FOR DECADES, NGOS TARGETING WORLD HUNGER FOCUSED ON ENSURING THAT
ADEQUATE QUANTITIES OF FOOD WERE BEING SENT TO THOSE IN NEED. In the
1990s, the international food policy community turned its focus to the
"hidden hunger" of micronutrient deficiencies, a problem that resulted
in two scientific solutions: fortification, the addition of nutrients
to processed foods, and biofortification, the modification of crops to
produce more nutritious yields. This hidden hunger was presented as a
scientific problem to be solved by "experts" and scientifically
engineered smart foods rather than through local knowledge, which was
deemed unscientific and, hence, irrelevant.
In Hidden Hunger, Aya Hirata Kimura explores this recent emphasis on
micronutrients and smart foods within the international development
community and, in particular, how the voices of women were silenced
despite their expertise in food purchasing and preparation. Kimura
grounds her analysis in case studies of attempts to enrich and market
three basic foods—rice, wheat flour, and baby food—in Indonesia.
She shows the power of nutritionism and how its technical focus
enhanced the power of corporations as a government partner while
restricting public participation in the making of policy for public
health and food. She also analyzes the role of advertising to promote
fortified foodstuffs and traces the history of Golden Rice, a crop
genetically engineered to alleviate vitamin A deficiencies. Situating
the recent turn to smart food in Indonesia and elsewhere as part of a
long history of technical attempts to solve the Third World food
problem, Kimura deftly analyzes the intersection of scientific
expertise, market forces, and gendered knowledge to illuminate how
hidden hunger ultimately defined women as victims rather than as
active agents.
Read more
Gender and the Politics of Smarter Foods
Product details
ISBN
9780801467684
Published
2017
Edition
1. edition
Publisher
Cornell University Press
Language
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Author