Claudio Schuftan,

Claudio Schuftan, New Internationalist, July 1985

Ill Fares the Land
Essays on Food, Hunger, and Power
Susan George
Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, 1984 (102pp)
ISBN: 0-89758-039-7

In this, her fourth book - with a title borrowed from an eighteenth century oem, a subtitle with a comma too much and a cover design which is unattractive to me - Susan George compiles some of her miscellaneous writing from 1978 to 1982. The six essays cover topics like the political implications of overcoming hunger: and the shaping of our food systems and thus our environment by cultural. political and economic events seen historically. Susan George’s style is witty, often conversational and always refined. One gets the feeling she enjoys playing with words (i.e. "dependency is undependable".) One-liners and similar examples are found throughout the text (the kind I have taken note of to use in my own teaching). For reasons I cannot explain, after having read the foreword and the author’s note, I found myself reading the book’s essays backwards, from the last one to the first. So, reviewing them in that order.

In "A Knowledge of Hunger" to paraphrase Orwell, we are reminded that all social scientists are neutral, but that they are more neutral towards some social groups than towards others. We are also reminded that people from the rich world often fail to be accountable to the Third World countries they work in. and that their work often contributes to social control rather than liberation.

In "Dangerous Embrace. Culture, economics, politics and food systems" we are reminded that peasants are an indispensable and precious resource rather than an obstacle to development. Peasants, left to themselves and given enough physical space, are environmental improvers. Peasant practices represent very real knowledge - a knowledge that is not perfect, but perfectible.

"Overcoming Hunger. Strengthen the weak, weaken the strong" was a paper commissioned by the FAO from Susan George for the celebration of the first World Food Day in 1981, but never published, because it was deemed too polemic and political for the FAO’s taste. We are told that we have to move from indignation, via accurate analyses to better understanding, organization and politics. Resource transfer alone, in the absence of major structural changes, is futile - hence the title of this essay. It closes with eight suggestions for practical action.

My enthusiasm for "Ill fares the land" should be clear from this review. Get exposed to the rest of the reasons for it by reading the book.