Key Reading on Global Food Security

Barrett, Christopher B.  Food aid after fifty years: recasting its role, by Christopher B. Barrett and Daniel G. Maxwell.  Routledge, 2005.  314p bibl index ISBN 0415701252  pbk, $48.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2006may CHOICE.
43-5378  HV696   MARC

This authoritative volume is a timely addition to the economics literature on food aid. Barrett (Cornell Univ.) and Maxwell (CARE), both prominent experts in the field, present a thorough, balanced, and accessible overview of the central economic and political issues surrounding food aid. In the process of exploring the history, institutions, and key analytical issues, the authors debunk 13 common myths about food aid and provide numerous short case studies. Coverage includes all major bilateral food aid programs (with a chapter on the US program, the largest and most self-interested); multilateral agencies and agreements (especially the World Food Programme); uses of food aid; key problems such as targeting; and concrete recommendations for reform. Taken together, the evidence provides very convincing support for the book’s central argument–that food aid is often an inappropriate method of resource transfer whose primary beneficiaries are a collection of very small but influential special interest groups in donor countries. Recommendations illustrate how appropriate uses of food aid, coupled with other resources, could form part of a coherent rights-based development assistance strategy. While the text is easily accessible to generalists, the extensive notes and bibliography provide an extremely valuable resource for researchers. Summing Up: Essential. Public, academic, lower-division undergraduate and up, and professional library collections. — C. Kilby, Vassar College 

Belasco, Warren.  Meals to come: a history of the future of food.  California, 2006.  358p bibl index afp  (California studies in food and culture, 16) ISBN 0-520-24151-7, $55.00; ISBN 9780520250352  pbk, $21.95; ISBN 9780520241510, $55.00; ISBN 0520250354 pbk, $21.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2007may CHOICE.
44-5011  TX353  2005-36472 CIP 
 
 Over the past few decades there has been considerable concern about what people will do when oil reserves run out. Belasco (American studies, Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County) discusses an equally important problem: will there always be enough food to go around? With the world’s population increasing rapidly, and other problems such as global warming, water scarcity, pollution, and limited agricultural land, it is obviously a serious problem. Furthermore, there is little agreement among experts. Some believe that future technologies and developments will take care of the problem, but many are worried about shortages and famines in the not-too-distant future. Belasco takes a comprehensive look at this problem. He begins with a history of past debates, discusses various aspects of food production, distribution, etc., and finishes with speculation about the future (but admits that he is not sure how it will all turn out). The book is crammed full of useful information, and it has obviously been carefully researched. An excellent resource for anyone interested in the area. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates; faculty; professionals. — B. R. Parker, emeritus, Idaho State University

Ending hunger in our lifetime: food security and globalization, by C. Ford Runge et al.  Johns Hopkins, 2003.  288p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8018-7725-3, $55.00; ISBN 0-8018-7726-1 pbk, $19.95. Reviewed in 2004jan CHOICE.
41-2918  HD9000  2003-44709 CIP

How the world will feed its growing population is the main issue raised in this publication of the International Food Policy Research Institute. Part 1, “The Challenge,” describes the world’s demand for food today, its supply, prices, and distribution, and forecasts what can be expected with respect to each over the next five decades. The authors examine alternative population and economic growth rates, relative changes in food prices and income distribution, and a range of international and national public policies. Their primary focus is on those regions most hunger prone: sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, China, South Asia, India, Latin America, Middle East/North Africa, and the newly independent states. Part 2, “Solutions,” focuses on policies and institutions to improve human capital investments in health and education; to increase agricultural productivity through investment in research, development, and extension and through the management of the scientific, water, and climatic commons; and to improve food distribution by enhancing environments that encourage economic growth, more open and fair trade, and more equitable access to social capital. Appendixes contain brief discussions of the authors’ model and methodology and a list of organizations working to end hunger. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals and others interested in issues of security and development. — M. J. Frost, Wittenberg University 

