Raj Patel

Raj Patel is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.

He has degrees from the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell University, has worked for the World Bank and WTO, and protested against them around the world. Raj co-taught the 2014 Edible Education class at UC Berkeley with Michael Pollan. In 2016 he was recognized with a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award. He has testified about the causes of the global food crisis to the US, UK and EU governments and is a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems.

In addition to scholarly publications in economics, philosophy, politics and public health journals, he regularly writes for The Guardian, and has contributed to the Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Times of India, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Mail on Sunday, and The Observer.

His first book was Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. His second,  The Value of Nothing, was a New York Times and international best-seller. He is the co-author with Jason W. Moore of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things. His acclaimed latest book, co-authored with Rupa Marya,  is entitled Inflamed: Deep Medicine and The Anatomy of Injustice.

His first film, co-directed with Zak Piper and filmed over the course of a decade in Malawi and the United States, is the award-winning documentary The Ants & The Grasshopper. He can be heard co-hosting the food politics podcast The Secret Ingredient with Mother Jones’ Tom Philpott, and KUT’s Rebecca McInroy.

Raj Patel headshot, in a green shirt against a grey background

You Might Also Like:

Contact Dr. Vandana Shiva's speaker agent at Evil Twin Booking Agency Inc to host Dr. Vandana Shiva for a keynote or lecture

Vandana Shiva

Physicist, ecofeminist, environmental activist for food sovereignty

To host Majora Carter for a speaking engagement, contact her agents at the Evil Twin Booking Agency.

Majora Carter

Urban revitalization & green-infrastructure consultant, MacArthur Fellow and Peabody Award winning broadcaster

Boots Riley is the director and writer of Sorry To Bother You, lead vocalist of The Coup, and a speaker on progressive movement building. He is available for speaking engagements via Evil Twin Booking Agency.

Boots Riley

Director of Sorry To Bother You and I’m A Virgo + vocalist for The Coup

Scroll to Top