Resources

Research, Support, and Advocacy Services

The following organizations provide research, support, and advocacy services to the key players in creating local food systems: farmers, ranchers, local food producers, and consumers. We encourage you to learn more about each of them and sign up for their news and activism alerts.

American Grassfed Association – www.americangrassfed.org
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance – www.farmandranchfreedom.org
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund – www.ftcldf.org
Food & Water Watch – www.foodandwaterwatch.org
National Family Farm Coalition – www.nffc.net
Organic Consumers Association – www.organicconsumers.org
Western Organization of Resource Councils – www.worc.org
Weston A. Price Foundation – www.westonaprice.org

Suggested Reading

For Food Producers

Cultivating Customers: Tips for Farmers about Market Days. Author, local food and farm activist, and lover of farmers’ markets Pam Walker writes this letter to farmers from the viewpoint of a farmers’ market customer.

Review of Food Systems and Food Politics

Patel, Raj. 2012, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, Brooklyn, NY, First Melville House Printing.

Paarlberg, Robert L. 2010, Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know, New York, Oxford University Press.

Nestle, Marion. 2007, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, Berkeley, University of California Press.

Pollan, Michael. 2006, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Search For a Perfect Meal in a Fast-Food World, London, Bloomsbury.

Weis, Tony. 2007, The Global Food Economy: The Battle For the Future of Farming, London, Zed Books.

Akram-Lodhi, A.H. 2013, Hungry for Change: Farmers, Food Justice and the Agrarian Question, Halifax, NS, Fernwood.

Food Miles

Iles, Alistair. 2005, “Learning in Sustainable Agriculture: Food Miles and Missing Objects,” Environmental Values 14, 163-83.

Pirog, Rich et al. 2001, Food, Fuel, and Freeways: An Iowa Perspective on How Far Food Travels, Fuel Usage, and Greenhous Gas Emissions. Ames, Iowa: Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

Xuereb, Mark. 2005, Food Miles: Environmental Implications of Food Imports to Waterloo Region. Waterloo, Ontario: Region of Waterloo Public Health.

Kneen, Brewster. 1995. From Land to Mouth: Understanding the Food System. Toronto, Ontario: NC Press.

Princen, Thomas. 1997. “The Shading and Distancing of Commerce: When Internalization ot Enough.” Ecological Economics 20(3), 235-53.

Global Food Industry

Weis, Tony. 2007, The Global Food Economy: The Battle for the Future of Farming. London, Portobellow Books.

Winson, Anthony. 2013, The Industrial Diet: The Degradation of Food and the Struggle for Healthy Eating, Vancouver, UBC Press.

McKeon, Nora. 2015, Food Security Governance: Empowering Communities, Regulating Corporations, London, Routledge.

Lang, Tim, Barling, David, ad Caraher, Martin. 2009, Food Policy: Integrating Health, Environment and Society, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Food and Agriculture Organization. 2015, State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015. Rome.

Erosion, Technology, and Concentration Group. 2013. Who Will Feed Us? The Industrial Food Chain or the Peasant Food Webs? Ottawa. Also, 2008, Who Owns Nature? Corporate Power and the Final Frontier in the Commodification of Life.

International Fund for Agricultural Development. Smallholders, Food Security and the Environment. Rome.

Gomez, Miguel I., 2013, “Post-Green Revolution Food Systems and the Triple Burden of Malnutrition,” Food Policy 42, October, 129-38.

Hawkes, Corinna, et al. 2012. “Linking Agricultural Policies with Obesity and Noncommunicable Diseases: A New Perspective for a Globalising World,” Food Policy 37 (3), 343-53.

Vermeulen, Sonja J., et al. 2012. “Climate Change and Food Systems,” Annual Review of Environment and Resouces 37(1), 195-222.

Plunkett Research, Ltd. 2015, Global Food Industry Overview, http://www.plunkettresearch.com/statistics/food-beverage-grocery-market-research/.

D’Odorico, Paolo et al. 2014, “Feeding Humanity Through Global Food Trade,” Earth’s Future 2(9), 458-69.

Von Braun, Joachim and Diaz-Bonilla, Eugenio. 2007, Globalization of Food and Agriculture and the Poor. New York, Oxford University Press, p. 9.

Rakotoarisoa, Manitra A., Iafrate, Massimo, and Paschali, Marianna. 2011, Why has Africa Become a Net Food Importer? Explaining Africa Agricultural and Food Trade Deficits. Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization.

