Hidden hunger : : gender and the politics of smarter foods / / Aya Hirata Kimura.

• Author: Kimura, Aya Hirata, 1974-
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (241 p.)
• Notes: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

For decades, NGOs targeting world hunger focused on ensuring that adequate quantities of food were being sent to those in need. In the 1990's, the international food policy community turned its focus to the "hidden hunger" of micronutrient deficiencies, a problem that resulted in two scientific solutions: fortification, the addition of nutrients to processed foods, and biofortification, the modification of crops to produce more nutritious yields. This hidden hunger was presented as a scientific problem to be solved by "experts" and scientifically engineered smart foods rather than through local knowledge, which was deemed unscientific and, hence, irrelevant. In Hidden Hunger, Aya Hirata Kimura explores this recent emphasis on micronutrients and smart foods within the international development community and, in particular, how the voices of women were silenced despite their expertise in food purchasing and preparation. Kimura grounds her analysis in case studies of attempts to enrich and market three basic foods-rice, wheat flour, and baby food-in Indonesia. She shows the power of nutritionism and how its technical focus enhanced the power of corporations as a government partner while restricting public participation in the making of policy for public health and food. She also analyzes the role of advertising to promote fortified foodstuffs and traces the history of Golden Rice, a crop genetically engineered to alleviate vitamin A deficiencies. Situating the recent turn to smart food in Indonesia and elsewhere as part of a long history of technical attempts to solve the Third World food problem, Kimura deftly analyzes the intersection of scientific expertise, market forces, and gendered knowledge to illuminate how hidden hunger ultimately defined women as victims rather than as active agents.

Table of Contents

Uncovering hidden hunger -- Charismatic nutrients -- Solving hidden hunger with fortified food -- Bound by the global and national : Indonesia's changing food policies -- Building a healthy Indonesia with flour, MSG, and instant noodles -- Smart baby food : participating in the market from the cradle -- Creating needs for golden rice.