Presentation for:

LANG 2002 Globalisation: Culture, Language and The Nation State

By student:
32309147
On the essay question

1. With reference to more than one country

analyse the aims and practices of local food
movements in developing an alternative
economy in the context of the global
industrialised food system.
outline Open and close economies
4 cases of European farmers who combat the dominant food
system model with both their economic strategies and values
value and who enjoys the
benefits from its creation
Open economy
Unregulated market, commodification of all domains of life,
distrubution according to market forces
Choices driven by price, lack of importance of the origins or
destination of commodities, customer has no knowledge of
the production process

Closed economy
Autarky, cooperation and sharing, the blend of the roles of
producer and customer, an idea of anti-materialism outside of
capital flow, production for consumption, not for the market
global food system
and its contestation
Economies of scale on specialised
industrialized farms, food processors
and manufacturers, additives, disguised
origins of ingredients
Corporations which create monopolies
and eliminate competition
Conventional agriculture is not
environmentally sustainable, exploits
labour
Sucking out value and reducing
autonomy
Production, distribution, consumption
alternative farming in
Andalusia, Spain and Tarn,
France
Why? the satisfaction which comes from this kind of
production, autonomy, a range of social and political
commitments
Andalusia – former campesinos, organic farming, distribution
cooperative of food to locals and to town, importance of
sustainability, food quality, local varieties, against
concentrations of land and agro-industrial farming corporations
Tarn – néo-rurals, de-growth, ‘closed wallet’ transactions,
against productivism and consumer society
Both - links to the countryside, expectation that growers should
provide normal, everyday food to all at affordable prices
alternative farming in
Tuscany, Italy and
Sussex, England
Tuscany – historical attempt to combat
commercial prices, return to work-intensive
production of quality food and specialties,
sold directly to locals and international
tourists
Sussex - minimise the money spent on
farming inputs, took 7-8 years to build up
soil fertility, a flock of sheep, or seeing an
orchard into mature production, ‘closed
wallet’ transactions, operating in the shadow
of market prices, struggle to achieve minimal
income, box schemes
Both - market for locally produced, organic
or other quality food, expectation that this
carries a price premium
list of references
Pratt, J., Luetchford, P., et al. (2014) ‘Economics and Morality', in Food for Change: The Politics
and Values of Social Movements. Pluto Press, pp. 185-200.
Pratt, J., Luetchford, P., et al. (2014) ‘Food Activism', in Food for Change: The Politics and Values
of Social Movements. Pluto Press, pp. 165-184.
Pratt, J., Luetchford, P., et al. (2014) 'Introduction', in Food for Change: The Politics and Values of
Social Movements. Pluto Press, pp. 1-23.