Hunger and Obesity Are Food Security Issues
June 27, 2012
Obesity is a growing problem worldwide.
The U.N. says nearly a billion people go to bed hungry every night. At the same time, hundreds of millions of others are obese. An activist and author says solving those twin crises depends on knowing who’s wielding the power over food and marketing.
Raj Patel is the author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. He says hunger and obesity are not just a matter of eating too little or too much. He said it has to do with what people are eating and the systems and institutions driving consumption.
“I have a very personal connection to the power in the food system. First of all, my parents are convenience store owners. So they sell the sweets and the fats and the sugars that are making the world more overweight. But at the same time my family is also suffering the consequences. There isn’t a man over 50 in my family who doesn’t have diabetes,” he said.
Patel is a fellow at the Institute for Food and Development Policy in Oakland, California and an honorary research fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
There’s growing investment in agriculture around the world to feed an expected population of 9 billion by 2050. But as emerging economies grow in Africa and Asia, consumers in those regions are switching to a more Western diet. It’s a diet many blame for obesity, as well as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
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