Hungry for Change: Farmers. Food Justive and the Agarian Question

by A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi

Hunger and obesity sit side by side in the world today because a food system dominated by money, markets and profits allows those with money to obtain above and beyond their needs while those without cannot get the fundamentals of life. The result is a growing polarization of global agriculture, between a small number of haves and an ever-increasing number of have-nots. In Hungry for Change , Haroon Akram-Lodhi explains how capitalism was introduced into farming and how it transformed the terms and conditions by which farmers produce food. Written in accessible language and incorporating accounts from farmers and agricultural workers, this book explains how the creation, structure and operation of the capitalist world food system is marginalizing family farmers, small-scale peasant farmers and landless rural workers as it entrenches us all in a global subsistence crisis. Building upon the idea of food sovereignty, Akram-Lodhi develops a set of additional solutions to resolve the current crisis of the world food system”

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Patrick Tsai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lodhi presents a global overview of the food system by drawing lines connecting stories of farmers throughout the world along with explanations of current policy and the impact it has on those farmers. The stories are compelling, and I think this book explains issues of land tenure much better than a lot of the books on ag I've read. I wish Lodhi would have went further into the idea of food as a commons. It's an interesting idea and I'd like to learn more about the practical applications.

As much as I enjoyed the ideas presented in this book it took me quite a while to get through because of the sentence structure and how it read. Throughout the book multiple asides were presented in the same sentence, which made for long and seemingly non contiguous thought.

I'd recommend this book to people who are interested in how land issues, free trade and public policy affect peasant farming.

[Rashida Serrant-Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I enjoyed about this book was that the author effectively personalized each aspect of the problems caused by the modern global food regime in the lives of people in a wide range of countries, ethnic groups and lifestyles. They had names and families and concerns that were interconnected. This way, the reader could connect and really feel each one's plight. He even included members of his own family. This was the best aspect of this book.

Another very important aspect was his skillful connecting of the dots between the world pre-global food system, the progression of the world through the establishment and growth of the system and today's issues. This helped me pull together a lot of what I have learned from other authors and documentarians about the problems and anomalies we face today.

[Vita Anggraeni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jujur aku paham pak Haroon ini pengen ngebawa perspektif baru dalam membahas teori klasik marxist via agrarian questions karl kautsky cuma ada satu hal yang miss ketika membahas soal perubahan, orang itu pengen berubah tapi di saat yang sama dia tidak menyadari kalau dirinya berubah. salah satu key perdebatan dalam kumpulan marxist adalah transisi agraria, tapi seperti halnya sudah kita alami sendiri bahwa krisis kapitalisme nggak kemudian memgubah begitu saja orang ke sosialisme. Selain itu, nggak perlu juga kayak sosialisme substansi perubahan yang terjadi dan yang dituju lebih penting daripada stick kepada ideal utopis kayak sosialisme. makanya, aku agak kurang puas baca ini selain daripada substansinya nambah tapi lupa juga dikaitkan dengan esensinya.

[Laura Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for anyone who cares about food and how the world system affects those who produce and consume it. Hungry for Change examines the connections between hunger and obesity; the capitalist transformation of food production; and ways to address the global subsistence crisis. I loved learning about the ties between seemingly unrelated people and circumstances, such as Haitian and Lousiana rice farmers.