Food politics is a term which encompasses not only
food policy
Food policy is the area of public policy concerning how food is produced, processed, distributed, purchased, or provided. Food policies are designed to influence the operation of the food and agriculture system balanced with ensuring human health ...
and legislation, but all aspects of the production, control,
regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...
,
inspection,
distribution and
consumption
Consumption may refer to:
*Resource consumption
*Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically
* Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms
* Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...
of commercially grown, and even sometimes home grown,
food. The commercial aspects of food production are affected by
ethical
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
,
cultural, and
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
concerns, as well as
environmental
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
concerns about
farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...
and
agricultural practices and
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...
ing methods. The term also encompasses
biofuels, GMO crops and pesticide use, the international food market,
food aid
In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another.
...
,
food security
Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World ...
and
food sovereignty,
obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...
, labor practices and immigrant workers, issues of water usage, animal cruelty, and
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
.
Policy
Government policies around food production, distribution, and consumption influence the cost, availability, and safety of the food supply domestically and internationally. On a national scale, food policy work affects farmers, food processors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. Commodity crops, such as corn, rice, wheat, and soy are most often at the heart of agricultural policy-making.
While most food policy is initiated domestically, there are international ramifications. Globally, protectionist trade policies, international trade agreements, famine, political instability, and development aid are among the primary influences on food policy. Increasingly, climate change concerns and predictions are gaining the attention of those most concern with ensuring an adequate worldwide food supply.
Food politics in the U.S.
A number of contemporary issues around food policy issues have surfaced in the United States due to changes in the production of food and concerns about the nutritional quality of commercially prepared foods.
Technology
As with many industries, the
food industry has experienced growth in the capacity to produce food with the use of improved technologies. In developed countries, there are a number of important trends at play. Yields, or the amount of food harvested per acre of cropland, have increased less than one percent per year in since at least the 1960s and the amount of land devoted to crop use is in decline due to development pressures for housing and other
economic
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
concerns. In the U.S. alone, about 3000 acres of productive farmland are lost each day.
This places a premium on quality yields from existing acres of
farmland
Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bo ...
. In addition, the demand for meat products worldwide, expected to double by 2020, has accelerated a trend toward raising more animals on fewer acres of land.
Farming of animals
More intensive forms of animal farming have largely replaced traditional methods of raising pigs, cattle, poultry and fish for human consumption in the U.S. The increased development of
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
In animal husbandry, a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is an intensive animal feeding operation (AFO) in which over 1,000 animal units are confined for over 45 day ...
have been associated with increased risk of foodborne illnesses from e.coli, environmental degradation, and increased emissions of ammonia, carbon dioxide, and methane into the air. In addition to food safety and environmental concerns, organizations such as the
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; , stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA reports that PETA entities hav ...
and the
Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...
(HSUS) have drawn attention to a range of practices that allow for the more efficient raising of animals for meat consumption, but these practices stress the animals, the land on which they are raised and the supply of food for human consumption. In a recent report on industrialized animal agriculture, HSUS called on people in Western countries to shift to a plant-based diet because half the world's grain crop is used to raise animals for meat, eggs, and milk.
Fish farming
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Fish farming or ...
has also come under scrutiny due to high concentrations of fish in smaller spaces than is experienced in the wild. For both land and water animals,
the prophylactic use of antibiotics to promote growth and stem the spread of infection among the animals has also been questioned due to concerns that this practice may contribute to strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Genetically modified foods
The use of
genetically modified organism seeds to grow commodity and other crops in the U.S. has drawn criticism from organizations such as
Greenpeace,
The Non-GMO Project, and the
Organic Consumers Association
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is a non-profit advocacy group for the organic agriculture industry based in Minnesota. The organization's members include subscribers to their online newsletters, volunteers, supporters, and retail outlets ...
among others. Concerns center on both food safety and the erosion of agricultural biodiversity. While the European Union regulates genetically engineered foods as they would any other new product requiring extensive testing to provide it is safe for human consumption, the U.S. does not. The Food and Drug Administration generally considers a food with origins from genetically modified organisms (GMO) to be as safe as its conventional counterpart.
