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Raj Patel |
The 25th annual J. Earl Moreland Lecture on Asia will be held at Randolph-Macon College on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in Blackwell Auditorium, R-MC Center for the Performing Arts.
Controversial author, journalist and food policy expert Raj Patel will present "The Global Footprint of Asia’s Hunger." Patel continuously challenges our presumptions about the global food economy with his work both as a policy analyst and activist. He has worked for some of the most prestigious international organizations and protested against them, and constantly works to find ways to improve the global food system.
Half the world is stuffed, half of it is starved. How can this be? With a world food crisis going on, Patel traces the causes from farm to fork, revealing startling truths about a greatly flawed food system that is dominated by a few, but powerful, major corporations.
Author of the international bestseller
Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, Patel exposes how the food market is structured between consumers, farmers, and a handful of corporations in-between. Ultimately, it is the power of these modern food giants that influence the environmental, social, and economic factors that determine how food ends up on tables throughout the world.
Intelligent and thought-provoking, Patel follows our food from seed to store to plate. Examining the scope of hunger and globalization, he explains the steps necessary to regain control of the global food economy, stop the exploitation of farmers and consumers, and rebalance global sustenance. Taking aim at supermarkets and financial institutions that perpetuate these inequalities, he suggests ways we can bypass the industrial food system and get back in touch with what we eat and the people who produce it.
Moving from the ongoing food crisis to our nation's economic collapse, Patel explores cost and value in his latest book,
The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy. Hailed as a thought-provoking piece that deeply probes the nation’s economic structure, Patel discusses the economy’s collapse and paints a clear picture of how achieving a fairer society and sustainable economy are possible. The book has been hailed as a thought-provoking piece that deeply probes the nation’s economic structure, explores the economy’s collapse, and paints a clear picture of how achieving a fairer society and sustainable economy are possible.
A graduate of Oxford and the London School of Economics, Patel earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University, and he has been a visiting scholar at Yale and University of California, Berkeley.
Each spring, the J. Earl Moreland Lecture on Asia brings a distinguished expert to the Randolph-Macon campus for a public lecture. The purpose of the lecture is to create greater student understanding and interest in Asian affairs through direct contact with distinguished scholars and prominent professionals. The lecture series was established through the generous donation of the late Dr. Lik Kiu Ding ’49 to commemorate Dr. J. Earl Moreland, who served as president of R-MC from 1939-67.
This event is free and open to the public. Seating is first come, first served. A question and answer period and book signing will follow the lecture.
For more information, contact Pam Cox (804) 752-3712,
pamelacox@rmc.edu or Anne Marie Lauranzon (804) 752-7317,
alauranz@rmc.edu.