Ethical sourcing in the global food system, ed. by Stephanie Barrientos and Catherine Dolan.  Earthscan Publications Ltd, 2006.  204p index afp ISBN 1844071995 pbk, $42.50; ISBN 9781844071999 pbk, $42.50. Reviewed in 2006dec CHOICE.
44-2218  HD9000  2006-1116 CIP
 
Editors Barrientos (Institute of Development Studies, Univ. of Sussex, UK) and Dolan (sociology and anthropology, Northeastern Univ.) have compiled a collection of papers on fair and ethical trade as it relates to the global food supply. They open with definitions and an overview and conclude with brief thoughts on the future of the problem. Contributed chapters by scholars, practitioners, and activists explore the practice and theory of fair and ethical trade in food from a variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives including social auditing, gender economy, and political economy. Chapters range from sweeping overviews of economic problems to highly specific case studies. This collection offers a balanced perspective on complicated issues, acknowledging problems in the system but with hope toward improvement. As with many edited works, this volume ranges in style from dry to engaging. Some disparities in chapter style and quality could have been mitigated with thoughtful sectioning of similar pieces or additional editorial context for the individual contributions. The editors present a multidimensional complement to other recent work, e.g., Fair Trade: Market-Driven Ethical Consumption by Alex Nicholls and Charlotte Opal (CH, Jan’06, 43-2905) and Joseph Stiglitz’s Fair Trade for All (CH, Jul’06, 43-6660). Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduate through professional collections. — J. M. Deutsch, CUNY Kingsborough Community College 

Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO).  Internet Resource. Reviewed in 2006oct CHOICE.
http://www.fao.org/ 
44-0913

[Visited Jul’06] Like most of its siblings in the UN system, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) site contains an impressive range of content. Typically a three-column structure is maintained whether one navigates laterally or vertically. However, major FAO groups such as Forestry, Fisheries, or Economics and Statistics vary widely in formatting and categorization, which, given the site’s scope, can lead one astray. The main page is generally well organized with a left column that provides excellent links to the background and structure of FAO, its major components, its international partners, and a link to the UN Web site locator. The center column is devoted to timely topics, followed by links to current major issues facing the organization. The upper right column houses a Knowledge Forum, whose function is to disseminate information on specific issues through an FAQ section, a best practices area, and Knowledge Networks, which link to forums, discussions, and sites on particular issues.

Quantitative data is sometimes not current, and there is occasional redundancy in the organization of statistical pathways. The directory of information categories on the main page, for example, contains Economics and Statistics and also Statistical Databases. The link for the former goes to a page that again contains a Statistics Division and a Statistical Databases link. The Statistical Databases links are listed one by one, whereas the data links in the organizational statistics pages are embedded within broader narrative context. Despite the somewhat unwieldy organization, the data is coherent and well charted, providing excellent complementary information to the country reports that many libraries license either as separate databases or as embedded components of business or political resources. Overall, the depth and breadth of content makes the site worth the navigational effort. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels. — L. S. Cline, Missouri State University 

Kent, George.  Freedom from want: the human right to adequate food.  Georgetown University, 2005.  271p bibl index afp ISBN 1-58901-055-8, $49.95; ISBN 1589010566  pbk, $26.95. Reviewed in 2006mar CHOICE.
43-4294  HD9000  2004-25023 CIP
 
While concerned about freedom from want, this book is also an overview of international human rights. Kent (Univ. of Hawaii) engages in a discussion concerning the distinctions between civil and political rights, and economic, social, and cultural rights. Whereas civil and political rights have been the focus of human rights advocates since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, economic, social, and cultural rights (such as freedom from want) are now gaining increasing attention. The author describes this evolution and makes an argument for the equal importance of each set of rights. Chapter 5 offers an informative analysis of the distinction between “soft” and “hard” rights. Kent makes the case for thinking about human rights in terms of the goals they imply. The last chapter makes the argument for thinking about human rights not so much in a national context as in terms of global rights and global obligations. A well-written book and one that could be used in classes about human rights. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and academic audiences, lower-division undergraduate through faculty. — E. W. Webking, emeritus, University of Lethbridge
 
