Book excerpt: Consumer choice is a myth when it comes to food. What we eat is determined by our ancestors' choices, by corporations and governments and by three mega trends: the use of fossil fuels in all parts of the food chain; the commercialization or most part of our lives; and by growth of populations and where they live. Global Eating Disorder explains how and why the very act of eating has been transformed from one of bonding to that of consumption for the sake of consumption. Almost one billion people go hungry. Concurrently, many people eat too much and a great deal of food is wasted. Industrial food and farming has been very successful in producing more and cheaper food. But it has come at a tremendous cost. The practices have wreaked havoc in nature and the food system squanders its own resource base, including the most precious resource on the planet - the soil. Therefore, we can't afford cheap food. When looking ahead Gunnar Rundgren points towards planetary stewardship, co-production and regeneration of resources embedded in new social and economic relationships have to follow. He tells the story with a mix of a historical perspective, comprehensive data and real-life experiences from all continents of the world.