Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
A global system of food production, one that is controlled by large national and multina-
tional corporations, has already begun to refashion how and, more importantly, where food is
produced. Driving the global/industrial system of farming is the continual search by agribusi-
ness firms for areas of low-cost production. In a global system of food production, labor and
capital flow to places where maximum profits can be extracted.
A Place for Civic Agriculture
Communities can buffer and shelter themselves from the global food system only if they
develop the needed infrastructure, maintain a sufficient farmland base, and provide enough
technical expertise so that local farmers and processors can successfully compete in the local
marketplace against the highly industrialized, internationally organized corporate food sys-
tem. There is accumulating evidence that a relocalization of agriculture and food systems is
taking place in regions that have been hit hard by global competition. It is not surprising that
Massachusetts, New York, and other states in the Northeast are in the vanguard of the relo-
calization efforts. Large-scale, industrial farming has largely bypassed this region, and con-
sumers there must rely on food produced elsewhere.
Although the nature and range of agricultural products found in most American communit-
ies are shaped by the decisions made by large multinational firms, important environmental,
social, political, and economic reasons justify the reemergence of a smaller-scale, more loc-
ally controlled food system. A new civic agriculture is emerging and taking hold in every re-
gion of the country. Community-supported agriculture (CSA), farmer's markets, specialized
agricultural districts, alternative food stores, and consumer cooperatives represent important
manifestations of the movement toward a civic agriculture. These new organizational forms
have the potential to nurture local economic development, maintain diversity and quality in
products, and provide forums where producers and consumers can come together to solidify
bonds of local identity and solidarity. By rebuilding the linkages between farmers and con-
sumers wherever possible, communities throughout the United States will establish a found-
ation for a more socially and environmentally integrated food system.
Plan of the Topic
In the next chapters I examine the global and local dimensions of America's agriculture and
food system today. I begin with an overview of how agricultural producers in the United
States moved from a local, self-sufficient system of food production, processing, and distri-
bution to an industrially organized, globally managed system. I then explore corporate con-
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