Books by George Kent

George Kent's book is an articulate and incisive analysis of the ways in which some governments actively promote the use of infant formula. They do this despite the predictable harm it does to children's health. The book is a timely and powerful reminder to governments in the rich and poor world of their obligations under international law to protect children's health and the right to food through framework legislation and the regulation of non-State actors including corporations. Effective remedies are urgently required.

In this world of abundant resources and huge wealth, hunger cannot be understood simply as a problem of food production. It is also a matter of human relations. Hunger grows out of widespread indifference and exploitation. The goal of ending hunger has been achieved in many places, including places where people have little money. In stable, strong communities, where people care about one another's well-being, no one goes hungry. That caring is strengthened when people work and play together. This insight tells us the direction we need to take to move toward a world without hunger. The problem of global hunger will be solved when we learn to live together well locally.

The study reveals intimate acquaintance with the Harlem Renaissance, with the Chicago literary scene and its leading figures from the thirties on, with historical developments in black culture and consciousness, and with the significant figures and activities that impressed the poet's life and art.

Argues that hunger is a deeply social issue and that without strengthening communities, there is little prospect for ending world hunger.

Separate chapters address alternative designs of social systems, the idea of viewing children as a form of human capital, the problem of motivating the politically powerful to support child-survival work, rethinking the meaning of national development, and the challenge of planning for children's survival in concrete, site-specific situations.

If, as Kent argues, everyone has a human right to adequate food, it follows that those who can empower the poor have a duty to see that right implemented, and the obligation to be held morally and legally accountable for seeing that that right is realized for everyone, everywhere.