Numerous studies have backed industry claims that GMO foods appear to be safe for human consumption, including an examination of more than 130 research projects conducted in the European Union prior to 2010 and work published by the American Medical Association's Council on Science and Public Health.
In the U.S., the political debate has centered primarily on whether or not to label products with GMO origins to better inform the public about the content of the foods they purchase. A statewide ballot question that would have mandated labeling of GMO products in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
was defeated in 2012. The measure, known as
Proposition 37 was leading by a wide margin in early polling but was defeated after an advertising blitz bankrolled by Monsanto, the largest supplier of genetically engineered seeds,
Kraft Foods
The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015.
A merger with Heinz, arran ...
,
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...
,
PepsiCo., and other large food business interests. The ballot question's results were closely watched across the country as advocates for the measure hoped that it would pass and spur the federal government to mandate labeling of GMO foods as well.
In the wake of the labeling law proposal's defeat, an organization called
March Against Monsanto was formed to continue to keep alive the public debate about labeling GMO food products. In 2013, a ballot initiative that would have required labels on GMO foods sold in the state of Washington was defeated by voters, again after a campaign against the initiative was led by major food companies.
Pesticide use
Among the much-heralded impacts of the
Green Revolution
The Green Revolution, also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw greatly increased crop yields and agricultural production. These changes in agriculture began in developed countrie ...
was the spread of technological advances in the development of pesticides to ensure higher crop yields.
Health effects of pesticides
Health effects of pesticides may be acute or delayed in those who are exposed. Acute effects can include pesticide poisoning, which may be a medical emergency. Strong evidence exists for other, long-term negative health outcomes from pesticide exp ...
have led to a number of regulatory and non-regulatory efforts to control potential harm to human health from these chemicals in the food supply. The US Environmental Protection Agency has
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
J ...
of the use of
pesticides in crop management and sets tolerances for trace amounts of pesticides that may be found in the food supply. About 12,000 samples of fruits and vegetables available to U.S. consumers are collected each year and tested for residue from pesticides and the results are published in an annual
Pesticide Data Program The Pesticide Data Program (PDP) is a program initiated in 1991 by the Agricultural Marketing Service division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The PDP is empowered to collect pesticide residue data on selected food commod ...
(PDP) hosted by the USDA.
Big food
Food manufacturing and processing is a heavily concentrated industry. The 10 largest food companies in the United States control more than half of all food sales domestically and a growing percentage of packaged food and beverage products on store shelves worldwide. Ranked by food sales, PepsiCo, Inc., is the largest food manufacturer in the U.S., followed by
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...
,
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...
,
JBS USA
JBS USA Holdings, Inc. is an American food processing company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational company JBS S.A. The subsidiary was created when JBS entered the U.S. market in 2007 with its purchase of Swift & Company. JBS speci ...
, and
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...
, according to a 2013 list published by ''Food Processing'' magazine.
Big food influence is evident in Washington, D.C. where companies spend millions on
lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
each year, many of whom are members of the
Consumer Goods Forum.
Lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
unfairly benefits large corporations whose deep pockets and connections get them special access to lawmakers, regulators and other influential officials.
According to figures from the United States Census Bureau from 2007, the most highly concentrated food industries in the country included cane sugar refining, breakfast cereals, bottled water, and cookie/cracker manufacturing using the 4-firm
concentration ratio
In economics, concentration ratios are used to quantify market concentration and are based on companies' market shares in a given industry. Market share can be defined as a firm's proportion of total sales in an industry, a firm's market capita ...
. Consolidation of this industry took place in the 1970s and 1980s through a series of mergers and acquisitions.