Kiple, Kenneth F.  A movable feast: ten millennia of food globalization.  Cambridge, 2007.  368p bibl index ISBN 0-521-79353-X, $27.00; ISBN 9780521793537, $27.00. Reviewed in 2007dec CHOICE.
45-2003  TX353  2006-28231 CIP
 
Based on the earlier The Cambridge World History of Food, ed. by Kiple and Ornelas (CH, Jun’01, 38-5601), this volume focuses more narrowly on the globalization of food and food ways from the time of hunter-gatherers to the present. Kiple chronicles the roles played by natural forces, the birth of agriculture, the prescriptions and proscriptions of religion, and the rise of empires, imperialism, and capitalism on the dispersal around the globe of edible plant and animal species and of native cuisines. He also describes the influences of various geographical regions on this dispersal, principal among them being the New World of the Americas, which provided such essential species as maize and potatoes through its “Columbian Exchange.” Later chapters discuss the relationship between globalization and topics of current interest, including nutrition and nutritional diseases, malnutrition and obesity, genetic engineering, and the globalization of fast food with its concomitant spread of American culture around the world. With regard to this last topic, Kiple’s analysis is particularly clear and objective. Although some topics, such as food nutrition and nutritional diseases, could be linked more closely to the book’s general theme of globalization, the book reads fluently, is well researched, and almost extravagant in use of detail. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. — D. M. Gilbert, Maine Maritime Academy 

Lang, Tim.  Food wars: the global battle for mouths, minds and markets, by Tim Lang and Michael Heasman.  Earthscan Publications Ltd, 2004.  265p index afp ISBN 1-85383-701-6, $99.95; ISBN 1853837024 pbk, $35.00. Reviewed in 2005feb CHOICE.
42-3382  TX359  2003-22771 CIP

This in-depth study of food policy–how food functions and how it is controlled throughout the world–examines potential solutions to five key elements of food: health, business, consumer culture, environment, and governance. Lang (food policy, City Univ., London) and Heasman (visiting research fellow, City Univ., London) explore three food paradigms: the Life Sciences Integrated (relying on biotechnology) and the Ecologically Integrated (preserving ecological diversity), both vying to overthrow the existing Productionist pattern (mass processing of food for mass markets). The authors contend that food policy must address the issues of diet and health, diet and disease, and environmental damage. The book is challenging for the casual reader but will interest and inform scholars of global nutrition, the food industry, or environmentalism. The authors support their arguments with an abundance of graphs and charts and include substantial notes and references for further research. The general reader will be particularly interested in chapter 5, which addresses health and nutrition issues of current concern in an interesting, compelling way. This is a significant book on a contemporary topic. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. — S. Hassig, Central Arizona College 

Sanchez, Pedro.  Halving hunger: it can be done, by Pedro Sanchez et al.  Earthscan Publications Ltd/Millennium Project, 2005.  245p bibl afp ISBN 1844072207 pbk, $49.50. Reviewed in 2006apr CHOICE.
43-4734  HV696   MARC

The first chapter of this volume based on the work of the UN Millennium Project focuses on the definition of hunger: food and nutritional insecurity; it also explores the reasons for this insecurity, including food availability, socioeconomic and political access and inequalities, sanitation and health facilities, agricultural productivity, environmental factors, conflict, and natural disasters. The following two chapters examine the regions of the world (South and East Asia, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East) where the majority of undernourished people (as evidenced by dietary intake and underweight children) live, and the strategy that the Millennium Project’s Task Force on Hunger proposes for addressing the problems of hunger. The details of this strategy, which include global, national, and community interventions, are outlined in seven recommendations, discussed sequentially in chapters 4 through 10. The final chapter discusses the implementation of these recommendations. This book is a valuable resource of recent information on global hunger, with many tables, maps, fact boxes, and figures, as well as an appendix on underweight prevalence by subregion and an extensive bibliography. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, professionals. — E. P. Renne, University of Michigan 

