The Sociology of Food and Agriculture

325 Pages·2012·2.96 MB·English

by  Michael Carolan

The Sociology of food
and agriculTure
As interest has increased in topics such as the globalization of the agrifood system,
food security, and food safety, the subjects of food and agriculture are making their
way into a growing number of courses in disciplines within the social sciences
and the humanities, like sociology and food studies. This book is an introductory
textbook aimed at undergraduate students, and is suitable for those with little or
no background in sociology.
The author starts by looking at the recent development of agriculture under
capitalism and neo-liberal regimes and the transformation of farming from a
small-scale, family-run business to a globalized system. The consequent changes in
rural employment and role of multinationals in controlling markets are described.
Topics such as the global hunger and obesity challenges, GM foods, and inter-
national trade and subsidies are assessed as part of the world food economy. The
second section of the book focuses on community impacts, food and culture,
and diversity. Later chapters examine topics such as food security, alternative and
social movements, food sovereignty, local versus global, and fair trade. All chapters
include learning objectives and recommendations for further reading to aid
student learning.
Michael Carolan is a professor at Colorado State University (USA) and Chair
of its Department of Sociology. He is author of The Real Cost of Cheap Food
(Earthscan, 2011).
“Finally! Amidst the burgeoning literature on agrifood studies a socio-
logical perspective has been sorely missing. In particular, Carolan’s book
will prove invaluable to those of us who teach in this area and have been
looking for a way to weave in sociological theory to examine the wide
array of food and agricultural topics.” – Carmen Bain, Assistant Professor in
the Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, USA.
“This highly recommended text is an accessible, lively and up-to-date
introduction to the sociological imagination and agrifood studies, filling
the gap between the sociologies of food production and food consump-
tion.” – Sally Foster, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Leeds
Metropolitan University, UK.
“Clearly written, but theoretically sophisticated, Carolan uses a wealth
of published research to present a more critical ‘sociological’ analysis of
contemporary food system issues that contrasts sharply with the main-
stream narratives that dominate in the agricultural and food sciences.
The examples are authoritative, fresh, provocative, and speak directly to
current social and political debates on farm and food issues.” – Douglas
Jackson-Smith, Professor of Sociology, Utah State University, USA.
“This is critical sociology at its best. In this introductory text, Carolan goes
behind the scenes of the global agrifood industry to examine the complex
socio-economic and political arrangements that shape food production
and consumption. Presenting the latest findings from internationally-based
research, the book highlights the structural causes of present-day concerns
about hunger, obesity, rural social disadvantage, farmer dispossession,
supermarket power and environmental degradation. Oppositional move-
ments challenging the current system of food provision are also discussed
in detail.
Carolan is one of the foremost writers in contemporary agrifood studies
and he has fashioned a book that provides an up-to-date, informative
and highly readable overview of the global agrifood system. The book
will have immediate appeal to students, policy-makers and all those
concerned about the future of food and farming.” – Geoffrey Lawrence,
Professor of Sociology, Head of Sociology and Criminology and Food Security Focal Area
Co-Leader at the Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia.
The Sociology
of food and
agriculTure
Michael Carolan
First published 2012
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2012 Michael S. Carolan
The right of Michael S. Carolan to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or coporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Carolan, Michael.
The sociology of food and agriculture / Michael Carolan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Agriculture–History. 2. Agriculture–Social aspects–History. 3. Food–Social aspects–History.
I. Title.
S419.C366 2012
635–dc23
2011039121
ISBN 978-0-415-69851-1 (hbk)
ISBN 978-0-415-69858-0 (pbk)
ISBN 978-0-203-13679-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong
conTenTS
List of Figures, Tables, and Boxes vii
Acknowledgments xiii
1 Introduction 1
ParT i
global food economy 13
2 The changing structure of agriculture: Theoretical debates
and empirical trends 15
3 Understanding the food system: Past, present and future 40
4 Malnutrition: Hidden and visible 66
ParT ii
community, culture, and knowledge 91
5 Community, labor, and peasantries 93
6 Food and culture 129
7 Agrobiocultural diversity and knowledge transfer 156
vi Contents
ParT iii
food security and the environment 177
8 How much is enough? 179
9 Agroecosystems and the nature of “natures” 204
10 Food, agriculture, and the environment 223
ParT iV
alternatives 247
11 Alternative agrofood networks 249
12 Avoiding the “traps” in agrifood studies 271
13 Looking back . . . and forward 292
Index 310
liST of figureS, TableS and
boxeS
figures
