foods or the cultivation of GM crops; ironically it undermined public confidence in GM foods. Problems of trust in official regulatory regimes, and in the products of the food industry, have not yet been solved. In part, the resistance amongst European and Japanese consumers to GM crops has not just been grounded in concerns for food safety but also in concerns about environmental consequences and corporate strategies. GM patents give power to companies. Protecting the appearance of brand integrity has also become a driver of corporate behaviour. If public opinion changes, or adverse scientific or socio-economic findings emerge, brands can become vulnerable. One particularly tangible consequence of the increasing complexity of the food chain and distances between producers and consumers is the enduring problem of microbiological food poisoning, which continues to afflict poor and rich communities alike. As food chains have lengthened, and as commercial economies of scale have been pursued, the opportunities for pathogens to spread have increased too. Barriers to the transfer of contamination have been undermined by the astonishing speed and distance travelled by both food and people – fuelled by cheap oil. Oil is no longer cheap, yet the food economy is locked into oil-based technologies. Without plentiful oil, irrigation, agro-chemicals, shipping, flying and trucking foods over long distances becomes increasingly expensive. There are active debates concerning the environmental significance of transporting food and agricultural products, but few pretend that current practices are acceptable or that current trends are sustainable. This raises the issue of policy. Why do politicians and policy-makers seek simple solutions, if the world of food requires complex ones? Many analysts, including us, now argue that the framework for food governance needs to be transformed; a
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paradigm shift is required. We now live in a world in which chronic under-nutrition coexists with a growing population suffering from chronic over-nutrition. Under- and over-nutrition can be seen as opposite sides of the same coin. Resources devoted to improving the nutritional well-being of poor and hungry people have diminished as resources devoted to increasing the quantity, availability and choice of foods to people who are already over-eating have increased. Since the 1990s, the incidence of obesity has risen in numerous countries at alarming rates, and many of their governments are urgently trying to devise effective policy responses, preferably without upsetting their voters or corporate friends. Often the motive is the sheer cost of diet-related ill health to healthcare systems. Our approach in this atlas This atlas therefore seeks to provide not only the evidence with which to describe the global food system, but also a framework within which to make sense of the ways in which it has developed and will evolve. It tries to do justice to the current predicament, highlighting important trends and offering an analysis of the underlying dynamics. It also poses questions about how it can be improved. The direction in which forces are operating is not just one-way, nor is it pre-determined. Institutions and organizations that seem all-powerful can be rather vulnerable. The distribution of power is frequently challenged and may be changeable. Worldwide, a movement of informed groups and alliances has emerged around food, questioning current practices, demanding changes, making connections. This constellation of food actions, campaigns and organizations is providing a powerful progressive voice in food policy. Even when small in comparison to big corporations or governments, they can exert influence beyond their numerical weight. The Fairtrade movement, for example, is attempting to redress the balance in favour of small producers, while other international movements represent the interests of labourers and consumers against the power of multinational corporations and those with powerful vested interests. Some are collecting information, others campaigning and implementing alternatives. All are questioning the status quo. The increase in local supply chains and certification schemes such as those for organic or wildlife-friendly production, and the renewal of interest in urban farming demonstrate not just that some short food chains persist, but also that there is a growing demand for shorter food chains, less processing and a far more direct, traceable relationships between producers and consumers. Although the facts suggest a sober analysis of the current state of the world food system, we see great hope in the rise, maturity and interaction of movements promoting food democracy. Erik Millstone Brighton, UK Tim Lang London, UK October 2012
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Contemporary Challenges
Part 1
The current global agricultural and food system has many structural defects. Despite centuries of productivity and efficiency increases, a chronic problem of malnutrition continues to afflict a large proportion of poor people, especially those in developing countries. This situation persists despite the fact that, in aggregate, there is enough food to feed everyone a sufficient diet. Undernutrition, characterized by too few calories and/or too few nutrients, is fundamentally linked to poverty, lack of income and entitlement or rights. Although recent years saw reductions in farm-gate prices, to the detriment of farmers around the world, since early 2007 there have been substantial increases in food prices. This has been caused by a combination of factors. High oil prices impact on food production and transport costs, and have encouraged the drive towards the cultivation of crops for biofuels. This in turn has reduced the amount of grain available for food, which has led to an increase in grain prices and increasingly urgent warnings of diminishing global food stocks. Of course, the people most affected by rising prices are poor people everywhere, given that they are likely to spend the highest proportion of their incomes on food. The practices of farmers, traders, food processors and retailers make heavy demands on the environment, increasing the rate at which resources such as rainforest, soil and water are depleted, and the rate of pollution from fossil fuels and agri-chemicals. Once again, the adverse consequences of these unsustainable practices fall disproportionately on the poor, and especially on those in the poorest countries. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that problems of food-related public and environmental health are confined to the impoverished. Bacteria, viruses and chemical contaminants are found everywhere, and diet-related problems such as obesity and diabetes are becoming increasingly prevalent in rich countries, and among well-off citizens of countries where poorer people are dying of malnutrition. The levels of waste, pollution and soil degradation, and the use of energy and water in food and agriculture could be markedly reduced. Social and technological changes could help slow or reverse some forms of land degradation, and diminish the adverse environmental and health impacts of the food system. International co-operation is essential, however, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to make our food systems more ecologically, socially and economically sustainable.
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Current Concerns
USA – maize for biofuels
In the USA, the use of maize for ethanol production more than doubled between 2000 and 2006. In 2007, 20% of the maize crop was used to produce ethanol, estimated to rise to 25% in 2008.
FOOD PRICES AROUND THE WORLD – both local and imported products – rose by nearly 40 percent in 2007, caused by a combination of factors that include the financial markets, environmental conditions, and policy decisions. Booming Asian economies are leading to a heightened demand for all kinds of food, but in particular for meat and dairy products, which rely on an increased supply of grain for animal feed. Cereal stocks in 2007/08, especially those of wheat, are predicted to be at their lowest since the early 1980s. Extreme weather conditions, including both droughts and floods, have affected both local food supplies and prices, and the global grain trade. High oil prices mean higher transport costs, which clearly impacts on global trade, but also on local retail prices. The increased demand for biofuels – in part a response to the need to combat climate change – is also a contributing factor, since it reduces the amount of grain available for food. Campaigners in Africa are highlighting a worrying trend towards the purchase of large areas of land by commercial companies intent on growing crops for fuel. While higher food prices may have little impact on some sectors of society, for people who may need to spend as much as 70 percent of their income on food, they bring real hardship, and even starvation. Protests against the high cost of staple foods took place around the globe in 2007, and in some countries government action was taken to freeze prices. Early in 2008, the World Food Programme warned
