Nassau Community College Fall 2010 Cultural Program Presents: 'The BP Oil Spill is a Wake-up Call, But For What?'

Raj Patel, controversial author, journalist and food policy expert, continuously challenges our presumptions about the global food economy with his work as a policy analyst and activist. He has worked for some of the most prestigious international organizations and protested against them, and constantly works to find ways to improve the global food system.

Patel's contention is that the biggest costs as a result of the BP oil spill have yet to be seen. Both in the oil that has already entered the Gulf ecosystem and the effects of mixing that oil with the dispersant BP used to lessen the sight of the spill, according to Patel, will have far reaching and as yet unknown consequences. He sees the BP oil spill and the resultant attempts at "clean-up" as the most recent and attention-grabbing aspect of "the reality that oil companies are damaging simply in their day-to-day operations."

Patel's most recent book, The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy, explores the economy's collapse and paints a picture of how achieving a fairer society and sustainable economy are possible. Patel is also author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, which discusses the growing worldwide food crisis and what needs to be done to solve it.

A London native, Patel graduated from Balliol College at Oxford and pursued his Ph.D. from Cornell University, which led him to research land reform politics. After working for the World Bank, interning at the World Trade Organization and consulting for the United Nations, he has become a harsh critic of their methods, and has been tear-gassed on four continents protesting against them.

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