"Big food" has come under fire not only because a small number of players are responsible for a large percentage of the food supply chain, but because of concerns about the links between the highly processed foods they produce and the
obesity epidemic
Obesity has been observed throughout human history. Many early depictions of the human form in art and sculpture appear obese. However, it was not until the 20th century that obesity became common — so much so that, in 1997, the World Heal ...
both in the U.S. and worldwide. A report from Global Health Advocacy Incubator documents the food industry’s strategies to defeat warning labels on
ultra-processed food products (UPP).
The director general of the World Health Organization, in a speech given at the 8th Global Conference on Health Promotion in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
, Finland in June 2013, noted that the public health community's efforts to combat chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease are pitted against the economic interests of the powerful food industry.
Marketing and other strategies of the food industry have been compared to those of the
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
industry at the height of its influence in the consumer marketplace. In response, the food industry has engaged in some voluntary efforts to improve the nutritional content of their foods. In 2005, General Mills announced a plan to ensure that all of its breakfast cereals contained at least eight grams of whole grain per serving. In 2006, Campbell Soup Company announced an initiative to reduce sodium in its products by at least 25 percent. Due to slumping sales, Campbell's acknowledged that it was adding more sodium back into some of its soups in 2011.
The
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...
published a report in 2022 which highlights
food marketing is especially prevalent where children are and what they watch on TV. Predominantly promoting
ultra-processed food which includes sugar-sweetened beverages, and chocolate and confectionery. It confirms food marketing is pervasive, persuasive and bad for health.
Food movements
A cultural backlash against an increasingly mechanized food industry has taken a number of different forms.
*
Local food
Local food is food that is produced within a short distance of where it is consumed, often accompanied by a social structure and supply chain different from the large-scale supermarket system.
Local food (or "locavore") movements aim to con ...
is a movement to shift food expenditures by individuals, families, community organizations, schools, restaurants, and other institutions from foods produced and shipped long distances by larger corporate entities to regional farmers and other local producers of food. Small farming interests, relatively heterogeneous products and short supply chains characterize local food markets, though there is no agreed-upon measure of the distances that constitute "local."
Community-supported agriculture
Community-supported agriculture (CSA model) or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alterna ...
is a mechanism for connecting consumers with local farmers.
Farm-to-table
Farm-to-table (or farm-to-fork, and in some cases farm-to-school) is a social movement which promotes serving local food at restaurants and school cafeterias, preferably through direct acquisition from the producer (which might be a winery, brewer ...
efforts are also part of the local food movement.
*
Meatless Monday
Meatless Monday is an international campaign that encourages people to not eat meat on Mondays to improve their health and the health of the planet.
Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns Inc. in association with the ...
is a public health awareness campaign encouraging individuals and families to eat a meat-free diet at least once each week. Launched in 2003 through the
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, its focus is on preventable diseases associated with excessive meat consumption but the campaign has also been incorporated by many concerned about
sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...
and the environment.
*
Slow Food
Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and re ...
is an international movement founded in Italy in 1986, with Slow Food USA established in 2000. The organization stands in opposition to "the
standardization of taste and culture, and the unrestrained power of food industry multinationals and industrial agriculture."
Among those influential in the food movement in the United States are writers, including
Michael Pollan
Michael Kevin Pollan (; born February 6, 1955) is an American author and journalist, who is currently Professor of the Practice Non-Fiction and the first Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer at Harvard University. Concurrently, he is the Knight Professo ...
and
Marion Nestle
Marion Nestle (born 1936) is an American molecular biologist, nutritionist, and public health advocate. She is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health Emerita at New York University. Her research examines s ...
, and celebrity chefs such as
Alice Waters
Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Californi ...
,
Mario Batali
Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and ...
and
Jamie Oliver
James Trevor Oliver MBE OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants.
Oliver reac ...
. Popular books and movies on contemporary topics in food include
Fast Food Nation
''Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal'' is a 2001 book by Eric Schlosser. First serialized by ''Rolling Stone'' in 1999, the book has drawn comparisons to Upton Sinclair's 1906 muckraking novel '' The Jungle''. The book ...
