“We are the first generation to know we are undermining the life-support systems of our planet—and the last that can still do something about it.”

Current Role
Author, activist, and academic. Research professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he focuses on global food systems, inequality, and social movements.

Notable Achievement
Patel is the author of acclaimed books including Stuffed and Starved and The Value of Nothing, which dissect the failures of global capitalism and expose the contradictions of modern food and economic systems. He is also a leading voice in the international food sovereignty movement.

His view on what is happening now
Raj Patel argues that the global economy is structurally unjust, designed to enrich a small elite while leaving billions vulnerable. Nowhere is this more evident than in the food system: while millions suffer from hunger, billions more are malnourished through cheap, ultra-processed diets. He describes this as “stuffed and starved”—a system that produces both obesity and famine, abundance and scarcity, often side by side.

Patel highlights how these inequalities are not accidents but the result of policy choices, trade rules, and corporate power. He is critical of market-based solutions that treat food and nature as commodities, pointing out that these approaches perpetuate exploitation and ecological collapse rather than solving them.

His long-term solutions
Patel’s vision centers on food sovereignty: the right of people to define their own food systems, rooted in justice, democracy, and ecological sustainability. He calls for dismantling corporate monopolies, reforming trade regimes, and empowering local communities and small-scale farmers.

For the long term, Patel argues that we must move beyond consumerism and redefine value itself. True prosperity, in his view, comes not from endless growth but from equity, care, and collective responsibility for people and planet. His solutions emphasize grassroots movements, collective action, and systemic change—transforming the economy so that it serves humanity rather than the other way around.