"Stuart Gillespie's book Food Fight offers a sharp diagnosis: a global system once designed to stave off famine through cheap, calorie-dense foods now fuels obesity, disease, environmental harm and inequality. Drawing on four decades of experience in global nutrition and policy, Gillespie argues that tinkering won't do. Fixing the system will take nothing less than a revolution. The statistics that Gillespie presents in this eye-opening book are shocking:"
"poor diet now accounts for one-quarter of all adult deaths worldwide (more than 12 million a year); malnutrition in all its forms affects one in three people; and ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which are highly profitable to corporations, are linked to as many as one in seven premature deaths in some countries. Moreover, food production generates roughly one-quarter of global greenhouse-gas emissions."
"Gillespie attributes many of these issues to corporate greed, weak regulation by governments and complicit international organizations. The result is a system that prioritizes profit, with people and the planet paying the price. The book traces the shaping of modern food systems to colonialism. Agriculture during colonial times was extractive, and geared towards the production of profitable items, including sugar, tea, coffee and cocoa, rather than nourishing local populations."
Global food systems originally designed to prevent famine through cheap, calorie-dense foods now drive obesity, disease, environmental damage, and inequality. Poor diet causes roughly one-quarter of adult deaths worldwide, malnutrition affects one in three people, and ultra-processed foods are linked to many premature deaths. Food production contributes about one-quarter of global greenhouse-gas emissions. Corporate concentration, weak government regulation, and complicit international organizations prioritize profit over people and the planet. Colonial extractive agriculture shaped modern systems by favoring profitable commodity production over local nourishment. Meaningful solutions require systemic, transformative change rather than incremental tinkering.
#food-systems-reform #malnutrition-and-obesity #corporate-power-in-agriculture #climate-and-agriculture
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