Agriculture, food, and the causes of hunger

Obesity cannot be explained by…(Patel)

a curse of individuals economic standing

the stories we tell about farmers…(Patel)

shut up the rural poor and make it so they have to grow the crops that the market demands

farmers do what because they don’t have chocies? (Patel)

subjugate themselves to poor conditions like tenant or sharecropping because they have so little choice

the problem with convience? (Patel)

blinds us as consumers, we don’t ask how our choice at check out take away the choices of those who grow our food

coffee in uganda example? Patel

try to make more $$ so farmers self-exploit, growing more coffee (surplus) two choices: grow coffee or leave

food system coorporations have what? (Patel)

two solid alibies: us (consumers) and consumers freedom

bottleneck (Patel)

few corporate buyers and sellers, they are big enough so they don’t have to play by the rules, they tilt the playing field

the current food system is (Patel)

compromise between different demands and anxieties of cooperations pushing for higher profit of food and government concern of social unrest (rural communities suffer silently)

farmers have been fighting..(patel)

against the vanishing of their freedom while consumers deal with healthy choices, farmers and consumers are the subject of the market powers of cooperations

the story’s we tell about hunger is…(Chappel)

‘inevitable’ isn’t necessarily true, but they are useful in maintaining political systems

Malthusian theory (Chappel)

ultimately a convinent excuse that protects the wealth elite from moral/financial obligations to the poor

two types of humans according to malthusian (Chappel)

Us & them = ‘we’ can govern resources and ‘they’ need their reproduction controled

myths of world hunger 1 (Chappel)

there is more than enough food in the world to feed everyone healthy diets

food is lost through waste, need to reduce these loses instead of more production

myths of world hunger 2 (Chappel)

there is enough food in most countries to have full healthy diets for citizens

food insecurity is caused by unequal distribution/access to food, income, and resources

myths of world hunger 3 (diets and food) (Chappel)

if diets and food waste are addressed there is enough food to feed everyone


reducing meat consumption and food waste can make enough food without increasing ag production too much

If we assume pop growth is happening at the same rate, we also accept that women will continued to be treated unfairly (myth Packard)

greater access to contraception, edu, autonomy

During famine/drought, there is enough food to prevent widespread hunger (myth chappel)

famines caused by political and economic factors that restrict peoples access to food
resource distribution, gov policies and turn environ. hardships into starvation

double-sided crises of both overeating and starving (Chapel myth)

food systems make unhealthy, processed foods cheap while healthier foods can be less accessible
‘over consuming’ bad calories while still being malnutritous

Farmers and rural workers are the most hungry but helping them produce more wont necessarily help (chapel myth)

farmers face low prices for their products and increasing production costs
more food does not equal rural infrastructure, edu

Chapel myth 8

decrease in hunger has not come from increased food production, yield, or availability

productivism (chapel)

assumes hunger bc not enough food is being produced

food availability deciline (chapel)

explains famine as a consequence of decline in availability of food (ignores access)

neo-productivism (chapel)

poverty contributes to hunger but increase ag productivity will increase farmers incomes

agricultural treadimill (chapel)

increase production to compensate - more formers produce = supply increase, price down - farmers depend on expensive inputs

5 As of food security (Chapel)

availability, accessibility, adequacy, acceptibility, agency

Corporate consolidation

smaller farmers are being bought by larger coorporations

green revolution

increases food yields, fewer people are starving, but there are more fossil fuels, pesticides, ect

1980s

beginning of neoliberal food regime, corporate agribusiness and consolidation of global food companies

1990s

NAFTA, small farmers priced out (bc of free trade)

Obesity and food insecurity?

two sides of the same coin, the assumption to be overweight is to be rich is no longer true

farmers are being ___ because of ___

squeezed out of agricultural work; large corporate economies

US farm bill

subsidies tend to go to corporate agri-business (which tend to have larger power in congress)

neoliberal food regime:

highly centralized, consolidation of agribusiness

Hourglass analogy: Patel

many farmers at the top, many consumers at the bottom, but processing, transporting, controlling the commodity chain is owned by a few brand names

Horizontal consolidation

few corporations own the lions share of one state of the supply chain ex. few brand grocery stores

Vertical consolidation

one corporation owns every stage of the supply chain

green revolution put emphasis

on food quantity alone

commodity

the finished manufactured goods make the most money

starvation

not having enough food not there not being enough

entitlements

goods and services a person can choose from (land, housing, edu) when entitlements fail = hunger, social determinants of hunger

food security

availability, access, utilization

food justice

empowering marginalized communities

food sovereignty

right to local peoples to engage in their food systems

crime of mass starvation is…

outlawed on paper, but enabled in practices (weaponization of food)