Morrison, Jamie and Murphy, Sophia. 2009, “Economic Growth and the Distributional Effects of Freer Agricultural Trade in the Context of Market Concentration,” in Sarris, Alexander and Morrison Jamie (eds), The Evolving Structure of World Agricultural Trade: Implications for Trade Policy and Trade Agreements. Rome Food and Agriculture Organization.

Dreze, Jean and Sen, Amartya. 1989, “Hunger and Public Action,” Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Sen, Amartya. 1981, Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement Deprivation, New York, Oxford University Press.

Conway, Gordon. 1999, The Doubly Green Revolution: Food for All in the 21^st Century, Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press.

Altieri, Miguel. 1995, Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture, 2^nd ed; Boulder, CO, Westview.

Rise of Global Food Market

Von Braun, Joachim. 2007, Globalization of Food and Agriculture and the Poor, International Food Policy.

Friedmann, Harriet. 1987, “International Regimes of Food and Agriculture since 1870,” in Shanin, Teodor, ed., Peasants and Peasant Societies, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, pp. 258-76.

Friedmann, Harriet. 1993, “The Political Economy of Food: A Global Crisis,” New Left Review 197, 29-57.

Friedmann, Harriet and McMichael, Philip. 1987, “Agriculture and the State System: The Rise and Fall of National Agricultures, 1870 to the Present,” Sociologia Ruralis 29(2), 93-117.

McMichael, Philip. 2013, Food Regimes and Agrarian Questions, Halifax, Fernwood.

Kirkendall, Rochard. 1986, “The Agricultural Colleges: Between Tradition and Modernization,” Agricultural History 60(2), 2-21.

Cavert, William. 1956, “The Technological Revolution in agriculture, 1910-1955 (In Part with Special Reference to the North Central States,” Agricultural History 30(1), 18-27.

Rasmussen, Wayne. 1983, “New Deal Agricultural Policies After Fifty Years,” Minnesota Law Review 68, 353-77.

Clapp, Jennifer. 2012, Hunger in the Balance: The New Politics of International Food Aid, Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press.

Clapp, Jennifer and Fuchs, Doris, eds., 2009, Corporate Power in Global Agrifood Governance, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.

Lappe, Frances Moore, Collins, Joseph, and Rosset, Peter. 1998, World Hunger: 12 Myths, New York, Grove Press.

Kloppenburg, Jack. 1988, First to Seed: The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology 1492-2000, Cambridge Universtiy Press, p. 158.

Shiva, Vandana. 1991, The Violence of the Green Revolution: Third World World Agriculture, Ecology and Politics, London, Zed Books, pp. 30-6.

Rothschild, Emma. 1976, “Food Politics,” Foreign Affairs 54(2), 285.

Morgan, Dan. 1979, Merchants of Grain: The Power and Profits of the Five Giant Companies at the Center of the World’s Food Supply, New York, Viking Press.

Weis, Tony. 2010, “The Accelerating Biophysical Contradictions of Industrial Capitalist Agriculture,” Journal of Agrarian Change 10(3), 315-41.

Imperial College Wye. 2002, Crop Diversity at Risk: The Case for Sustaining Crop Collections.

Food and Agriculture Organization. 2010, The State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Rome.

Benton, Tim, Vickery, Juliet, and Wilson, Jeremy. 2003, “Farmland Biodiversity: Is Habitat Heterogeneity the Key?” TRENDS IN Ecology and Evolution 18(4), 182-8.

Ridgway, R.L., J.C., MacGregor, J.T., and Starler, N. 1978, “Pesticide Use in Agriculture,” Environmental Health Perspectives 27, 103-12.

Pimentel, D. et al. 1992, “Environmental and Economic Costs of Pesticide Use,” Bio Science 42(10), 750-60.

Altieri, Miguel. 1999. “The Ecological Role of Biodiversity in Agroecosystems,” Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 74, 20.

Weis, Tony. 2013, The Ecological Hoofprint: The Global Burden of Industrial Livestock, London, Zed Books.

Ilea, Ramona. 2009, “intensive Livestock Farming: Global Trends, Increased Environmental Concerns, and Ethical Solutions,” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 22, 153-67.

Transnational Corporations and Food Systems

Morgan, Dan. 1979, Merchants of Grain: The Power and Profits of the Five Giant Companies at the Center of the World’s Food Supply, New York: Viking Press.

McCalla, Alex. 1969, “Protectionism in International agricultural Trade, 1850-1968,” Agricultural History, 43(3), 329-44.

