Food regime theory emerged in the 1980s as a tool to delineate the history of the modern food system. Scholars insist that we have arrived at the third and putative corporate food regime that is dominated by a select group of agribusiness corporations. The corporate food regime"s ascent to dominance will be presented here as a product of the realization of neoliberal trade policies at the urging of the World Trade Organization. Initially promising development to fledgling countries, the WTO"s forays into agriculture have amounted to nothing less than a catastrophe for the Global South. The hope that developing countries would be able to trade their way out of debt has long been abandoned, and the gap between the developed and developing world has only been further exacerbated as a result of trade liberalization. Worse yet, the WTO"s Agreement on Agriculture was intentionally littered with loopholes that allow Northern countries to egregiously subsidize crops that are then exported off to Southern markets at artificially low prices, crippling local producers in the process. Through examining import and export flows in the Global South since the trade agreement, this cruel feature of the modern food system will become evident as will the subsequent jump in agribusiness" profits amid the direst of...

In my dissertation, I study the spatio-temporal variegation and transnational circulation of vegetable commodities using the case of edamame beans (the largest frozen vegetable sector in Asia). My dissertation shows that food production and trade in East Asia have fundamentally changed over the past several decades. Rapid development has lifted the region out of subsistence and into middle-class and luxury consumption. As a result, East Asia is quickly becoming the center of the global food economy. The development of edamame industries is central to explaining the transformation of the agriculture and food industries across the region. I employ a mixed methods approach that includes participant-observation, semi-structured interviews with 40 edamame farmers and entrepreneurs, and GIS mapping, alongside Social Network Analysis (SNA). In my analysis, I coin the concept of “border assemblages,” arguing that edamame trade incorporates network and state-territorial characteristics. Building on this approach, my research bridges two social science sub-fields that scholars have often applied empirically but not theoretically: international politics and regional agrarian development. Three novel findings emerge from this research: First, my research adds to the literature on Asian colonialism by showing how the Japanese Empire and the post-World War Two (WWII) U.S. Cold War regime territorialized East Asia to develop a regulatory assemblage of regional agricultural production and trade. Second, after the 1980s, a new type of food regime emerged in East Asia following the introduction of new World Trade Organization food safety regulations that reterritorialized the food production networks in Asia. My research conceptualizes the emergence of the new food regimes in an East Asian context according to the political economy and ecology of edamame trade among Taiwan, Japan, and China. Third, another strand of my research contributes to the geopolitical understanding of the edamame trade with regard to food scares and contract farming. I extend the definition of contract farming to encompass international regulatory bodies and argue that trade agreements and international food laws, such as the Codex Alimentarius, have significantly shaped the agrarian landscape in Asia. / 2021-01-11

<p>The shift from a US-centered food regime, shaped by protectionist state-governed agriculture, to a corporate food regime, focusing on establishing transnational agribusinesses, led to various changes in livestock production and trade. This essay investigates the extent to which this shift has affected the trade relations between Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa and the EU, by<br />comparing trends in trade and production of poultry.</p><p>By using statistics from trade databases Comtrade and the Market Access Database, trends in Brazilian export flows to selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are presented and evaluated. These trends suggest an increase in Brazilian poultry import to some countries, namely South Africa, Cameroon, Senegal and Gabon, not including the dramatic drop in 2006, possibly caused by exogenous factors, such as a global decrease in poultry demand because of outbreaks of Avian Influenza. European trade with Sub-Saharan Africa has to a  moderate degree decreased or stagnated in some countries in the region, which could be explained by a high European domestic demand and a strong euro.</p><p>The agribusiness structure in Brazil suggests a strong connection to the characteristics making up the corporate food regime, and their success and expansion point toward a continued increase in poultry market shares, in turn suggesting stronger influence on the global market. Hence, the gains of trade liberalization are toned down for developing countries, seeing that trade with subsidized developed countries is being replaced with that of developing countries.<br /><br /></p>

