Re-evaluating food systems and food security: A global perspective

Abstract

Three major systems of producing and distributing food coexist in today’s world – traditional, modernising and industrialised. While the movement from traditional to modernising to industrialised is neither inevitable nor uncontested, there are various social, economic and political forces that are acting to speed up such a transition. Neoliberal globalisation and financialisation are two of the macro-processes that are implicated in profound changes in food systems. From the perspective of critical agri-food scholarship, this article will outline the characteristics of the three food systems, before examining the role played by neoliberal globalisation and financialisation in reshaping their trajectories. The issue of food security will then be addressed, along with current opposition to the current global food trajectory.