Erosion, Technology, and Concentration Group. 2008, Who Owns Nature? Corporate Power and the Final Frontier in the Commodification of Life, Ottawa, p. 8.

Vorley, Bill. 2008, Food Inc: Corporate Concentration from Farmer to Consumer, London, UK Food Group.

Sophia, Murphy. 2008, “Globalization and Corporate Concentration in the Food and Agriculture Sector,” Development 51(4), 527-33.

Murphy, Sophia, Burch, David, Clapp, Jennifer. 2012, Cereal Secrets: The World’s Largest Grain Trader and Global Agriculture, Oxford, Oxfam.

James Jr., Harvely S., Hendrickson, Mary K., and Howard, Philip H. 2012, Networks, Power and Dependency in the Agrifood Industry, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Working Paper, University of Missouri.

Clapp, Jennifer. 2015, “ABCD and Beyond: From Grain Merchants to Agricultural Value Chain Managers,” Canadian Food Studies 2(2), 126-35.

Erosion, Technology, and Concentration Group. 2011, Who Will Control the Green Economy? Ottawa.

Sharma, Shefali. 2014, Global Meat Complex: The China Series—The Need for Feed: China’s Demand for Industrialized Meat and Its Impacts, Minneapolis, MN, IATP.

Fairtrade International. 2013, Powering Up Smallholder Farmers to Make Good Fair: A Five Point Agenda, London.

Terazono, Emiko. 2014, “Welcome to the World of Big Chocolate,” Financial Times, December 18.

Kneen, Brewster. 2002, Invisible Giant: Cargill and its Transnational Strategies, London, Pluto Press, 2^nd ed., p. 3.

Clive, James. 2014, Executive Summary, Brief 49, Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops.

International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications. http://isaaa.org.

Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, 2015, Where in the World are GM Crops and Foods? The Reality of GM Crops in the Ground and on our Plates, Ottawa, CBAN.

International Seed Federation. 2012, Estimated Value of the Domestic Seed Market in Selected Countries for the Year 2011.

Erosion, Technology, and Concentration Group. 2015, Seedy Characters, Ottawa. Plus, Putting the Cartel befoe the Horse…and Farm, Seeds, Soil, Peasants, etc. Who will Control Agricultural Inputs, 2013? Plus, Gene Giants Seek “Philanthrogopoly”2013.

Berne Declaration and EcoNexus. 2013, Agropoly: A Handful of Corporation Control World Food Production.

Food and Water Watch. 2013, Monsanto: A Corporate Profile, http://www.fondandwaterwatch.org.

Robin, Marie-Monique. 2009, The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption and the Control of our Food Supply, New York, The New Press.

Lang, Tim and Heasman, Michael. 2004, Food Wars: The Global Battle for Mouths, Minds and Markets, London, Earthscan.

Reardon, Thomas and Timmer, C. Peter. 2007, “the Rise of Supermarkets in the Global Food System” in von Braun, Joachim and Diaz-Bonila, Eugenio, eds, 2007, Globalization of Food and Agriculture and the Poor, New York, Oxford University Press.

Falkner, Robert. 2008, Business Power and Conflict in International Environmental Politics, Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Palgrave Miacmillan.

Murphy, Sophia. 2008, “Globalization and Corporate Concentration in the Food and Agriculture Sector,” Development, 51(4), 527-33.

Lang, Tim and Heasman, Michael. 2004, Good Wars: The Global Battle for Mouths, Minds and Markets, London, Earthscan.

Philip, Mattera. 2004, USDA Inc.: How Agribusiness Has Hijacked Regulatory Policy at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC> Corporte Research Project of Good Jobs First.

Fuchs, Doris and Kalfagianni, Agni. 2010, “The Causes and Consequences of Private Food Governance,” Business and Politics 12(3), article 5.

Action Aid International. 2006, Under The Influence: Exposing Undue Corporate Influence Over Policy-Making at the World Trade Organization, Johannesburg, Action Aid.

Glover, Dominic. 2010, “The Corporate Shaping of GM Crops as a Technology for the Poor,” Journal of Peasant Studies 37, 67-90.

Williams, Marc. 2009, “Feeding the World? Transnational Corporation and the Promotion of Genetically Modified Food,” in Clapp, Jennifer and Fuch, Doris, eds, Corporate Power in Global Agrifood Governance, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.

Scrinis, Gyorgy. 2013, Nutritionism: The Science and Politics of Dietary Advice, New York, Columbia University Press.