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Barons : money, power, and the corruption of America's food industry
\"Barons is the story of seven corporate titans, their rise to power, and the consequences for everyone else. Take Mike McCloskey, Chairman of Fair Oaks Farms. In a few short decades, he went from managing a modest dairy herd to running the Disneyland of agriculture, where school children ride trams through mechanized warehouses filled with tens of thousands of cows that never see the light of day. What was the key to his success? Hard work and exceptional business savvy? Maybe. But more than anything else, Mike benefited from deregulation of the American food industry, a phenomenon that has consolidated wealth in the hands of select tycoons, and along the way, hollowed out the nation's rural towns and local businesses. Along with Mike McCloskey, readers will meet a secretive German family that took over the global coffee industry in less than a decade, relying on wealth traced back to the Nazis to gobble up countless independent roasters. They will discover how a small grain business transformed itself into an empire bigger than Koch Industries, with ample help from taxpayer dollars. And they will learn that in the food business, crime really does pay--especially when you can bribe and then double-cross the president of Brazil. These, and the other stories in this book, are simply examples of the monopolies and ubiquitous corruption that today define American food. The tycoons profiled in these pages are hardly unique: many other companies have manipulated our lax laws and failed policies for their own benefit, to the detriment of our neighborhoods, livelihoods, and our democracy itself. Barons paints a stark portrait of the consequences of corporate consolidation, but it also shows we can choose a different path. A fair, healthy, and prosperous food industry is possible--if we take back power from the barons who have robbed us of it.\"--Amazon.com.
BOOK
Food politics
We all witness, in advertising and on supermarket shelves, the fierce competition for our food dollars. In this engrossing exposé, Marion Nestle goes behind the scenes to reveal how the competition really works and how it affects our health. The abundance of food in the United States--enough calories to meet the needs of every man, woman, and child twice over--has a downside. Our over-efficient food industry must do everything possible to persuade people to eat more--more food, more often, and in larger portions--no matter what it does to waistlines or well-being. Like manufacturing cigarettes or building weapons, making food is big business. Food companies in 2000 generated nearly
eBook
Groundwater depletion embedded in international food trade
Global food consumption drives irrigation for crops, which depletes aquifers in some regions; here we quantify the volumes of groundwater depletion associated with global food production and international trade.
International food trade causes water depletion (Dalin 21403, Phys Letter)
International trade is increasingly transporting 'hidden' resources and environmental factors from one country to another. For example, the water used to produce a spear of asparagus eaten in London might come from irrigation in South America. Similarly, pollution generated in China might be traceable to consumer demand in the United States. Carole Dalin
et al
. now extend this idea to the non-renewable groundwater that is consumed for agricultural trade. They find that 11 per cent of groundwater extraction is linked to agricultural trade, with Pakistan, the United States and India accounting for two-thirds of the global totals. The research reveals the degree to which food consumption in one country can lead to groundwater depletion in others, highlighting the need to better consider issues of sustainability and equity in the international food trade.
Recent hydrological modelling
1
and Earth observations
2
,
3
have located and quantified alarming rates of groundwater depletion worldwide. This depletion is primarily due to water withdrawals for irrigation
1
,
2
,
4
, but its connection with the main driver of irrigation, global food consumption, has not yet been explored. Here we show that approximately eleven per cent of non-renewable groundwater use for irrigation is embedded in international food trade, of which two-thirds are exported by Pakistan, the USA and India alone. Our quantification of groundwater depletion embedded in the world’s food trade is based on a combination of global, crop-specific estimates of non-renewable groundwater abstraction and international food trade data. A vast majority of the world’s population lives in countries sourcing nearly all their staple crop imports from partners who deplete groundwater to produce these crops, highlighting risks for global food and water security. Some countries, such as the USA, Mexico, Iran and China, are particularly exposed to these risks because they both produce and import food irrigated from rapidly depleting aquifers. Our results could help to improve the sustainability of global food production and groundwater resource management by identifying priority regions and agricultural products at risk as well as the end consumers of these products.
Journal Article
Awakening Africa's sleeping giant : prospects for commercial agriculture in the Guinea Savannah zone and beyond
Awakening Africa's Sleeping Giant' explores the feasibility of restoring international competitiveness and growth in African agriculture through the identification of products and production systems that can underpin rapid development of a competitive commercial agriculture. Based on a careful examination of the factors that contributed to the successes achieved in Brazil and Thailand, as well as comparative analysis of evidence obtained through detailed case studies of three African countriesMozambique, Nigeria, and Zambiathe authors argue that opportunities abound for farmers in Africa to regain international competitiveness, especially in light of projected stronger world markets for agricultural commodities over the long term. This provides reasons for optimism regarding the future prospects for agriculture as a major source of inclusive growth in many parts of Africa.
