5a. Food crises

Question 1

Mapping the coordinates of the 2008 food crisis.
Crisis is inherent to oil-dependent feedgrain-livestock complex that has commodified food and monetised security.
Crises are rooted in long-term agricultural production and food consumption patterns.
Food has often been used as a geopolitical strategy (Marshall Plan, GR) which has led to a homogenous agricultural system reliant on fossil fuels and vulnerable to oil spikes.
PE has argued that positionality matters e.g. urban poor are the worst affected

Answer 1

Jarosz (2009)

Question 2

‘Crisis’ is a poor term to use because they are structurally built into the global agro-food system. It’s about dramatic shifts in the entire relationship between people, food systems and the planet.
A continued focus on technical fixes which over time consistently assume that human progress will follow from producing more food.

Answer 2

Lang (2010)

Question 3

Anatomy of the 2008 crisis: tracking the factors that have led to a surge in food prices.
This has a particular impact on the urban poor who spend most of their disposable income on food.
Surges were driven by common factors such as energy costs but also commodity-specific factors such as a poor wheat harvest or soybeans being diverted to biofuels.
Paper rejects the idea of rising demand from China/India because these countries are mostly self-sufficient.
Crisis has made the weaknesses of global food system transparent.

Answer 3

Headey & Fan (2008)

Question 4

Concentration and crises: the deep roots of vulnerability in the global industrial food system.
An overview of the past 3 food crises, which argues that concentration at the field, country and global level has led to structural vulnerabilities that makes the global system prone to crises and unable to cope with shocks.

Answer 4

Clapp (2023)

Question 5

This food crisis is different

Over the past 70 years, policy responses to recurring crises have led to a global food system based on large-scale industrial production, specialiation and global trade.
This has increased global interdependencies and reduced food system diversity.

COVID-19 crisis is differentiated through its disruption, recession and uneven price trends.

Answer 5

Clapp & Moseley (2020)