We all need food to survive, and forty percent of the world's population
relies on agriculture for their livelihood. Yet control over food is
concentrated in relatively few hands. Turmoil in the world food economy
in recent decades has highlighted a number of vulnerabilities and
contradictions inherent in the way we currently organize this vital
sector. Extremes of both undernourishment and overnourishment affect a
significant proportion of humanity. And attempts to increase production
through the spread of an industrial model of agriculture has resulted in
serious ecological consequences.
The fully revised and expanded third edition of this popular book
explores how the rise of industrial agriculture, corporate control,
inequitable agricultural trade rules, and the financialization of food
have each enabled powerful actors to gain fundamental influence over the
practices that dominate the world food economy and result in uneven
consequences for both people and planet. A variety of movements have
emerged that are making important progress in establishing alternative
food systems, but, as Clapp's penetrating analysis ably shows,
significant challenges remain.