The shift from a US-centered food regime, shaped by protectionist state-governed agriculture, to a corporate food regime, focusing on establishing transnational agribusinesses, led to various changes in livestock production and trade. This essay investigates the extent to which this shift has affected the trade relations between Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa and the EU, by<br />comparing trends in trade and production of poultry. By using statistics from trade databases Comtrade and the Market Access Database, trends in Brazilian export flows to selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are presented and evaluated. These trends suggest an increase in Brazilian poultry import to some countries, namely South Africa, Cameroon, Senegal and Gabon, not including the dramatic drop in 2006, possibly caused by exogenous factors, such as a global decrease in poultry demand because of outbreaks of Avian Influenza. European trade with Sub-Saharan Africa has to a  moderate degree decreased or stagnated in some countries in the region, which could be explained by a high European domestic demand and a strong euro. The agribusiness structure in Brazil suggests a strong connection to the characteristics making up the corporate food regime, and their success and expansion point toward a continued increase in poultry market shares, in turn suggesting stronger influence on the global market. Hence, the gains of trade liberalization are toned down for developing countries, seeing that trade with subsidized developed countries is being replaced with that of developing countries.<br /><br />

Dans cette thèse, j’étudie le rôle des méga-entreprises agricoles d’origine argentine dans le processus de financiarisation de l’agriculture qui caractérise la période de transition ouverte à partir de la fin du deuxième régime alimentaire dans les années 1970. L’analyse se situe au niveau des pratiques de ces acteurs, élément implicite dans la bibliographie mais qui n’a toujours pas reçu le traitement qu’il mérite. Or, les pratiques de ces entreprises sont centrales si l’on veut comprendre la financiarisation du secteur agricole régional 1) puisqu’elles véhiculent les capitaux financiers nationaux et internationaux dans la production agricole et 2) parce qu’elles adoptent des comportements financiarisés qui transforment l’organisation du travail et de la production. J’appelle ces deux dimensions, respectivement, financiarisation directe et financiarisation inverse. Toutes deux ont des conséquences sur les dynamiques de changement agraire qui reflètent –et à leur tour contribuent à modeler– les logiques de l’expansion financière dans le secteur agricole. Dans ce cadre, j’analyse les effets de ces deux facettes de la financiarisation dans les processus de concentration de terres et de la production, ainsi que dans la spécialisation et la fragmentation du travail. Enfin, je rends compte des transformations dans l’organisation productive que ces entreprises introduisent et/ou diffusent lors de leur expansion transfrontière –d’ailleurs poussée par des capitaux financiers– et les implications de ces dynamiques d’accumulation pour la question agraire du XXIème siècle. Cette thèse montre la centralité, dans ces processus, du soi-disant « modèle en réseau » déployé par les méga-entreprises étudiées. En Argentine ce dispositif a permis, d’une part, de donner de la flexibilité au processus productif et, d’autre part, de fournir de légitimité aux formes d’accumulation qui combinent des logiques productives et financières. Par ailleurs, il a fait fonction de modèle d’affaires attirant pour des capitaux financiers nationaux et internationaux, qui ont facilité leur expansion translatine. Le « modèle en réseau » approfondit des processus de concentration par le haut (de la terre et du capital) et de fragmentation par le bas (du travail) à travers des mécanismes renouvelés qui combinent dépossession et productivité. / I study the role of agricultural mega-companies of Argentinean origin in the financialization of agriculture, a process that characterizes the transition period opened at the end of the second food regime in the 1970s. The analysis focuses on the practices of these companies, which are central actors in the financialization of agriculture at a regional level since 1) they are a vehicle for national and international financial capital in agricultural production and 2) they adopt financialized behaviors that transform the organization of work and production. I call direct and reverse financialization to these two dimensions. Both have an impact on agrarian change dynamics that reflect (and at the same time help shape) the logic of financial expansion in the agricultural sector. I analyze the effects of these two facets of financialization in the processes of concentration of land and production, as well as specialization and fragmentation of work. Finally, I study the transformations in productive organization that these companies introduce and/or spread during their crossborder expansion and the implications of these dynamics of accumulation for the agrarian question of the XXIst century. This thesis shows the centrality, in these processes, of the so-called "network model" deployed by the mega-companies under study. In Argentina, this model has given flexibility to the production process and provided legitimacy to forms of accumulation that combine productive and financial logics. It has attracted national and international financial capital that facilitated the expansion of mega-companies to other Latin-American countries, and deepened the process of concentration at the top (of land and production) and fragmentation at the bottom (of labor) through mechanisms combining dispossession and productivity. / En esta tesis estudio el papel de las megaempresas agropecuarias de origen argentino en el proceso de financiarización de la agricultura que caracteriza el período de transición abierto con el fin del segundo régimen alimentario en la década de 1970. El análisis se sitúa en el nivel de las prácticas de estos actores, elemento implícito en la bibliografía pero que hasta el momento no mereció suficiente tratamiento. Mi hipótesis principal es que tales empresas son centrales para comprender la financiarización del sector agroalimentario regional en tanto 1) vehiculizan el ingreso de agentes financieros nacionales e internacionales en la producción agropecuaria y 2) adoptan comportamientos financieros que transforman la organización del trabajo y la producción. Denomino respectivamente financiarización directa y financiarización inversa a estas dos dimensiones. Ambas tienen impactos en las dinámicas de cambio agrario –y a su vez contribuyen a moldear– las lógicas de la expansión financiera en el agro. En ese marco, me preocupo por los efectos de estas dos facetas de la financiarización en los procesos de concentración de tierras y de la producción, así como de especialización y fragmentación del trabajo. Por último, doy cuenta de las transformaciones en las formas de organización productiva que introducen y/o difunden estas empresas en su proceso de expansión transfronteras impulsado por capitales financieros, y las implicancias de estas dinámicas de acumulación para la cuestión agraria del siglo XXI. Esta tesis muestra la centralidad del llamado “modelo en red” desplegado por las megaempresas estudiadas en estos procesos. En Argentina, este dispositivo permitió, por un lado, dar flexibilidad al proceso productivo y, por el otro, dotar de legitimación a formas de acumulación que combinan lógicas productivas y financieras. Además, funcionó como un modelo de negocios atractivo para capitales financieros nacionales e internacionales, que facilitaron su expansión translatina. El “modelo en red” facilitó la profundización de los procesos de concentración por arriba (de la tierra y el capital) y fragmentación por abajo (del trabajo) a través de mecanismos renovados que combinan desposesión con productividad.

