Food, Politics, Economy: Today’s Food Crisis and Polanyi’s Great Transformation

Hi all. So I've been wanting to write about food and politics for a while, but it's been hard to motivate myself to get enough energy to be riled up about food and politics because I feel like most of my energy is being drained by cover letters, resumes, and interviews (Yes, interviews! I said interviews! ...Well, we'll see. When I get good news, trust me, the whole world will hear about it).

So, for those of you that don't know my eating habits, I don't eat beef anymore, and I try to eliminate high fructose corn syrup (so hard, you have no idea) from my diet. Sure, there are health reasons, but it started actually in large due to political and ecological reasons. I also try my hardest to try and buy fair trade chocolates, coffee (not that I drink coffee), etc. I haven't been able to bring myself to write a whole shpiel about all of the personal reasons why I don't or try not to consume such products. So, I've decided that a good start would be to post an essay that I wrote for one of my interdisciplinary studies classes. I apologize if it seems a little dry to some, but... well, too bad, I find the subject fascinating.

(This is where I become a little Berkeley hippie hate neoliberal globalization on you.) The assignment was to write a response to an article by Walden Bello titled "Manufacturing a Food Crisis" using various economists that were discussed in class. In a nutshell, Bello's article discusses how the food crisis that had developed by 2008 was "artificially created" (i.e. man-made) through political decisions that transformed the agricultural market. I chose to analyze Bello's article through Polanyi's The Great Transformation (Polanyi is amazing, by the way.) and his theoretical and historical account of the development of the capitalist "free market" economy. Polanyi wrote in his book, The Great Transformation, "Laissez-faire was planned; planning was not." Following this theory, economic decisions are heavily tied to politics and can have dramatic effects on society. Politics, economics, and society are all inextricably linked. The "free market" policies that the Global North (i.e. developed countries, first world countries, etc.) forces upon the Global South and other various political decisions affect the economy and society as well.

Why, do you ask, am I writing about this? I think it's important for people to be conscious of what they consume, whether it be food, electronics, what have you. And, since this is a food blog, I figure why not. That, and because I don't think many people, especially in the Global North, realize how much about the politics behind food and how much the food industry is tied up in the global economy.

Click below to read more (Please keep in mind that this was written for class back in the summer of 2008, and was, of course, therefore written all the night before/morning of. So I apologize for potential lack of coherency and poor writing... but I swear I did my research beforehand!!)  Any responses/thoughts/retorts highly encouraged!!