Description

‘A tremendous book that’ll linger long after you’ve turned the last page’ Raj Patel, author of Inflamed

The face of hunger is changing. Since the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, even the West is experiencing a level of food insecurity not seen for generations. Climate change is already resulting in food-related migration, and the world will soon see significant shifts in the location of arable land.

The New Breadline is a call to action on the issues of food aid, food security and climate justice, told from the frontlines of hunger. Jean-Martin Bauer eloquently dissects inequity and racism in the humanitarian system, drawing on his Haitian childhood and his career as an aid worker, asking: when decisions about food are being made, who isn’t at the table?

Urgent, incisive, and full of compassion, this is the human story of hunger.

Publisher Review

No subject more urgently requires our attention than world hunger. I cannot imagine a more thoughtful and humane introduction to the crisis of food security than The New Breadline. This book should be required reading for the entire human race. — Jonathan Safran Foer, author * We Are the Weather * The New Breadline is a narratively compelling, timely and prescriptive book about the problems of hunger and food security in today’s world. Bauer writes with intelligence and brio about a topic he knows extremely well. Drawing on a superb grasp of history and his own experiences as a humanitarian worker who has dealt with food crises around the world – everywhere from Haiti and the Middle East to Africa – Bauer offers practical pathways to hope — Jon Lee Anderson, author * The Fall of Baghdad * In the midst of the global food crisis, I find myself searching for stories of hope with tangible solutions now more than ever. In The New Breadline, Jean-Martin Bauer draws upon a lifetime on the frontlines of fighting hunger to deliver a must-read handbook that will inform, inspire and ignite action to repair our broken food system — Jose Andres, Chef and Founder of World Central Kitchen Few writers tackle the world of international hunger, and Jean-Martin Bauer has seen what they’ve missed. His years on the frontlines in battle against malnutrition have made him acutely sensitive to what works, and what doesn’t. He understands more about international development than most private sector, philanthropic, and policy school wonks combined. But Bauer’s a fine writer. He weaves his knowledge into prose that reads like he’s sharing stories late at night under a kerosene lamp. The New Breadline is a tremendous book that’ll linger long after you’ve turned the last page — Raj Patel, author * Inflamed * In The New Breadline, Jean-Martin Bauer gives us a fascinating portrait of international aid and the complications, contradictions, and casual heroism that underpin the global fight to end hunger. Swinging easily from the personal to the political, weaving rich history with lived experience, and crisscrossing the global without flattening it, Bauer manages to transform complex geopolitical forces into a page turner. The New Breadline offers no simplistic answers and will complicate easy pictures of right and wrong, but never withholds glimpses of joy and hope. A must read for anyone interested in foreign food aid, for anyone who wants to understand our global food supply chain, for anyone who eats and wants to appreciate their food. Bravo — Benjamin Lorr, author * The Secret Life of Groceries *