Democracy Now!: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009

Leaders from most of the world are gathered in Rome to tackle hunger on a global scale at the UN World Food Summit, but leaders of the world’s richest countries are largely absent. We talk with author Raj Patel about why that is. In the news: University of California regents are meeting Thurs. to vote on a major tuition hike; students and staff, meanwhile, prepare for system-wide strikes that day to protest funding cuts. And a coalition of more than 80 environmental, family farm and consumer advocacy organizations has asked the Senate Finance Committee to reject Pres. Obama’s nominee for the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Islam Siddiqui is a vice president at CropLife America, a coalition of the major industrial players in the pesticide industry. "Democracy Now!" is a daily independent newshour.