About Raj
Raj Patel is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and academic dedicated to exposing and transforming the injustices within the global food system. Born with Kenyan-Fijian and British roots, he has held positions with organizations like the World Bank and the United Nations, but is also known for being an outspoken protester against the negative impacts of global economic policies. Raj currently serves as a Research Professor in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin, and a Senior Research Associate at the University currently known as Rhodes University in South Africa. He has advised the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and is a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food). His influential books include Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System and the New York Times best-seller The Value of Nothing. His latest book, co-authored with Dr. Rupa Marya, is Inflamed: Deep Medicine and The Anatomy of Injustice (2021), which links systemic issues like colonialism and capitalism to chronic inflammation and poor health. Raj continues to focus on storytelling as a form of activism. He recently completed the award-winning documentary The Ants & The Grasshopper (2022) about climate change and agroecology, and he continues his mission to democratize food system discussions through his work and the Generation Food project.
