A food regime genealogy

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Food regime analysis emerged to explain the strategic role of agriculture and food in the construction of the world capitalist economy. It identifies stable periods of capital accumulation associated with particular configurations of geopolitical power, conditioned by forms of agricultural production and consumption relations within and across national spaces. Contradictory relations within food regimes produce crisis, transformation, and transition to successor regimes. This 'genealogy' traces the development of food regime analysis in relation to historical and intellectual trends over the past two decades, arguing that food regime analysis underlines agriculture's foundational role in political economy/ecology. Introduction In the past year or so, in conjunction with an increasingly evident energy shortage, and global warming, a palpable food crisis has commanded public attention across the world. Rising food prices, and a cascade of food rioting, has signaled the end of the era of cheap food. It has also focused awareness of our agricultural foundations, especially as they have become increasingly dependent on fossil fuels. Recent attention to 'food miles' in public discourse has raised questions about our ability to continue to transport food, or its components, across the world. Just beneath the surface lurks a larger question, namely when public discourse will acknowledge that global agriculture is responsible for between a quarter and a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 1 Under these circumstances, a coherent political-economy and political-ecology of food is of utmost importance – not simply to understand the dimensions of the food crisis, but also to situate the world food system and its crisis within a broader historical understanding of geo-political and ecological conditions. 'Food regime' analysis provides this possibility. It is over two decades since the first formulation of the concept of 'food …