Food regime and family farming. Elements for food sovereignty

Abstract

Food systems are becoming increasingly industrialized and commodified, causing a gap between food production and consumers; a process that affects the food security of large sectors of the population. The essay’s objective was to analyze the role of agrarian activities and market relations of family farming in the context of the neoliberal food regime to propose territorially based food systems that contribute to food sovereignty. A systemic analytical framework was developed at three levels: neoliberal food regime, food system, and market; the study was conducted in 2023 for the case of Mexico. According to the analysis, the agrarian activities of family farming remain in the neoliberal food regime and are relevant for the income and food production they generate, but it establishes asymmetric market relations with intermediaries that limit their economic and social viability. The relationship of family farming with its territorial environment presents opportunities to connect production with consumers, favored by the diversification of the rural economy and the strengthening of the rural-urban link. It was concluded that family farming can contribute to the formation of territorial food systems and the social construction of markets, which favor overcoming asymmetric relationships in the market and food sovereignty. In the previous direction, it is essential to incorporate the territorial food dynamics of family farming and markets in the definition of public policy.