News Archive

Obese people outnumber starving ones for the first time in history, according to activist, author and academic, Dr Raj Patel, who will discuss the politics of world food systems at The University of Western Australia next month.

Dr Patel will be in Perth next week to launch his book, Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System and will give a free public lecture at UWA’s Alexander Lecture Theatre from 6pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2007.

“The hunger of 800 million happens at the same time as another historical first; that they are outnumbered by the one billion people on this planet who are overweight,” he writes in Stuffed and Starved.

His book takes us into the supermarket aisles and reveals the stories behind the products in our trolleys.  It also tells positive stories of resistance in India’s paddy fields, the maize ejidos of Mexico and Italian kitchens where slow food is enjoyed.

He gives a definitive account of the global food system, ranging across GM crops, history and export issues, rising levels of obesity and other health crises.

Dr Patel has worked for the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation, consulted for the UN and been involved in international campaigns.  Currently a researcher at the University of Kwa-Zulu-Natal in South Africa and a visiting scholar at the Centre for African Studies at the University of California, Berkley, he also has degrees from Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell University.

The event is presented by UWA’s Institute of Advanced Studies with support from Black Inc. Books Australia.

Stuffed and Starved will be available for sale and signing on the night.

Media references

Audrey Barton (Institute of Advanced Studies)    61 8  6488 1340

Simone Hewett / Sally-Ann Jones (UWA Public Affairs)    61 8 6488 7977
0420 790 097 / 0420 790 098