After extensive research and two decades of observation, David Rieff, in The Reproach of Hunger, offers a nuanced perspective on hunger and poverty. In this critical look at those entrusted to solve food crises and end hunger, including farming advocates and tech-savvy "philanthrocapitalists," Rieff (Swimming in a Sea of Death) examines what solutions they have pursued and questions whether they, often without oversight by governments or the people suffering, actually understand the complexity of the problem.
According to Rieff, hunger is a problem rooted in economic, political and technological choices. He argues that many of the problem-solvers put their energies into optimistic fantasies that are doomed to fail, such as the Millennium Development Goals, which unrealistically aimed to "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger" by 2015. Modern assumptions surrounding food crises suggest hunger and poverty will end permanently if people try hard enough and throw enough money at the problem. Blinded by good intentions, these people and organizations fail to see their goals are not feasible. More than that, Reiff argues that the changes that have occurred are not sustainable, nor do they empower the people who are suffering.
In showing how and why attempts to feed the world have failed, Rieff reveals how deeply rooted popular thinking about poverty has become. His outlook is bleak, but not hopeless. While Reiff does not offer a solution, he instead calls for a complete rethink and deconstruction of the status quo, without which there will not be meaningful, lasting change. --Justus Joseph, bookseller at Elliott Bay Book Company