Shaw, D. John. World food security: a history since 1945. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 510p bibl index afp ISBN 0230553559 $150.00 Reviewed in 2008jul CHOICE.
45-6304  HD9000 CIP

This comprehensive volume surveys international organizations’ attempts to develop world food policies from the 1930s through the present within the framework of evolving development paradigms.  Shaw, who has three decades of experience with the UN’s World Food Programme and other international organizations, covers a broad range of topics: the evolution of food issues (surpluses, scarcities, and unequal access); international institutions and their campaigns; philosophical (ideological) approaches to human rights to food, nutrition, and poverty alleviation; and nation-state agendas and global decision-making processes.  The volume, organized in four parts, throughout emphasizes important events, peoples, ideas, strategies, and goals.  Part 1, covering 1945-70, focuses on the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organization and debates about international commodity clearinghouses, the world food reserve, international commodity agreements, and food aid.  Part 2 (1970-90) addresses food crises ca. 1973-74 and responses to them, including the world food and employment conferences; proposals for emergency food reserves; early warning systems; international trade; and food entitlement and subsidies.  Part 3 summarizes the major issues, goals, and strategies of each of the major international conferences, 1990-2005, on a range of issues dealing with food security.  The final part assesses food security issues today.  Summing Up: Recommended.  Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. — M. J. Frost, Wittenberg University
 
Staples, Amy L.S.  The birth of development: how the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization, and World Health Organization changed the world, 1945-1965.  Kent State, 2006.  349p bibl index afp ISBN 0-87338-849-6, $55.00; ISBN 9780873388498, $55.00. Reviewed in 2007feb CHOICE.
44-3397  HG3881  2005-17208 CIP

Well researched and well written, this book focuses on three international institutions from their inception till the mid-1960s: the World Bank (WB), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Initial chapters cover the history, mission, and operational structure of each institution. All the agencies recruited idealist, professional leaders and staff who emphasized science, technology, and rational, apolitical analysis. They all started with grand objectives, but as Staples (history, Middle Tennessee State Univ.) reports, frequently did not achieve them. Western nations had their own model of development and division of labor. The WB, not a UN agency, had its own definition of development and criteria for lending, which persists to this day. The FAO intended to eliminate hunger around the world, but it lacked resources, and it was difficult to impose science and technology on countries that were mostly illiterate. Similarly, the WHO initiated the eradication of malaria program but was surprised by the harsh reaction to the use of DDT. Staples illustrates successful cases of development in India and Bangladesh based on local customs and knowledge. All students of economic development and international relations should read this well-documented book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. — E. H. Tuma, emeritus, University of California, Davis 

Vernon, James.  Hunger: a modern history.  Belknap, Harvard, 2007.  369p bibl index afp ISBN 0-674-02678-0, $29.95; ISBN 9780674026780, $29.95. Reviewed in 2008jun CHOICE.
45-5720  HC260  2007-17979 CIP
 
Vernon (Berkeley) has already written a well-regarded book on 19th-century British political culture (Politics and the People, CH, Jul’94, 31-6208), but this excellent book by a young and increasingly influential academic historian is far more widely engaged with social, economic, medical, scientific, and political history as it studies how the British and their governments have understood, assigned meanings to, and responded to hunger over the last two centuries. An opening chapter explains why Britain’s experience has been formative for the modern world as it moved from seeing hunger as an inevitable part of nature and a moral failing of individuals to being a condition mutable by human effort that established new moral categories for modern society and encouraged harnessing intellectual, economic, and governmental resources for its redress. Vernon establishes the historical roots of hunger as a worldwide concern as well as the continuing malleability of responses to it. This is a study of political culture and its intertwining with nutritional science, public education, welfare provision, modern citizenship, and a host of other cultural modalities. It suffers from poor proofing, and, despite copious notes, has no separate bibliography; nevertheless, it is an impressive historical study that will be widely read and cited. It should be in all library collections. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — M. J. Moore, Appalachian State University 

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