All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?

1. Joel Berg's book All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America? is a sobering, well written account of the history and causes of hunger in America, as well as an overview of potential solutions.

Those of us who are passionate about local and organic foods talk a lot about how consumers should be willing to pay more for better food but, the fact is, many people can't even afford enough cheap, industrial food to feed themselves and their families.

Berg argues convincingly that, in spite of the good work and fine intentions of community anti-hunger programs, their impact on the problem is minimal compared to the potential effect of expanded government programs and broader policies aimed at ensuring that everyone is paid a living wage.

There is so much that is broken about the ways we produce and distribute food. I appreciate Berg's take on the issue, which comes from a background and perspective very different from most food activists I know. I can't help thinking, though, that I'd like to see the situation in a way that's even broader: the way we eat is intimately connected with the way we live, and we can't truly fix one without fixing the other.