Food Politics

Robert Paarlberg is Betty Freyhof Johnson Class of 1944 Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College and Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Associate at Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. A leading authority on food policy, his books include Starved for Science, Policy Reform in American Agriculture, and Fixing Farm Trade.

"The author is an academic, not a journalist, and his efforts to get the food facts right ring through every page. Paarlberg challenges many of the ideas that are frequently voiced - but rarely questioned - in popular food discourse...Although many of his claims call into question sacrosanct principles in activist and academic circles, there are good reasons to hear Paarlberg out; he backs up his arguments with data, and writes based on decades of experienceas a political scientist and policy analyst working in the field." --Nature Geoscience"Paarlberg's book is a timely contribution to the discussion about the politics of food, both domestically and internationallyEL. Although advocates of alternative farming methods are unlikely to agree with Food Politics, they should nevertheless read it. Paarlberg is a serious, knowledgeable scholar." --Journal of Politics"[Paarlberg] is one of the most distinguished academics in the field of global food politics and is able to draw on a lifetime of research. Although the book is clearly underpinned by a considerable body of evidence, the writing style is engaging and easily digestible. It would serve as an excellent introduction to the topic for students." --International Studies Review"Going well beyond its title, Food Politics addresses key questions about agriculture, including consumers' concerns about food safety, producers' concerns about price volatility, and taxpayers' concerns about subsidies. Paarlberg organizes his material around a long list of questions about food policies and practices...His answers to these and many other questions are accessible and nuanced." --Foreign Affairs"A much needed corrective to a clanging bandwagon of culinary protest that asks well-off consumers to drop out, stay local and go green, while the rest of the world worries about its next bowl of rice." --The Texas Observer"The great strength of Food Politics is the breadth of topics covered. For an undergraduate class, this book will provide students exposure to the world of food production and provisioning and the underlying political and social ideas and research that shape food and our relationship to itEL.As the subtitle suggests, Paarlberg covers almost every topic that one should know about food. Additionally, Paarlberg uses simple but precise language to coverthe vast array of food topics...The strengths of the book encouraged me to use it in a directed readings course." --The American Journal of Agricultural Economics

• Preface to Second Edition ; Chapter One: An Overview of Food Politics ; Chapter Two: Food Production and Population Growth ; Chapter Three: The Politics of High Food Prices ; Chapter Four: The Politics of Chronic Hunger and Famine ; Chapter Five: Food Aid And Agricultural Development Assistance ; Chapter Six: The Green Revolution Controversy ; Chapter Seven: The Politics of Obesity ; Chapter Eight: The Politics of Farm Subsidies and Trade ; Chapter Nine: Farming, the Environment, Climate Change, and Water ; Chapter Ten: Livestock, Meat, and Fish ; Chapter Eleven: Agribusiness, Supermarkets, and Fast Food ; Chapter Twelve: Organic and Local Food ; Chapter Thirteen: Food Safety and Genetically Engineered Food ; Chapter Fourteen: Who Governs the World Food System? ; Chapter Fifteen: The Future of Food Politics ; Suggestions for Further Reading ; Index