Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness

by Norberg-Hodge,Helena

• ISBN13: 9781565491465
• ISBN10: 1565491467
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: Lynne Rienner

Summary

* Reveals how bringing food production to a local level revitalizes rural economies in both the industrialized and developing world * Published in association with the International Society for Ecology and Culture * For readers concerned with agriculture, community development, environmental sustainability, and ecological economics If the many social, environmental, and economic crises facing the planet are to be reversed, local food economies must be rebuilt. Given the constant demand for food, even miniscule changes in its production and marketing can offer immense benefits for farmers, consumers, the economy and the environment. Bringing the Food Economy Home reveals how a shift towards the local would protect and rebuild agricultural diversity by giving farmers a larger share of the money spent on food, and providing consumers with healthier, fresher food at more affordable prices.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
Acknowledgments	viii
From Local to Global	1	(16)
The Global Food System	3	(1)
Locally Adapted Food Systems	4	(1)
Centuries of Agricultural ``Progress''	4	(4)
Big Farms Get Bigger	8	(1)
Agribusiness Takes Over	8	(2)
Globalization	10	(4)
Speeding Up the Treadmill	14	(3)
The Ecology of Food Marketing	17	(18)
Reduced vs. Excessive Packaging	20	(1)
Small, Decentralized Shops vs. Huge Megamarkets	20	(5)
Transport Infrastructures	25	(3)
Energy Infrastructures	28	(1)
Broadcasting Unsustainability	29	(6)
The Ecology of Food Production	35	(16)
Destroying Diversity	36	(1)
On-farm vs. Off-farm Inputs	37	(3)
Integrated Livestock vs. Factory Farms	40	(2)
Life in the Soil	42	(5)
Local Adaptation vs. Genetic Engineering	47	(4)
Food and Health	51	(14)
Fresh Is Best	51	(1)
Chemical Stews	52	(5)
Food Poisoning	57	(2)
Factory Farms and Human Health	59	(6)
Food and the Economy	65	(14)
Keeping Money in the Local Economy	65	(2)
Keeping Jobs in the Local Economy	67	(1)
Working More, Earning Less	68	(1)
Farming in the Third World	69	(1)
The Decline of Rural Economies	70	(1)
How Important Are Economies of Scale?	71	(3)
Are Large Industrial Farms More Productive?	74	(5)
Food and Community	79	(10)
Webs of Interdependence	80	(2)
The Death of Rural Communities	82	(2)
Misplaced Blame	84	(1)
Unmanageable Cities	85	(1)
Loss of Democracy	86	(3)
Food Security	89	(12)
Corporate Control	89	(5)
Feeding Corporations, Not the Hungry	94	(2)
The Dangers of a Homogenized Food Supply	96	(3)
Local Foods Add to Food Security	99	(2)
Shifting Direction	101	(12)
International Level	102	(1)
National Level	103	(2)
Local Level	105	(5)
People Power	110	(3)
From Global to Local	113	(4)
Resource Guide	117	(9)
Note on Measurements	126	(1)
Endnotes	127	(16)
Index	143