Is the G8 writing politics out of hunger?

In a blog for the Guardian, Raj Patel argues that the G8’s vision for tackling hunger is ignoring the politics of malnutrition – and that the link between hunger and poverty is being written out of public statements.

“One of the things about inadequate nutrition is that it generally affects people who are poor. Although many campaigners and epidemiologists have pointed this out, it was almost impossible to hear the connection between malnutrition and poverty at the summit. This isn’t an innocent omission. This is how nutrition becomes what anthropologist James Ferguson calls an anti-political device. It turns a symptom of poverty into the ends of policy.”

Earlier this week, Ian Scoones cautioned on this blog against presented hunger as a technical issue, at the expense of wider social and political questions about the food system.