This is a response to what Chuck Grimes wrote. While some of what you and Holt-Gimenez and others say is true, it is putting it a bit too one-sidedly. I have studied this stuff and when I read the people you quote they seem to be putting forward a conspiracy theory combined with a theory of monopoly. They are basically arguing that Ag TNC's have captured the state, NGO's and IGO's and are dictating policies to benefit themselves. While a bit of that is true, it is by no means so simple. In fact US and Euro Ag TNC's in he top 20 of global Ag TNC's have been declining as others from the south develop and put forward their own form of capitalist controlled agribusiness. There are also very big scientific problems with the notion that what we need is ALL locally produced food or that this is more energy efficient. Again, it is true somewhat and for some Ag products and in some regions but it should not be put forward so absolutely as some do. This simply makes the left look flaky.
Brad
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I started this post for another thread. But it applies to what Harvey was writing about. The basic idea was that global food systems put local production out of business. Yet it was local production and local cultural traditions that were more sustainable and less wasteful of resources. The point goes to the direction of re-tooling toward less growth.
Monday evening I was listening to Eric Holt-Gimenez talk about world food and development policies. He articulates how the neoliberal systems created the crisis and are now involved with extending themselves as a solution to crisis they created. Here is the show. It has a long music intro which can be hopped over: