First post: agriculture, food and policies..or something around that!

This post covers the topic of the relation between agriculture, food, health, may be food sustainability. I reacted to the mention of a 'farmers apocalypse' by Alana Mann as i can agree with the importance of the question she sets. However i present the thoughts of Gay Bilson on how important to think about how food consumers are ready to change theirs habits, may be reduce as long as they are inform and, i reckon, involved in the process. I conclude on the importance to involve farming policies and this 'sector' in order to provide a comprehensive answer.

Hi blog readers,

This morning I started with reading 'Farmers' apocalypse: the globalisation of food supply'. For some reasons it made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I've tried to think about it a bit and felt like writing, as its a great way to express thoughts and to share them.
First she wrote:
'Per Pinstrup-Anderson, Cornell's professor of food nutrition and public policy, believes the world is not headed for a "global food apocalypse". There is an overabundance of food in the world - look at our growing waistlines. But the reality is millions of people die from hunger and malnutrition every year and unsustainable farming practices are destroying arable land.' (Alana Mann, ABC The drum, 11/10/2010) and however choose to keep the word Apocalypse in the title.

Overabundance=some fat people & some dying of hunger and malnutrition people =/or ? and? unsustainable farming practices are destroying arable land.

The rest is an interesting outline of possible logical links between these elements. I reckon it's a very interesting and important question. I feel less at ease with the idea of concluding or communicating on an 'apocalypse'. I'm sure its important to attract readers and to apparently challenges main ideas and topical policies. But, if it's to resolve the above puzzle, then we may need what is proposed by Gay Bilson:

'I reckon we need a team  of sociologists, public health researchers and, most importantly, a board of advisory tasters' (Gay Bilson, The Monthly, September2010).

In his article Bread and butter, she discusses the question of consuming less food and drinks instead of increasing the level of technologies allowing an industrial offer directly targeting health. She supports his case with the example of  development of wheat with a high lutein level, the waxy durum that allows to reduce the level of fat to use in cakes, biscuits, and strangely enough bread (as its for industrial white loaf i supposed). She fortunately also recalls that the development of this product was stimulated by the asian noodles markets where any food processing company able to supply a low fat product could make a temporary interesting niche market and improve its social policy disclosure on health. I quite agree that it's a topical question as any that is trying to look at innovation not only on the technological way but also on the societal, political framework.

What's riveting with this reading is that its close to a reflection i have about the role of food processing, upstream industry, downstream retailers and consu-citizen (not city-consumers even if here the question could have a tendency to be set that way). I mean that product qualities not related with the products (but with the farm practice, environment) and related with the product are mainly internalized by the downstream part of the agricultural and food chain, i.e food processing and retailing. Farming practices are also much shaped by seed, fertilisers and aninal health industry. Not to say its a bad thing. Just to recall that we can't forget how main farms are working now. Changing involves an awful lot of stakeholders with different interests. It's been now more than one century since seed/breed industry has shifted from agricultural business to industry and technology corporates. Small scale farming, small scale food processing remain in plenty of different socio-economics conditions. Food science is a bit like biotechnologies for sees manufactures and animal health products manufacturers. They also influence a lot the way of producing raw food products which more or less influence the characteristics of the food products. And food products have also to be understood as how they are part of a food-lifestyle, relating how people connects with nature, values. Consumers, citizens, voters already answers to that and are ready for more information.
When it comes to farms practices, the question of their impacts on the environment has been set in most of the nations. The one of its impact on health, lifestyle and how it may de-reponsibilise some of its stakeholders is less in the agenda.
So I think i agree with Gay Bilson on the need of a 'team' and i would also propose to involve representatives of different way of farmings, consuming and supplying to this industry. I reckon that this kind of team may bring another 'chapeau' than Apocalypse to the problem recalled by Alana Mann.