This study aims to evaluate conceptual considerations of the sociology of agriculture and food from inside and outside of the literature in relation to transnationalization and its claim on the emergence of a transnational state. Although the history of the literature can be traced back to mid-1970s, its development corresponds to 1990s which is also the period that witnessed the hegemony of the concept of globalization in social sciences. This study argues that the claim on transnationalization reflects the intimate relationship of sociology of agriculture and food with the globalist interpretation of the concept of globalization or globalization theory which suffers from methodological and theoretical problems mainly in relation to the analysis of immanent contradictions and distinctive features of capitalism. With the criticism of the concepts of globalization and transnationalization, this study aims to break the intimate relationship of the sociology of agriculture and food with the globalization theory and suggests that the concept of imperialism is a powerful analytical concept in comprehending the transformation of capitalist relations, particularly the agrifood relations since late 1970s. In other words, this study aims to reevaluate the concepts (agrifood system and food regime) and problematics formulated in the sociology of agriculture and food literature within the theoretical framework based on the concept of capitalist imperialism exemplified in the analysis of transformation of agrifood relations since 1980 in the case of Turkey.

North American food environments have gone through dramatic shifts over the past six decades. During this period, we have witnessed the consolidation of a globalizing industrial agrifood regime, accompanied by new types of foods available and an excess of marketing. In recent years however, a growing number of scholars, environmentalists, rural organizations and consumers have highlighted the negative environmental and social impacts of this model of large scale, intensive monocultures. Another critique that has been more and more common is the lack of a comprehensive food literacy among youth populations. This thesis starts from the assumption that such knowledge is crucial to equip younger generations with the ability to understand the connections among these issues, to make conscious and informed choices and become engaged citizens, participating in transforming today’s predominantly unsustainable agrifood systems. This is essential as younger generations are the future consumers, heads of households and decision-makers in Canadian society. As such, one of the primary objectives of this research was to (re)situate the concept of food literacy amidst the many literatures while also providing an original comprehensive framework of analysis, reaffirming both its health and well-being and agrifood systems components. Consequently, and based on such assessments, the thesis offers an original and exploratory analysis of high school students’ food literacy levels. Using a mixed methods approach, it draws from qualitative and quantitative primary data resources and secondary literature to survey and compare eight groups of students in grades 9 and 10 in Ontario. Four of these groups took a food-related class and four were control groups, between two different types of food-related curricula. The research shows that a majority of the high school students who participated in the study have a basic level of food literacy. This is especially notable when including socio-environmental considerations in order to assess their level of agrifood systems’ literacy, which is the main focus and contribution that this research sought to evaluate.

