What are the hidden costs of our current food system and its deep reliance on fossil fuels, a system that burdens citizens with financial, health and environmental consequences? With Raj Patel, research professor at the University Texas at Austin and IPES-Food panel member, we cover this and Christopher Columbus's wicked legacy, middle-class environmentalism, and what a food system free of fossil fuels could look like. 

We thought this extended interview with Raj Patel was so compelling we wanted to share it in its entirety.

Raj Patel is a member of the IPES-Food panel, a filmmaker, best-selling author, and a research professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. His research on political ecology and food systems has been widely translated and taught, particularly his book “Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System” (2012). He recently completed an award-winning documentary project on climate change, gender and agroecology: The Ants & The Grasshopper.     

Report: A MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR OPPORTUNITY: Repurposing agricultural support to transform food systems (UNDP, 2021)

Report: Detox Development: Repurposing Environmentally Harmful Subsidies (World Bank, 2023)  

Film: The Ants & the Grasshopper (Raj Patel and Zak Piper, 2021)

Book: A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet (Raj Patel and Jason Moore, 2017)