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Dedication
For my students, past and present, from whom I have learned a great deal.
Acknowledgments
I owe enormous gratitude to many people for their assistance and support as I wrote this third edition and earlier versions of this book. Special thanks go to Rachel McQuail, who provided outstanding research and editorial assistance throughout the project. Thanks are also due to Taarini Chopra, Brittney Martin, Tomas Szuchewycz, and Linda Swanston who provided invaluable research assistance on earlier editions. For very helpful discussion of ideas and positive encouragement during the course of writing and revising this and previous editions, I am also grateful to Kim Burnett, Andrea Collins, Peter Dauvergne, Andres Garcia, Matt Gaudreau, Derek Hall, Eric Helleiner, Lucy Hinton, Ryan Isakson, Genevieve LeBaron, Sarah J. Martin, Sophia Murphy, Navin Ramankutty, Sarah-Louise Ruder, Theresa Schumilas, Caitlin Scott, Steffanie Scott, Gyorgy Scrinis, Phoebe Stephens, Helena Shilomboleni, Boyd Swinburn, Beth Timmers, Wesley Tourangeau, Tim Wise, and Hannah Wittman. I am grateful to the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo, and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia, for providing infrastructural support as I completed this most recent edition. My children, Zoe and Nels, and my partner, Eric, deserve a medal for listening to me go on about the world food economy at the dinner table and for putting up with me while I worked long hours to complete this book. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive and insightful feedback and suggestions on this and previous editions. For their enthusiasm and for shepherding this project through the publications process, I am grateful to Louise Knight, Inès Boxman, and Susan Beer at Polity Press. And last, but not least, I also owe thanks to all of my “foodie” students for their inspiration over the years – the ideas we discussed in the various versions of food and agriculture-related courses I taught at both Trent University and the University of Waterloo over the past two decades have had immeasurable influence on my thinking and analysis on this topic. I take sole responsibility for any errors or omissions.
Waterloo, Ontario
Abbreviations
ABCDArcher Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis DreyfusADMArcher Daniels MidlandAGRAAlliance for a Green Revolution in AfricaAoAUruguay Round Agreement on AgricultureBIOBiotechnology Innovation OrganizationBtBacillus thuringiensisCAPEuropean Community Common Agricultural PolicyCFSCommittee on World Food SecurityCFTCCommodity Futures Trading CommissionCGIARConsultative Group on International Agricultural ResearchCIFCommodity index fundCIMMYTInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement CenterCOFCOChina’s Government-Controlled Agricultural Commodity Trading FirmCRConcentration RatioCRISPRClustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeatsECEuropean CommunityETC GroupErosion, Technology and Concentration GroupETFExchange traded fundEUEuropean UnionFACFood Aid ConventionFAOFood and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsFDIForeign direct investmentFIANFoodFirst Information and Action NetworkFLOFairtrade Labelling OrganizationG8Group of EightG20Group of 20 (leading economies)G-20WTO Group of 20 (agriculture)G-33WTO Group of 33 (agriculture)GATTGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and TradeGDPGross domestic productGHGGreenhouse gasGMGenetically modifiedGMOsGenetically modified organismsGPSGlobal Positioning SystemIADPIntensive Agricultural Development ProgramIATPInstitute for Agriculture and Trade PolicyIFADInternational Fund for Agricultural DevelopmentIFIInternational Financial InstitutionIFPRIInternational Food Policy Research InstituteIMFInternational Monetary FundIPIntellectual propertyIPCInternational Planning CommitteeIPCCIntergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeIPES FoodInternational Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food SystemsIRRIInternational Rice Research InstituteISAAAInternational Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech ApplicationsLDCsLeast Developed CountriesNAFTANorth American Free Trade AgreementNAMANorth American Millers’ AssociationNDCsNationally Determined ContributionsNGONon-Governmental OrganizationODAOfficial Development AssistanceOECDOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentOPECOrganization of Petroleum Exporting CountriesOTCOver-the-CounterPANPesticide Action NetworkPCBsPolychlorinated biphenylsPLPublic LawPOPsPersistent organic pollutantsPRAIPrinciples for Responsible Agricultural InvestmentPRIAFSThe Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food SystemsRSPORoundtable on Sustainable Palm OilRTRSRound Table on Responsible SoySAPStructural adjustment programSDGsSustainable Development GoalsSDTSpecial and Differential TreatmentSPSpecial ProductsSPSAgreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary MeasuresSSMSpecial Safeguard MechanismTNCTransnational corporationTPPTrans-Pacific PartnershipTRIPSTrade Related Intellectual Property Rights AgreementUNCTADUnited Nations Conference on Trade and DevelopmentUSAIDUnited States Agency for International DevelopmentUSDAUnited States Department of AgricultureUSMCAUS–Mexico–Canada free trade agreementUSTRUnited States Trade RepresentativeVGGTVoluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food SecurityWARDAWest African Rice Development AssociationWFPWorld Food ProgrammeWTOWorld Trade Organization
CHAPTER ONE Unpacking the World Food Economy
Pause for a minute to reflect on how much you know about the path followed by the food you ate this morning as it made its way to your breakfast table. Of course, your understanding and knowledge depends very much on what exactly you had to eat. Some may know almost every detail of the production, transport, processing, and exchange relationships involved in the preparation of that meal – particularly those who choose to consume foods such as fresh eggs, oats, and strawberries from a local organic farm, or ethically traded shade-grown coffee from Nicaragua. Others may know very little, especially when they consume pre-packaged and highly processed foods like boxed cereal, frozen waffles, or instant hot chocolate. These latter items, most likely purchased from a neighborhood supermarket, made their way to your table after a long and winding journey through the global industrial food system. Most of us probably have a vague idea of our food’s origins and travels, as well as the power relationships that might be associated with it along the way, but we are not 100 percent sure.
The gap in our knowledge about the global food system can be understood as a kind of “distance” – which is often, but not always, related to the physical distance food travels from farm to table. Today, the average plate of food eaten in Europe and North America travels around 1,500 miles before it is consumed. The concept of “food miles,” picking up on the notion of physical distance, has attracted widespread attention in recent years, particularly because of growing concern about the greenhouse gas emissions associated with transporting food across great stretches of land and water. The distance between consumers and food can also be mental, as in the gap in knowledge we have about the social, ecological, and economic relationships associated with the foods we eat. And it can come in the form of power differentials between actors in the food system, where some experience its benefits while others absorb a disproportionate share of its costs. We often lack a full understanding of the natural and human conditions under which our food is produced and are only somewhat aware of who controls the various steps along the supply chains of the most basic and intimate resources necessary for human survival.1 In these various ways, we have become increasingly distanced from much of the food we consume.
Some say it’s not necessarily important for people to know all of the details of the functioning of the global food system – the web of relationships that span the production, processing, trade, and marketing of the food we eat. If that system conveniently provides safe, abundant supplies of food at affordable prices,