http://www.inthesetimes.com/archives/tags/food/ In These Times features award-winning investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, insightful analysis of national and international affairs, and sharp cultural criticism about events and ideas that matter. en-us Expression Engine jessica@inthesetimes.com seamus@inthesetimes.com Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3786/food_fights/ Globally, 1 billion overweight people coexist with 800 million starving people. That's one of many perverse facts in Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System (Melville House, April 2008, U.S. release), author Raj Patel's searing indictment of the forces that shape what and how we eat. Patel is an ideal candidate to explain this tragic paradox: He has worked for the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations. But as the book's back cover notes, he's also been "tear-gassed on four continents protesting them." Patel writes that he is appalled by global food inequality, but he tempers his anger with the informed and sharp analysis of a policy-wonk (he's now a visiting… food food crisis Raj Patel David Sirota Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3801/let_them_eat_free_markets/ In April, crowds of angry Haitians -- reduced to eating mud cakes to staunch hunger -- erupted in deadly protests against high food prices, forcing the prime minister to resign. The price of rice, a staple of the Haitian diet, had risen 16 percent on the world market last year, then shot up 141 percent from January to April. Around the world, similar riots -- or fears of them -- have pushed governments to restrict exports, reduce tariffs, attack hoarding and take other desperate measures as prices of virtually all major food commodities have spiked -- and often fluctuated wildly. But in the months since Haitians hit the streets, leaders of the major international financial organizations -- the World Bank,… trade NAFTA international food David Sirota Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:00:38 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4282/cafeteria_kickbacks/ Editor's note: Generous support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute. At the end of the 2006 school year, children's nutrition advocate Dorothy Brayley had a disturbing conversation with a local dairy representative. He had come to her office to discuss participation in the summer trade show of food providers she runs as director of Kids First Rhode Island. At the time, the state's schools were buying 100,000 containers of milk each week. The salesman for Garelick Farms, New England's largest dairy, told Brayley that Sodexo--a food and facility management corporation that managed most of the state's school lunch programs--was paying Garelick more than competitors in order to get a bigger rebate. State Education… education food corporations David Sirota