August 14, 2026 Writing about “From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet”, Stuart Gillespie’s 2025 book, “Food Fight’ argues for a new, common vision of human and planetary health in which power over food systems is better balanced, building on a tradition, he cites, from Susan George’s How the Other Half Dies.”
Gillespie argues that the modern food system, as shaped after World War II to mass-produce cheap calories and avert famine (with geopolitical aims), has become a major driver of harm.
His main criticism is aimed at the concentration of food companies on a global scale: “Five companies – ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Cofco and Louis Dreyfus – control 70-90% of the global grain trade… Never before have we seen such a hyper-concentration of power at all points from farm to fork… Another four companies – ChemChina, Corteva, Bayer and BASF – control 66% of the world’s agricultural chemicals market, while a similar cluster… owns 53% of the global seed market.” Gillespie details corporate political tactics (analogous to those historically used by the tobacco industry) and policy inertia, while highlighting citizen movements, local successes (e.g., city-level strategies), and practical levers for change such as public procurement, taxes with revenue recycling, marketing restrictions, conflict-of-interest rules, and broader mobilization. The book mixes exposé with a call for structural transformation toward a system that prioritizes people and planet. He concludes: “The large-scale damage done to people and planet is a feature of our food system, not a bug.”
He particularly criticizes global trends in the consumption of ultra-processed foods.
“Governments need to act because malnutrition represents what economists call a market failure, a negative externality – and what the rest of us call an injustice.” He adds that “malnutrition is multi-causal in nature,” requiring a whole of government response, and “Economic growth won’t fix it. nor will technology.”
He criticizes nutritionists who promote national food fortification schemes or other efforts to provide vitamin and mineral supplements for involving the private sector (corporations). Yet he explains the importance of micronutrients: “micronutrient malnutrition also travels through generations. A lack of essential vitamins and minerals can be devestating for a pregnant woman and her unborn child. The micronutrient-deficient mother is more likely to have complications in pregnancy and more likely to die giving birth. Iron-deficiency anemia causes one in four maternal deaths around the world.”
Some of his history is confusing, such as when he writes about the Bay of Bengal famine “starting” in 1943, when the conditions leading to it began in 1942, and he refers to the United Nations in the same breath, though the U.N. was not founded until 1945. Yet, he is critical of the donors and aid agencies helping, referring to “white saviourism.”
He correctly critiques an obsession in the 1950s and 1960 with a “protein gamp” and notes how in 1974, Donald McLaren “blew the protein obsession out of the water.”
His recommendations span all of society to take more responsibility and he addresses NGOs like Save the Children, and repeatedly UNICEF. He seeks a revolution in the governance of for-profit corporations. Though citing examples in a few countries, his book is generic, about the world. Though a preponderance of his interviews, analyses and criticisms are targeted to one country, the United Kingdom.
He recommends four “Ins” incentives, institutions, information and interests. He recommends the use of taxes and subsidies to reshape the food environment. Governments should tax products and practices that damage health or the environment, especially ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks, and earmark the proceeds to make nutritious foods more affordable for low-income households.
– Contributed by WHES board member, Steven Hansch
