Concentration and power in the food system : who controls what we eat? / Philip H. Howard.
Material type:
TextSeries: Publisher: London : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016Copyright date: ©2016Description: vii, 207 pages : illustrations (black and white), maps ; 24 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781472581112
- 1472581113
- 641.3 HOW
| Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Loan | Moylish Library Main Collection | 641.3 HOW (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 39002100627216 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Nearly every day brings news of another merger or acquisition involving the companies that control our food supply. Just how concentrated has this system become? At almost every key stage of the food system, four firms alone control 40% or more of the market, a level above which these companies have the power to drive up prices for consumers and reduce their rate of innovation. Researchers have identified additional problems resulting from these trends, including negative impacts on the environment, human health, and communities.This book reveals the dominant corporations, from the supermarket to the seed industry, and the extent of their control over markets. It also analyzes the strategies these firms are using to reshape society in order to further increase their power, particularly in terms of their bearing upon the more vulnerable sections of society, such as recent immigrants, ethnic minorities and those of lower socioeconomic status. Yet this study also shows that these trends are not inevitable. Opposed by numerous efforts, from microbreweries to seed saving networks, it explores how such opposition has encouraged the most powerful firms to make small but positive changes.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-193) and index.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Food system concentration : a political economy perspective -- Reinterpreting antitrust : retailing -- Structuring dependency : distribution -- Engineering consumption : packaged foods and beverages -- Manipulating prices : commodity processing -- Subsidizing the treadmill : farming and ranching -- Enforcing the new enclosures : agricultural inputs -- Standardizing resistance : the organic food chain -- Endgame?
A compelling, vital contribution to our understanding of the global food system and essential reading for students in food studies, agriculture, agri-food and geography--Page [4] of cover.
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes (p. vi)
- Acknowledgments (p. viii)
- 1 Food system concentration: a political economy perspective (p. 1)
- 2 Reinterpreting antitrust: retailing (p. 17)
- 3 Structuring dependency: distribution (p. 36)
- 4 Engineering consumption: packaged foods and beverages (p. 50)
- 5 Manipulating prices: commodity processing (p. 71)
- 6 Subsidizing the treadmill' farming and ranching (p. 88)
- 7 Enforcing the new enclosures: agricultural inputs (p. 104)
- 8 Standardizing resistance: the organic food chain (p. 124)
- 9 Endgame? (p. 144)
- References (p. 155)
- Index (p. 194)