British Raj

I wouldn't post this if it wasn't first class interview material. Nobody likes to be lectured and Raj Patel has a gift for conveying a lot of information, in a compelling manner with admirably restrained finger pointing yet candid picture painting on possibly the most important subject for our species. 

Even if the subject matter isn't quite of interest, please watch it and let me know if my judgement is awry. One caller goes on a bit long but in fact has something very revealing to say about how Corporations use monoculture to send prices crashing then buying up the land on the cheap.

Food For Thought

Some lovely soul had this in their feed and I don't recall who, which is a shame because I'd really like to connect a bit deeper with them? Is it you? Leave a comment please.

This TED talk came out in 2007 and I'm surprised I haven't seen it before. Not because I've seen all of them. But because it's the most robust case I've seen argued and presented at TED connected to this topic. You may recall that only recently I was switched on to Raj Patel and his ideas on food sovereignty, and so this is now two exemplary videos on a subject that is integral to our future unless you've bought into that monoculture vision peddled by Monsanto that the Gates Foundation is unfortunately investing in with a view to making profit out of hunger. (Zizek is so right on charity)

I heard a lovely quote earlier today. The people who want to sell you a nice smell are not interested in you. I think that's most interesting in light of the lovely touchy-feely Old Spice work which was responsive, warm, humorous and most importantly championed a seminal dialogue/real-time tone-of-voice (look at him, now look back at me) which could be tapped into later for what is now considered a text book case study for social media in marketing.

OK.... I've been interrupted and lost my train of thought so as I want to come back to paragraph above later. I'll just leave it up there as it will be useful. I hope it's not too distracting but if you find it confusing..... well just be grateful I haven't started mucking around with digital William Burroughs narrative cut up experiments. Not sold? No I don't blame you. Sorry about that.

So my point about this video is that it's so well argued I'm surprised it hasn't surfaced in my lifestream before. What it has done for me this morning is begun to coalesce further, some ideas on marketing, 21st century branding and most importantly reconciling that gap between wealth creation and consumption that nags at my amygdala like a rodent in 1984. 

I wont dip into the structural imbalance of capitalism and growth (I know I'm knee deep in Marx again) but what I will say is that this video re-enforces the point about food being pretty much the only link in the chain which can resolve the full spectrum of 21st century  impending doom.

From  diseases like type two diabetes epidemics in the USA and India, global obesity and starvation (an imbalance capitalism can't fix despite sufficient food being the hallmark of the 20th century) and say the extraordinary influence of big agra, big pharma, big retail and fast food (and yes I still see great work for McDonalds in all this which is why I love them). 

That's a tall claim but if, and if is a fucking huge word I know too well, but if we took all of those things really importantly, and actually we do but we're freaked out by the scale of our individual thoughts vis a vis planetary action. If we we're serious about nailing on the head some of the most pressing challenges of our time then what you and I next put into  our mouths, by hand or by silver cutlery, it doesn't matter. What you put in your mouth is the most influential consideration to make as a consumer ever I'd go as far as to say that once in control of that the word person is a much more powerful noun though we can settle on citizen if you wish.

Problem is, as I know all to very well from putting weight on a bit too quickly for my own liking. If self control over our own body mass is hard as hell to control. Then what chance has collective change got? Slim chance right?

I think there is a way though, and this video just nailed it a bit further for me. I hope you watch it because as I think things through I know I'm going to be asking for your input. I certainly don't have a hope in hell without it.

Bytes versus Bites

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

I'm into Food Sovereignty and La Via Campesina and Raj Patel at the moment so while I really like the design thinking that goes into IDEO's the future of the book, particularly the fluidity of the non-linear narrative as opposed to a thousand tabs opened up in Chrome or whatever it is we do to suck in a gigabyte a day, I'm struck by the yawning gap between the technology fetish of the geek advertising crowd, and the more engaging grounded topics of the real challenges of the 21st century.

I keep asking myself is advertising trivial?

Here's Raj, he can talk for 30 minutes or longer in a very engaging manner over issues that will, whether we ignore them or not be of consequence to us all. There were consequences to Wall Street excesses, though that didn't get in the way our trivial pursuits. Here's a taster because I know you are time starved?

Not that it's a competition or anything, as I'm a HUGE fan of Naomi Klein but in this New York interview attended by the Brooklyn Food Coalition Raj's compelling explanations are even more riveting than Klein who probably writes better if was being even handed or just nice. Anyway, here's an hour and half of two people who are a credit to the 21st century. I hope you get time to listen to this and through your own non linear narrative more of both.