,
The Omnivore's Dilemma
''The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals'' is a nonfiction book written by American author Michael Pollan published in 2006. As omnivores, humans have a variety of food choices. In the book, Pollan investigates the environmental ...
and the documentary
Food, Inc. In 2011, the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation referred to this influential group as "self-appointed food elitists" and the Washington Post published an op-ed from Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, defending the work he and colleagues have done to improve food systems in the United States.
Social justice
While the production and distribution of food is primarily an economic activity, advocates for a variety of
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...
concerns are increasingly aware of the role that food policy plays in issues of greatest concern to causes they espouse.
Biofuel mandates and food supply
The interests of varied sectors of the agricultural industry are not always in alignment
as illustrated by tensions stemming from a drought in 2012 that affected domestic corn production. Described as the most severe and extensive drought in the U.S. in the last 25 years by the
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...
Economic Research Service, thousands of acres of mostly corn and soy fields in the Midwest were damaged or destroyed.
This led to increased pressure on the federal government from some domestic farmers and international anti-hunger organizations to relax the
Renewable Fuel Standard
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is an American federal program that requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels. It originated with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and was expanded and exte ...
that call for a portion of the US-grown corn supply to be set aside for ethanol production. Meat and poultry producers, both of whom rely on corn for animal feed and feared rising prices due to the drought conditions, accused the federal government of "picking winners and losers" with its ethanol policy while ethanol producers, many of whom are corn farmers, argued that price spikes would affect them as well and that ethanol production had been scaled back.
Domestic food aid
Offering government food assistance to the lowest income Americans dates back to the administration of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and has continued into the 21st century.
In FY 2011, the budget for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, which is responsible for the major feeding programs, was $107 billion. The largest single food assistance program in the country is the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the provisions for which are contained in a
Farm Bill
In the United States, the farm bill is the primary agricultural and food policy instrument of the federal government. Every five years, Congress deals with the renewal and revision of the comprehensive omnibus bill. Johnson, R. and Monke, J. (8 ...
that is re-authorized by Congress and signed by the president every five years. Benefits to SNAP recipients cost approximately $75 billion in 2012. Largely uncontroversial for most of its history, the SNAP program was targeted for major cuts by members of the House of Representatives in the 2012 Farm Bill re-authorization attempt.
House leaders also endeavored to separate the SNAP program from the Farm Bill, splitting the long-standing coalition of urban and rural legislators who traditionally backed the renewals of funding for the Farm Bill every five years.
Increases in the size of the SNAP caseload during the early 2000s were associated with increases in the unemployment rate and with a number of policy changes made to the program in many states.
[Mabli, J, Ferrerosa, C. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Caseload Trends and Changes in Measures of Unemployment, Labor Underutilization, and Program Policy from 2000 to 2008 Final Report. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., for USDA Food and Nutrition Service. October 18, 2010. http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/~/media/publications/pdfs/nutrition/snap_caseloads.pdf] A series of six measures to better understand employment trends developed by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, three of which are more conservative estimates of unemployment and three of which define it more broadly, all showed correlations with SNAP participation. In particular, it was suggested that longer-term unemployment results in the heaviest utilization of SNAP benefits.
In addition to concerns about the cost of the program from fiscal conservatives, leaders in the movement to improve the nutritional content of the American diet suggested changes to the program to preclude the purchase of sugar-sweetened soft drinks or other forms of
junk food
"Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from sugar and/or fat, and possibly also sodium, but with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. It is also known as ...
with low nutritional value.
In fact, the House of Representatives’ version of the initial Food Stamp Act of 1964 prohibited using food stamps for the purchase of soft drinks, but the provision was not adopted.
Efforts to more narrowly define the food purchases by SNAP recipients were derided by anti-hunger organizations
as a form of
paternalism. The 2008 Farm Bill re-authorization established the Healthy Incentives Pilot, a $20 million effort in five states to learn if offering select SNAP recipients credits on purchases of fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruits and vegetables with no
added sugar, salt, fat, or oil will result in increased purchases of these foods. Results of the pilot study were expected in 2014.
