This clearly written and heavily documented book makes me want to avoid not only all processed foods but also all supermarkets. Yet where else can we shop except in summer at the farmers’ markets?
Raj Patel has worked for the World Bank, the WTO and the UN as well as Food First. Not only are the petrochemical companies controlling our food chain and the contents of our food but they are also sending small farmers all over the world into bankruptcy in favor of a few large agribusinesses. People can be obese and malnourished on overly fattened and sugared processed foods. The poor have little access to anything else.
Massive transportation systems are managed by a few large corporations. They are not only using too much petroleum for fuel; they are also using too much in destructive and harmful fertilizers. Their latest dangerous push is for genetically modified seeds that incorporate both fertilizers and pesticides into the seed and eliminate all other varieties.
Our only recourse is to seek out local suppliers, not easy to do in a part of the world where only half the year is a growing season. Perhaps we need to go back to preserving and/or freezing fruits and vegetables and patronize local organic meat and dairy farmers.
Above all we should avoid the big name brands and try to support those that benefit the farmer as well as ourselves.
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