Figure 2.1 Price index for agricultural outputs and inputs,
1948–2004 (USA). Data from Fuglie et al. (2007: 3) 20
Figure 2.2 Agricultural and input treadmills of conventional
agriculture 21
Figure 2.3 Asymmetries in US Department of Agriculture farm
payments, 1995–2009. Compiled utilizing databank maintained
by Environmental Working Group at http://farm.ewg.org/
progdetail.php?fips=00000&progcode=total&page=conc 23
Figure 2.4 Operating costs of large-scale and mid-scale hog
production (before and after calculating for full-priced feed).
Based on data from Starmer and Wise (2007b) 27
Figure 2.5 Mooney’s “map” of the complex class relations in
production agriculture. After Mooney (1986) 33
Figure 3.1 US food system “hourglass” (hanging by a thread) 45
Figure 3.2 New Zealand food system “hourglass” (hanging by a thread).
Compiled by Michael Carolan, with assistance from
Paul Stock and Miranda Mirosa 46
Figure 3.3 World’s top 10 seed companies (annual sales in US$ millions).
Data from http://www.etcgroup.org/en 46
Figure 3.4 The global seed industry structure (in 2008) 48
Figure 3.5 Roundup Ready soybean technology fee, 1996–2008 (US$).
Based on Hubbard (2009) 50
viii List of Figures, Tables and Boxes
Figure 3.6 Cross-licensing agreements for patented traits among
the top six patent holding firms (as of 2008). Based on
Howard (2009) 50
Figure 4.1 Top 11 leading causes of death worldwide (in millions).
Based on data from the World Health Organization 67
Figure 4.2 Change in US food prices, 1985–2000 (converted to real
2002 US$). Based on data from Putman et al. (2002) 78
Figure 5.1 Employment in food sectors by “white” and “people of color”
designation. Based on Liu and Apollon (2011; only those
employed, working over 25 hours a week, and earning
an income from employment were selected for analysis) 108
Figure 5.2 Hourly wage in food sectors by “white” and “people of
color” designation (annual income in parentheses). Based
on Liu and Apollon (2011; only those employed, working
over 25 hours a week, and earning an income from
employment were selected for analysis) 108
Figure 5.3 Median average salary by ethnicity and gender
(to each dollar earned by white male). Based on Liu and
Apollon (2011; only those employed, working over 25 hours
a week, and earning an income from employment were
selected for analysis) 109
Figure 5.4 Chicken confined animal feeding operation (CAFO).
Photo courtesy of USDA 112
Figure 6.1 1917 advertisement for Airline Honey 136
Figure 7.1 Svalbard Global Seed Vault. From http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault.jpg 159
Figure 7.2 Plant diversity and language distribution. From Stepp et al.
(2004) with permission 161
Figure 7.3 Classic extension model of knowledge generation/transfer 169
Figure 7.4 Model of knowledge generation and transfer based on open
understanding of expertise 171
Figure 8.1 Annual average growth rates for world population and
global yield increases. Based on The Economist (2011) 180
Figure 8.2 The relationship between gross domestic product (GDP)
per capita and animal product consumption per capita.
From Miller (2010) with permission 182
Figure 8.3 Global food demand for select commodities since 1960
(forecast 2011–2050). Based on The Economist (2011) 183
Figure 8.4 Changes in global consumption of animals since 1960.
Based on Godfray et al. (2010) 183
List of Figures, Tables and Boxes ix
Figure 8.5 Ethanol and biodiesel production, 2000–2010. Based on
REN21 (2010) and Chazan (2011) 188
Figure 8.6 Patent ownership of cellulosic patents by top three firms,
1992–2008. Based on Glenna and Cahoy (2009) 193
Figure 9.1 Changes (and increasing diversity) in scale and scope of
agroecology research. Developed in consultation with Buttel
(2002) and Wezel et al. (2009) 205
Figure 9.2 The seven capitals that constitute ecological, social, and
economic sustainability. Developed by Cornelia Flora and
Jan Flora (reprinted with their permission) 209
Figure 9.3 The four “myths of nature.” Based on Schwarz and
Thompson (1990) 214
Figure 10.1 Food imports by volume and average distance traveled
by food for select countries. Based on Japan Ministry of
the Environment (2009) 226
Figure 10.2 Breakdown of the amount of energy (17,000+ calories
per day per capita) consumed by US food system.
Based on Canning et al. (2010) and Bomford (2011) 230
Figure 10.3 Annual per capita water requirements for food (CWRF)
in China. Adapted from Liu and Savenije (2008: 891) 230
Figure 10.4 Virtual water (in liters) embedded in 1 kilogram of various
commodities. Based on Hoekstra (2008) and Pearce (2006) 232
Figure 10.5 Makeup of total food waste in development and
developing countries. Based on Godfray et al. (2010)
and Stuart (2009) 236
Figure 11.1 Global distribution of organic land (number of producers
for each region in parenthesis). Based on Willer and
Kilcher (2009) 251
Figure 11.2 Decision-tree depicting the criteria considered in the choice
between organic and conventional farm management in
northeast Austria. Based on Darnhofer et al. (2005) with
help from Ika Darnhofer 254
Figure 12.1 Percentage of households participating in urban farming
for select countries, by quintile. Based upon data from
Zezza and Tasciotti (2010: 269) 279
Figure 12.2 Share of household income from urban farming for select
countries, by quintile. Based upon data from Zezza and
Tasciotti (2010: 269) 280
Figure 13.1 A geneology of transitions in the sociology of food and
agriculture. Inspired by Buttel (2001a,b) 304