The interesting thing is, while we die of diseases of affluence from eating all these fatty meats, our poor brethren in the developing world die of diseases of poverty, because the land is not used now to grow food grain for their families.

Rifkin has also advised Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain during its presidency of the European Union. Rifkin presented the European Union's long term economic development plan to transition the European economy into the Third Industrial Revolution era.

Rifkin's work explores the potential impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy the workforce society and the environment. Jeremy Rifkin (born January 26 1945) is an American economist writer public speaker political advisor and activist.