Today, most of us live without a physical understanding of what agriculture does in and for modern societies and what its implications are. This makes it hard to see all the complex facets surrounding the farming practice and its connection to our past, present and future. This study explores how peri-urban farmers experience what they find to be a weak practice of the for them purely theoretical phenomenon of sustainable development. Five in-depth interviews were conducted with unconventional farmers in fertile Swedish agricultural area around Mälardalen. Nearby cities include Stockholm, Enköping and Uppsala. The qualitative empirical study deals with issues of peri-urban agriculture and sustainable intensification of agriculture. But above all describes clusters of how the farmers experience the concept of sustainable development. The methodology of phenomenology is used as a way of experiencing what the farmers express both explicitly and implicitly. By adding the term sustainable farming, a triangulation is done for a sustainable development. Two peer-reviewed studies that launch the terms ecological understanding (Carlsson 1999) and distance moral (Almers 2009), together with the sustainability terms, make a more robust theoretical framework for interpreting a sustainable development. The third peer-reviewed study by Larsson (2016) uses scenario analysis of what an up-scaled agriculture in Polish and three Baltic states could mean for the Baltic sea region.  The scenarios point out the effects of either converting into Ecological Recycling Agriculture (ERA) or to the conventional agriculturarl policy (CAP) as promoted in Sweden and the European Union. The empirical study as well as the peer-reviewed studies mutually find a dissonance between theory and practice between governance, organizations, farmers and consumer behavior when it comes to sustainable farming as well as a sustainable development as defined by the UN (WCED 1987). The study raises how a sustainable intensified farming, SIA, (Rockström 2016) and the theoretical framework of sustainable development could benefit from a higher level of ecological understanding and distance moral. The study also suggests a new term: ecemony, from a semantic merger of the terms economy and hegemony. By ecemony I argue that the economy has been given such prominance by and for us, that it pours through our minds and collective thoughts and governance so that it now constitutes our common senses. / I dagens samhällen lever merparten av befolkningen utan egen djup kunskap om eller praktisk erfarenhet av jordbruk. Det påverkar våra uppfattningar om oss själva och vår plats och roll i samhället. Dagens jordbruk och samhällsutveckling att tätt sammanflätade på gott och ont. De både samverkar och motverkas av respektives effekter i form av dolda kostnader. Syftet med studien är att ta reda på hur hållbarhetsbegrepp uppfattas av de periurbana jordbrukarna mätt som kvalitativt skilda beskrivningskategorier med fenomenografisk metod. Studien baserar sig på fem semistrukturerade djupintervjuer med periurbana jordbrukare och identifierar deras uppfattningar om hållbarhetsbegreppet som studiens resultat. Studien omfattar förutom egen empiri också begreppen avståndsmoral (Almers 2009) och ekologisk förståelse (Carlsson 1999) genom tidigare forskning. Ytterligare en studie (Larsson 2016) som använts utgår från tre scenarier för hur jordbruk i Östersjöregionen kan bli mer hållbart. Frågeställningarna som valts är: Vad är jordbrukarnas uppfattningar om begreppet en hållbar utveckling? Vilka uppfattningar har de av begreppet ett hållbart jordbruk? Vad har jordbrukarna för tilltro till om hållbarhetsdefinitionen kan förverkligas?  I den empirin och med stöd av dessa studier, framläggs att och hur ekonomin dominerar över de sociala och ekologiska aspekterna inom hållbarhetsbegreppet och hur stora skillnader mellan ord och handling råder inom praxis i hållbarhetsfrågan. Låg förståelse för ekologi och moralfrågor inom hållbarhetsområdet minskar enligt studien sannolikheten för att vi ska kunna uppnå en hållbar utveckling. I diskussionen återknyts till frågeställning och syftet. Där diskuteras även det som framkommer i uppsatsens bakgrund och problembeskrivning exempelvis att samhällets utmaningar i hög grad sammanfaller med jordbrukets. Aktuell forskning liksom den egna empirin pekar på att pedagogiska, etiska och moraliska utmaning väntar våra samhällen. Slutsatsen blir att moral och etikfrågor kan stärka det teoretiska begreppet hållbar utveckling.