foods complex, Food Rebellions! shows us how the steady erosion of local and national control over their food systems has made African nations dependent on a volatile global market and subject to the short-term interests of a handful of transnational agri-food monopolies. A powerful handbook Food Rebellions! is a powerful handbook for those seeking to understand the causes and potential solutions to the current food crisis now affecting nearly half of the world's people. Why are food riots occurring around the world in a time of record harvests? What are the real impacts of agrofuels and genetically engineered crops? Whose interests are being advanced by Africa's 'new' Green Revolution? And why are the thousands of farmer-led 'islands of sustainability' flowering across the landscapes of the global South being ignored by policy-makers? What are hundreds of peasant farm organisations, civil society organisations, and concerned researchers doing about the crisis? Finally, what can you do? Democratising food systems Food Rebellions! suggests that to solve the food crisis, we must change the global food system — from the bottom up and from the top down. On one hand, farmers utilising sustainable approaches to production need to be supported, and farmer-to-farmer agroecological knowledge must be spread. At the same time, food and farm advocates need to work in local, national and international policy arenas to open dialogue, demand transparency and change the 'rules' currently holding back agroecological alternatives. The book frames the current food crisis as a unique opportunity to develop productive local food systems as engines for sustainable economic development. Hunger and poverty, the authors insist, can be eliminated by democratising food systems and respecting people's right to safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and to food-producing resources — in short, by advancing food sovereignty. If you're an African non-governmental organisation of limited funds, please email info@pambazukapress.org to arrange a complimentary copy of this ebook (Adobe PDF). Ebook orders within the United Kingdom include VAT. A FAHAMU BOOKS AND PAMBAZUKA PRESS PUBLICATION

Crisis and the Hunger for Justice

Food Rebellions!

Justine M. Williams

In recent decades, the various strands of the food movement have made enormous strides in calling attention the many shortcomings and injustices of our food and agricultural system. Farmers, activists, scholars, and everyday citizens have also worked creatively to rebuild local food economies, advocate for food justice, and promote more sustainable, agroecological farming practices. However, the movement for fairer, healthier, and more autonomous food is continually blocked by one obstacle: land access. As long as land remains unaffordable and inaccessible to most people, we cannot truly transform the food system. The term land-grabbing is most commonly used to refer to the large-scale acquisition of agricultural land in Asian, African, or Latin American countries by foreign investors. However, land has and continues to be "grabbed" in North America, as well, through discrimination, real estate speculation, gentrification, financialization, extractive energy production, and tourism. This edited volume, with chapters from a wide range of activists and scholars, explores the history of land theft, dispossession, and consolidation in the United States. It also looks at alternative ways forward toward democratized, land justice, based on redistributive policies and cooperative ownership models. With prefaces from leaders in the food justice and family farming movements, the book opens with a look at the legacies of white-settler colonialism in the southwestern United States. From there, it moves into a collectively-authored section on Black Agrarianism, which details the long history of land dispossession among Black farmers in the southeastern US, as well as the creative acts of resistance they have used to acquire land and collectively farm it. The next section, on gender, explores structural and cultural discrimination against women landowners in the Midwest and also role of "womanism" in land-based struggles. Next, a section on the cross-border implications of land enclosures and consolidations includes a consideration of what land justice could mean for farm workers in the US, followed by an essay on the challenges facing young and aspiring farmers. Finally, the book explores the urban dimensions of land justice and their implications for locally-autonomous food systems, and lessons from previous struggles for democratized land access. Ultimately, the book makes the case that to move forward to a more equitable, just, sustainable, and sovereign agriculture system, the various strands of the food movement must come together for land justice.

Re-imagining Land, Food, and the Commons in the United States

Land Justice

Capitalism drives our global food system. Everyone who wants to end hunger, who wants to eat good, clean, healthy food, needs to understand capitalism. This book will help do that. In his latest book, Eric Holt-Giménez takes on the social, environmental, and economic crises of the capitalist mode of food production. Drawing from classical and modern analyses, A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism introduces the reader to the history of our food systemand to the basics of capitalism. In straightforward prose, Holt-Giménez explains the political economics of why—even as local, organic, and gourmet food have spread around the world—billions go hungry in the midst of abundance; why obesity is a global epidemic; and why land-grabbing, global warming, and environmental pollution are increasing. Holt-Giménez offers emblematic accounts—and critiques—of past and present-day struggles to change the food system, from "voting with your fork," to land occupations. We learn about the potential and the pitfalls of organic and community-supported agriculture, certified fair trade, microfinance, land trusts, agrarian reform, cooperatives, and food aid. We also learn about the convergence of growing social movements using the food system to challenge capitalism. How did racism, classism, and patriarchy become structural components of our food system? Why is a rational agriculture incompatible with the global food regime? Can transforming our food system transform capitalism? These are questions that can only be addressed by first understanding how capitalism works.

Eric Holt-Giménez

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