In addition to advocacy work in Washington, D.C., on behalf of those in poverty, public awareness campaigns around the constraints faced by families receiving SNAP were launched. The
food stamp challenge or SNAP challenge is one mechanism used by advocates such as
Feeding America
Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...
. Individuals are challenged to restrict food spending for a week to levels typical for families receiving SNAP benefits.
Labor and immigration
Hired farmworkers are among the most economically disadvantaged groups in the United States.
Farm labor statistics are published twice yearly by the
National Agricultural Statistics Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and are compared with similar data from the prior year. In April 2013, the number of workers hired by farm operators was 732,000. Field workers received an average pay of $10.92 per hour and livestock workers earned $11.46 hourly. Average hourly rates for field and livestock work have been on the rise since 1990. Language barriers, fear of deportation, frequent re-locations, and lack of voting status have contributed to difficulties in organizing farm laborers to advocate for wage, benefit, and working condition reforms.
The agricultural industry's reliance on non-native workers has become part of the political debate over immigration policies and enforcement in the country.
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...
statistics from 2009 indicated that about 50 percent of hired crop workers were not legally authorized to work in the U.S., a figure that remained largely unchanged over the course of the prior decade.
During that same time period, intense debate took place in the nation's capital regarding immigration policies and enforcement. Farm interests, concerned about access to a steady workforce, worked on Capitol Hill to secure their interests in the
. Provisions favored by the farm lobby included: "earned adjustments" that will allow for temporary legal immigration status based on past experience with the possibility of applying for permanent residency by continuing to work in agriculture for a set period of time; and a more flexible
guest worker
Foreign workers or guest workers are people who work in a country other than one of which they are a citizen. Some foreign workers use a guest worker program in a country with more preferred job prospects than in their home country. Guest worker ...
program for agricultural workers.
In addition to farm labor, workers in the nation's food service industry garnered attention in 2012 and 2013 with a series of strikes against fast food outlets demanding higher wages, better working conditions, and the right to form unions. A study by the Labor Center at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
in October 2013 demonstrated that 52 percent of families of fast-food workers receive public assistance, in comparison to 25 percent of the workforce as a whole. According to the study, full-time hours were not sufficient to compensate for low wages.
Security
In the past, the denial of food deliveries has been used as a weapon in war. For example, during both world wars, the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
naval blockade was intended to starve Germany into submission.
Food security
Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World ...
is an important political issue as national leaders attempt to maintain control of sufficient food supplies for their nation. It can drive national policy, encourage the use of subsidies to stimulate farming, or even lead to conflict. This is mostly a national policy because nations have only recognized that there is a negative duty to not disrupt other nations food supply and do not require that one help them attain such secure access by protecting them against other threats.
In 1974, the
World Food Summit World Food Summits are convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 1974 World Food Conference
The first food summit, the "World Food Conference", took place in Rome in 1974.
1996 World Summit on Food Security
The World ...
defined food security as:
:''availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices''
Food Security
Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World ...
&
Food Sovereignty in
MENA
MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...
politics
"There are three traditional routes to national food security: 1) domestic production, which contributes to self-sufficiency; 2) commercial food imports; and 3) international food aid".
Therefore, we need to make it clear that there is a distinction "between self-sufficiency and food security, in that the former is only one possible route to food security at the national level".
Since 2007/2008, multiple
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
ern and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
n (
MENA
MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...
) region governments have begun to consider more domestic food production as a part of their national aggregate food security laws. Although from a political view that approach may be justified due to it helping in stabilizing domestic food prices and deducting vulnerability to international markets and reliance on other countries, it comes at an enormous economic cost. This due to the resource endowments of the majority "of
MENA
MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...
countries—water scarcity and lack of arable land—are not well-suited to food production", specifically cereal production, and "these countries’ comparative international advantages lie in other economic activities".
