IMAGE: MALI MAEDER / PEXELS
REVIEW ADI ISKANDAR
comes from partial and partisan sources. She makes clear of her allegiances early on, though, which suggests a strong desire to be as objective as possible. Interestingly, the book’s dense and detailed approach means that while it remains accessible to the layman, I suspect many will be turned off by the actual size of the book, as well as the information. If the devil is in the detail, then Food Politics (as well as the politics of food) can be incredibly devilish in parts. Incidentally, I believe this can be solved with even more words. As it so happened, I read this book at the same time as Taylor Branch’s The Clinton Tapes. A diary-like recollection of the author’s off-the-record on-the-record sessions with former president Bill Clinton, the books overlap in parts. Though the linkages are small, it helps me to bridge gaps of grey areas, as well as to connect Food Politics to the bigger picture. Fortune magazine dedicated an issue to Big Food not that long ago, while a segment of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight focused on the sugar industry. I greatly enjoyed these segues that lead back to the narrative in Food Politics, and I suspect an identical approach would grant you a similar level of 18 | CQ MAGAZINE | #6
satisfaction. Despite my misgivings, this book remains a timely and critical addition to our bookshelves. The author rightly points out the special role food plays in our life (we all have to eat, after all) as well as the unique situation food companies find themselves in. While there are physical limits as to how much of their products we can consume, such companies are still capitalist behemoths, prioritising their shareholders over the stakeholders that are us. This book certainly helps us better understand how these issues are played out in meeting rooms across Wall Street and Washington, before ultimately affecting everyone else all over the world. Having been consistently and greatly attacked by the industry and their supporters, Nestle notes that she must therefore be doing something right. In our case, it is our right to know more, and Food Politics will certainly help to set you on that diet. Food Politics is published by University of California Press.