The Global Food System Part I

1. The Global Food System Part I Introduction to Global StudiesXIDS 2301

2. Stuffed . . .

3. Stuffed . . .

4. . . . and Starved SinceWFS

5. Global Food Production • Three defining processes: • 1) Commoditization • 2) Industrialization • 3) Globalization

6. Commoditization Commercial Production Food is produced to be sold in the market Subsistence Production Food is produced to be consumed by the producer Two basic types of food production

7. Commoditization Commercial Production Food is produced to be sold in the market Subsistence Production Food is produced to be consumed by the producer The shift from subsistence to commercial farming is known as the commoditization of food production Commodity—something produced with the intent to sell it

8. Commoditization In subsistence food production, producer is motivated by own needs Producer = Consumer The consumer has direct/non-market access to food

9. Commoditization In commercial food production, producer is motivated by market calculations; the need to “satisfy” market imperatives Commoditization In subsistence food production, producer is motivated by own needs MARKET Increase in productivity Producer = Consumer Producer Consumer Shift to “cash crops” The consumer has direct/non-market access to food Consumer access to food is mediated by the market Social, ecological costs

11. Commoditization • Historical Geography of Food Commoditization • 1400s-1600s, England • “the first time and place that a new social dynamic is clearly discernible, a dynamic that derives from the market dependence of the main economic actors” • Politically unified, centralized • Physically unified by network of roads, water transport • Disproportionate size, growth of London as population and trading center • Land holdings concentrated in hands of few large landlords • Large-scale, accessible markets emerged • Compelled landholders to increase productivity of land • Could not rely as much on “non-economic” powers (military, judicial, political) as elsewhere in Europe • Thus, sought to increase “economic” means • Led to preoccupation with “improvement” and “enclosure”

12. Commoditization • Historical Geography of Food Commoditization • 1600s-1900s, Western Europe, North America, colonies in Americas, Africa, Asia • Emergence of states, merchant class • Colonialism • 1980s-2000s, Global South (e.g. Mexico, India, Kenya) • Liberalization of agriculture • Emergence of agri-business TNCs • Role of global governance institutions (WB, IMF, WTO)

13. Industrialization • In general, industrialization is a fundamental transformation of the production process involving: • Mechanization • Use of high energy, external inputs (fossil fuel energy, bio-engineered seeds, chemical pesticides and fertilizers) • Subdivision of process into specialized, sequential tasks, each undertaken by a different individual or firm

14. Industrialization

15. Industrialization

16. Industrialization

17. Industrialization Farm Processing Retailing Consumer Processing

18. Industrialization Farm Processing Retailing Transportation and Wholesaling Retailing Consumer Processing

19. Farm Transportation and Wholesaling Manufacturing Processing Transportation and Wholesaling Retailing Consumer Industrialization

20. Industrialized chicken production

21. Industrialization • Features of commoditized, industrialized food production • Appropriationism • Substitutionism • Intensification • Contract farming

26. Monopoly in processing through horizontal integration Farming A Farming B Farming C Farming D Farming ProcessingE ProcessingG Processing Manufact J Manufact K Manufact L Manufact I Manufacturing Retailing N Retailing M Retailing O Retailing P Retailing

27. Concentration within various stages of the food system Production stage% mkt share by largest four largest firms Beef slaughter 87% (IBP, ConAgra, Cargill, Farmland) Sheep slaughter 73% (ConAgra, Superior, High Country, Denver Lamb) Broiler slaughter/processing 55% (Tyson, Gold Kist, Perdue Farms, ConAgra) Flour milling 62% (ADM, ConAgra, Cargill, CFP) Soybean crushing 76% (ADM, Cargill, Bunge, Ag Processors) “You get the day olds or you get nothing.” (Perdue Farms rep to North Carolina chicken farmer)

28. Monopoly in processing through horizontal integration Farming A Farming B Farming C Farming D Farming Processing E Processing Manufact J Manufact K Manufact L Manufact I Manufacturing Retailing N Retailing M Retailing O Retailing P Retailing

29. Green Revolution 1960s and 1970s Miracle seeds (HYVs) Chemical inputs (fertilizers, pesticides) Irrigation (water access, capital) Tractors (capital, farm size)

30. Blue Revolution Began in 1970s Industrialization of aquatic food production—“fish farming”

31. Genetically Modified Organisms Took off in 1990s GMO = any species whose DNA has been manipulated in a lab setting; using genetic code from other living species

32. driven by profit-seeking • “biopiracy”

33. Globalization Two principal (and related) dimensions to the globalization of food production: 1) Production—organization of production chains across multiple countries 2) Regulation (or governance)—Role of international institutions, the “global free market”, and TNCs

34. Farm Transportation and Wholesaling Manufacturing Processing Transportation and Wholesaling Retailing Consumer Globalization

35. Globalization Country A Farming Country B Processing Country C Manufacturing Retailing Country D Consumption

36. Globalization • Agribusiness Transnational Corporations (Ag TNCs) • • Operate in more than two countries, often via vertically integrated food systems  this in essence created the “global” food system • • Ag TNCs produce enormous quantities of food primarily for consumers in the First World • • Ag TNCs play a role in the creation of hunger, primarily in the Third World  by motivating a shift from subsistence to commoditized, industrial agriculture • Shift to cash crops, decline in production of staples • Indebtedness among farmers • Loss of peasant access to land

37. Globalization • States • • Liberalized agriculture  Ag TNCs (very powerful within domestic politics!) pushed for this as they “globalized” • This does not mean that Ag TNCs were willing to give up government subsidies and various trade “protections”

38. Globalization • States • • Liberalized agriculture  Ag TNCs (very powerful within domestic politics!) pushed for this as they “globalized” • This does not mean that Ag TNCs were willing to give up government subsidies and various trade “protections” • International institutions (WTO, WB, IMF) • • Liberalized agriculture  USA, Europe (very powerful within these institutions!) pushed for “openness” in agriculture (specifically, regarding international trade and investment in agricultural commodities) • Prior to the 1980s, US Ag TNCs wanted less liberalization, and so they pushed for agriculture to be excluded in the broader post WWII push for liberalization and economic integration • • Debt crisis and structural adjustment  countries in debt crisis were “helped” by IMF, WB as long as they enabled the liberalization, commoditization, and industrialization of agriculture, among other things

39. Globalization American food aid policy

40. Globalization PL-480 • Title I • • Authorizes “friendly” sale of agricultural commodities to other countries • • How this typically works: • --US gov’t buys food from US farmers/agribusiness • --Sells food to foreign gov’t and provides low-interest loan w/ which to pay for the aid • Title II • • Authorizes food to be given to other countries as a grant • Since 1955, 70% US food aid has been provided through Title I

41. Globalization • The issue of subsidies . . .

46. Basic Model of the Global Food Economy FIRST WORLD Wealthy consumers Ag TNCs Ag TNCs Investment $$ Food Aid (food surplus) Cash Crops IMF, WB, WTO Structural Adjustment THIRD WORLD Shift to industrial farming Decline in subsistence crops Landless, jobless peasants Rural-to-urban migration