Commodification

Question 1

Define and describe the process of commodification

Answer 1

The act of making something a commodity; treating something as a transaction/profit/something to make off of.

Question 2

Describe the primary ways in which commodification of food has shaped our current food system

Answer 2

-> Detaches object from their time, place, and community
-> taking from the land and not giving back to it
-> lose connection to where foods come from and how it is produced
–> desire to learn about food systems and grow/share our own food
–>insist that features be made more visible
–> local food/shortening supply chains

Question 3

How does commodification shape our relationship to Nature?

Answer 3

1. viewing nature as a resource (exploited for economic gain)
2. Increased human intervention (mining, logging, intensive farming)
3. Fragmentation of ecosystems (divided land into smaller parcels for development and exploitation)
4. Loss of cultural significance (loss of traditional knowledge, spiritual values and cultural practices associated with nature)

Question 4

How does commodification shape our relationship with People?

Answer 4

1. Objectification (treated as objects and lead to the exploitation of people)
2. Devaluation of labour (poor working conditions, low wages, exploitation of workers)
3. Increased inequality (concentration of wealth and power is in the hands of a few while many others struggle)
4. Alienation (people are separated from the products of their labour and from each other)

Question 5

How does commodification shape our relationship with Place?

Answer 5

1. Homogenization (loss of unique cultural and historical characteristics)
2. Displacement (loss of affordable housing)
3. Commercialization (more oriented towards consumption and entertainment rather than public use and enjoyment)
4. Environmental degradation (natural resources are exploited for profit and landscapes are altered to cater to tourist demands)

Question 6

How does commodification shape our relationship with Food

Answer 6

1. Standardization (loss of traditional food cultures and biodiversity of food crops)
2. Overproduction and waste (produced to meet market demands rather than needs of communities)
3. Nutritional quality (focus on maximizing profit rather than providing healthy and nourishing food
4. Disconnection from food systems (loss of knowledge about the importance of healthy, and sustainable food systems)

Question 7

Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?” What is the article’s central critique of the Lorax?

Answer 7

–> Responsibility falls on other generations to fix the problems caused by those before them

–> The response to plant a tree understands environmental degradation as the product of individual shortcomings. It embraces the notion that issues of consumption, consumerism, power and responsibility can be resolved neatly and cleanly through enlightened, uncoordinated consumer choice. Individualization of responsibility

–> The serious work of confronting the threatening socio-environmental processes that the Lorax illuminates falls to individual’s, acting alone, usually as consumers.

Question 8

Be able to discuss the “Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?” Central argument of IPAT

Answer 8

–> Knowing how or when to intervene becomes difficult because of the system complexity and interconnectedness that overwhelms the possibility of planned, coordinated, effective intervention. There is not much room in IPAT’s calculus for questions of agency, intuitions, political power, or collective action.

–> Ignores economic, and political power, factors that are not easily measured with numbers.

Question 9

What solutions does “Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?” offer?

Answer 9

—> Consumers come to understand the consumption problem, see that their individual consumption choices are environmentally important but that their control over these choices is constrained, shaped and framed by institutions and political forces that can be remade only through collective citizen action as opposed to individual consumer behaviour.

—> Challenge the dominant view… discuss the “consumption problem” to come to grips with this narrowing of the collective imagination and the growing individualization of responsibility that drives it, and to grapple intently with ways of reversing the tide.