Many of "the
international organization
An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...
s involved in the
MENA
MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...
economies during the 1990s and the 2000s advocated a food security strategy for most countries" that based on diversification away from agriculture towards multiple other activities, "including manufacturing exports, with the resulting foreign exchange used to purchase food imports". "Within the agricultural sector there has also been emphasis on shifting resources into high- value crops that are most efficient in water use, such as fruits, vegetables, and tree crops", with a view on export markets, in replace of cereal production for domestic consumption.
Hunger
Malnutrition and starvation continue to be a persistent problem in some areas of the world. The effects of low agricultural output can be exacerbated by internecine struggles, such as the famine conditions that occurred in
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
during the 1990s. But even under more stable conditions, hunger persists in some nations. Images of starvation can have a powerful influence, leading to charitable and even military intervention.
Retailing
During the late 1990s and early 21st century a significant amount of discussion and debate has developed surrounding the role of
supermarkets in the
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...
ing of food and the impacts of supermarkets both on the supply and production of food. Due to the buying power of the large supermarket chains, they can put huge demands on producers, often pushing prices artificially low, whilst still making large
profits on the food themselves, with some products selling at over 400% the price paid to, whilst farmers may only make 50p profit on each animal produced domestically. This buying power also allows supermarkets to transcend national boundaries in sourcing food. For example, in the UK, where the food market is highly dominated by supermarkets, only 25% of
apples
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
sold in supermarkets are produced domestically, with out-of-season
Cox apples being flown 14,000 miles from
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, despite the UK being a natural producer of apples. Furthermore, due to the national nature of the
supply networks
Supply may refer to:
*The amount of a resource that is available
**Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers
**Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission
*Supply, as in confidenc ...
used by supermarkets, this often involves domestically produced foodstuffs being transported around the country before being delivered to retailers, creating a huge impact both on
traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...
and
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
.
See also
*
Agroecology
Agroecology (US: a-grō-ē-ˈkä-lə-jē) is an academic discipline that studies ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. Bringing ecological principles to bear can suggest new management approaches in agroecosystems. Th ...
*
Animal welfare
*
Consumer Goods Forum
*
Food and drink prohibitions
Some people do not eat various specific foods and beverages in conformity with various religious, cultural, legal or other societal prohibitions. Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos. Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid the mea ...
*
Food marketing
*
Free range
Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day.
On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, ...
*
List of food labeling regulations
The packaging and labeling of food is subject to regulation in most regions/jurisdictions, both to prevent false advertising and to promote food safety.
Regulations by type
Multi-faceted
* Codex Alimentarius (international voluntary standard) ...
*
Global Food Security Act of 2009 (in the US)
*
Grass fed beef
There are different systems of feeding cattle in animal husbandry. For pastured animals, grass is usually the forage that composes the majority of their diet. Cattle reared in feedlots are fed hay supplemented with grain, soy and other ingredi ...
*
Organic food
Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...
*
Right to food
The right to food, and its variations, is a human right protecting the right of people to feed themselves in dignity, implying that sufficient food is available, that people have the means to access it, and that it adequately meets the individual ...
*
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...
*
Ultra-processed food
*
Vegetarianism
*
Virtual water
The virtual water trade (also known as embedded or embodied water) is the hidden flow of water in food or other commodities that are traded from one place to another. The virtual water trade is the idea that when goods and services are exchanged, s ...
Notes and references
Bibliography
* Monbiot, G. (2000) ''
Captive State'', Basingstoke:
Macmillan, pp. 162–208.
External links
Kootenay Co-op Radio's Deconstructing Dinner – a weekly one-hour radio program that discusses the impacts of our food choices
Politics of Food is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to the creation of a locally based, sustainable food systems, sustainable food system that is nutritionally, ecologically, and economically sound.]
"Stuffed & Starved" – News, opinion and resources on the world food system and politics.* "The Battle for Healthy Ads: Gauging the Impact of Junk Food
at AnimationInsider.net"Food Politic: Journal of Food News and Culture"
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Malnutrition