Chapter 9
‘We Are What We Eat’: The Agro-Food Industries
Review• Concepts to Review– Transportation technologies, resource-
extractive industries, ethical consumer practices, uneven globalization, role of the state
• Key Words– Renewable resources, agricultural
practices, global consumption patterns, genetically modified organisms, branding
The Agro-Food Industries: Definition and Structure• Characteristics of the industry
• Globalization of agro-food• Production local, distribution increasingly global• ‘Just-in-time’ industry
• Agro-food and technology• ‘Global cool chains’• Biotechnologies• Industrially produced chemicals• Genetic modification• Food additives
The State versus the Corporation
• Role of the state
• Shape of the corporations
• Regulation of the industry
• The labour force
The Market• The consumer
– Although most people struggle to survive, consumers in developed world are spoilt for choice– Food choices complex and embedded– Embrace diversity of new food products– Rise of ethical consumer movement
• Branding– Dominated by branded products– Products sold as global brands, also simultaneously
sold under a local label– Identity is key
Global Retail• Biggest food retailers:– Have been domestically oriented for
most of their histories– Have become increasingly transnational– vary considerably in their degree of
transnationalism
• Competing with local firms is difficult– The use of local partners can avoid some
of the difficulties of expansion– Retailers expand their sourcing