The shame of hunger.. lunch, justice, and money in the twenty-first century - David Reeve

Why did the world fail to find a solution to the hunger crisis in the twenty-first century? This is the main and most important question posed by the author of the book, David Reeve, a prominent expert in humanitarian aid and development, who is evaluating whether the end of extreme poverty and widespread hunger is truly within our reach as our increasing promises have suggested. The book indicates that in 2000, world leaders and many of their advisors agreed that eradicating hunger was a top priority for the new millennium and a challenge likely to be overcome by the middle of this century. Despite this, wheat, soybean, and rice prices rose over the past decade, widening the poverty gap and sparking a wave of political unrest. Consequently, this crushing crisis cast its shadow on the poorest populations in the southern world, or what is called the billion at the bottom, who live on less than a dollar a day and are always suffering from hunger. In this context, David Reeve, in his book The Shame of Hunger, focuses on exploring the underlying causes of the food security crisis as well as the reasons behind the failures in responding to this humanitarian disaster. In addition to problems caused by climate change, mismanagement of crises, and misleading optimism, the book issues a loud warning about the consequences of increasing privatization of development aid plans and programs. Here, the author warns against intervention practices by celebrity food rights activists, noting that their proposed solutions driven by interests and commercial motives strip development of its urgent political substance. Finally, the author rejects the hope that food scarcity can be solved solely through technological innovation, and calls for us to rethink the fundamental causes of the strange disparities in wealth around the world, viewing the problem as a political challenge that we all fail to confront.