Road to a Hunger-Free America

Curated from hundreds of Mark Winne’s articles, blog posts, and speeches, this book documents 20 years of progress against the rampages of the industrial food system. Beginning in the 1960s, the United States slowly awakened to an entirely new way of thinking about its most life-sustaining ingredient—food. Understanding the link between health and diet drove millions to a greater consciousness about their eating. Learning that the American food system had been captured by large corporations that practiced industrial forms of agriculture and food manufacturing spawned the organic farming movement, farmers’ markets, and an intense pursuit of locally grown food. The revelation that tens of millions of Americans were hungry and malnourished evoked public outrage and cast the spotlight on how racism and poverty bitterly shaped the lives of so many. Mark Winne has not only borne witness to these events, but also actively worked to find solutions to the many failures that have wracked the system. Each of the essays in this book is about one or more facets of the American food system, including hunger and food insecurity, diet and health, race and justice, farming, climate change, and sustainability. Organized by people, places, and actions that have had noteworthy impact on the food movement over the past two decades, these pieces demonstrate and encourage positive and effective responses to a growing list of challenges to food security, sustainability, and health.