eBook
Agribusiness and innovation systems in Africa
This book examines how agricultural innovation arises in four African countries—Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda— through the lens of agribusiness, public policies, and specific value chains for food staples, high value products, and livestock. Determinants of innovation are not viewed individually but within the context of a complex agricultural innovation system involving many actors and interactions. The volume is based on qualitative interviews with agribusiness representatives that were designed to shed light on their experiences on public policies that either enhances or impedes innovation in Africa's agriculture sector. Following are the volume's main messages on policies, institutions and strategies that nurture innovation in the agriculture sector: 1) agribusiness innovation is in many cases driven by the need to maintain grades and standards within the value chain, not only in the case of export markets, but also in evolving domestic and urban markets and value chains; 2) that staple food sector has potential to be a source of growth, innovation and poverty reduction; 3) successes in value chain innovation and agribusiness production depend critically on the structure of the whole agricultural innovation system and are highly context specific; 4) especially successful innovation were dependent on creating synergies between market-based and knowledge-based interactions and strong linkages within and beyond the value chain; and 5) the public sector's innovation support has to extend to interactions, collective action and broader public-private partnership programs. This book will be of interest to policymakers, agribusiness leaders, farmer organizations, NGOs, and researchers.
eBook
Weather extremes and their impact on crop transportation networks: Evidence from U.S. Midwestern elevators
The grain price margins between buyers and sellers (i.e., basis spread) is influenced by the infrastructure used to transport crops from collection points to ports, which can be disrupted by weather extremes like floods and severe storms. Such disruptions are expected to become more frequent, potentially increasing food insecurity and impacting farm incomes. On average, the U.S. accounts for one-third of global corn and soybean production from 2012/13 to 2020/21, so the infrastructure to move crops from the main growing region to the nation’s ports is critical to global crop and food markets. Despite the critical nature of these issues, there is limited research specifically examining the effects of weather extremes on the U.S. crop transportation network. This study investigates how weather extremes disrupt crop transportation networks, and, in turn, how those disruptions affect the basis spread of corn and soybeans. It uses basis spread data from nearly 5,000 U.S. midwestern corn and soybean elevators spanning from 2012 to 2020, along with natural disaster declarations to represent weather extremes affecting crop transportation. Using a three-step process, it calculates least cost transportation routes to a port, adjusts for weather disruptions, and integrates disaster, transportation cost, and control variables into a fixed effects, panel data model that explains variation in basis spread. Results show natural disasters, particularly flash floods and winter storms, negatively affect basis spread. The cost effects of natural disasters disrupting crop transportation routes further decrease basis spread. Strengthening crop transportation infrastructure to withstand flooding and winter storms could reduce disruptions in this network. These findings underscore the value of Federal and State policies that prioritize investments in resilient transportation infrastructure, particularly in regions prone to flash floods and winter storms. Strengthening this infrastructure could not only reduce the economic costs of weather disruptions but also affect farm income and food security.
Journal Article
The climate impact and land use of cultivated meat: Evaluating agricultural feedstock production
As global demand for meat continues to rise, alternative and sustainable methods of production are being explored. Cultivated meat (CM) is one such alternative that holds potential for sustainable production with less environmental impact. This study develops an approach to evaluate CM production based on agricultural feedstock. The specific objectives are to determine the minimum land area required to produce a certain amount of cell medium–feedstock for CM production–on agricultural land and to identify potential future land use scenarios assuming that the macro components of the cell medium are solely produced from common agricultural crops in southern Germany. A linear programming model was developed to analyze four different scenarios of CM production, considering factors such as crop rotation, nutrient sourcing, and solar energy use. The results indicate that CM production using plants as raw material for the cell medium cannot improve land use efficiency substantially compared to conventional pork production. Extraction methods, crop choice, and energy sources will strongly influence future pathways for CM. We also find that there is no substantial benefit from CM in terms of climate change mitigation when feedstock is sourced solely from plants. This study provides valuable insights into the limitations of using agricultural feedstock for sustainable CM production. The findings suggest that future research should focus on optimizing the land use efficiency of CM. This includes exploring alternatives such as sourcing cell media from precision fermentation instead of relying solely on crops, and utilizing upcycling possibilities.
Journal Article
Rural Politics
The rural areas of Britain, Europe and the developed world are undergoing massive changes, with increasing concern about productivity, agricultural methods and environmental policy. Rural Politics examines the issues affecting rural areas, such as water pollution, forestry, and the greening of agricultural policy. It looks in particular at the political parameters to these issues and how concern for the countryside is essentially a part of a wider set of political processes. Rural Politics provides a much needed examination of the evolution and content of policies affecting today's countryside, both in terms of major land uses and economic and social development.
eBook