Synopsis

“His excellent, if statistic-heavy, analysis of 50 years of domestic food policies, All You Can Eat, slams the demonization of the poor as malingerers and lambastes the racism and sexism that underscore this media-reinforced stereotype.”—L Magazine

“The thought-provoking investigation delves into the political and economic impact of food insecurity…Fortunately, Berg is adept at balancing facts with reflection, and humor…book is more of a cross between Super Size Me and Nickel and Dimed in the way he honestly confronts social malfunction.”—Philadelphia City Paper

“[Berg’s] well-considered proposals and optimism are refreshing...Here's hoping [Obama] can address the issue with Berg's balance of rationality and passion.”—Playboy.com

“It’s pure Berg: pointed and up-to-the-moment, with a hint of lefty anger that makes him the darling of hunger fighters everywhere.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

With the biting wit of Super Size Me and the passion of a lifelong activist, Joel Berg has his eye on the growing number of people who are forced to wait in lines at food pantries across the nation—the modern breadline. All You Can Eat reveals that hunger is a problem as American as apple pie, and shows what it is like when your income is not enough to cover rising housing and living costs and put food on the table.

Berg takes to task politicians who remain inactive; the media, which ignores hunger except during holidays and hurricanes; and the food industry, which makes fattening, artery-clogging fast food more accessible to the nation’s poor than healthy fare.

Berg challenges the new president to confront the most unthinkable result of US poverty—hunger—and offers a simple and affordable plan to end it for good. A spirited call to action, All You Can Eat shows how practical solutions for hungry Americans will ultimately benefit America’s economy and all of its citizens.

Joel Berg is the executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH). He served for eight years under the Clinton administration in Senior Executive Service positions in the US Department of Agriculture, creating a number of high-profile initiatives that fought hunger and implemented national service projects across the country.

Publishers Weekly

Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, spotlights domestic poverty and hunger in this book that has sharp words for politicians, charities and religious denominations. The author reveals how consistently the federal government has ignored the fact that 35.5 million Americans, including 12.6 million children, don't have enough to eat. Although local governments cared for hungry and poverty-stricken citizens in the pre-Depression years, contemporary politicos in Washington have alternately denied that hunger is a problem, then admitted its existence, then tried to eradicate it with programs that rarely last. Whether he is reasoning why the word hunger is better and more to-the-point than the government's term food insecure, pillorying hunger surveys that don't count the homeless or demonstrating how even well-meaning social services contribute to the problem, Berg is a passionate and articulate advocate. This book provides a range of practical solutions, but gets bogged down by an overwhelming amount of hard data and statistics, which may deter some readers from wanting to take a good-sized bite of it. (Nov.)

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Biography

Joel Berg is Executive Director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH). He served for eight years in the Clinton Administration in Senior Executive Service positions in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), creating a number of high-profile initiatives that fought hunger and implemented national service projects across the country.