Food And Power

Explains how economic development leads to democracy by exploring how authoritarian governments manipulate the agricultural sector.

In Food and Power in Hawai`i, island scholars and writers from backgrounds in academia, farming, and community organizations discuss new ways of looking at food policy and practices in terms of social justice and sustainability. Each of the nine essays describes Hawai`i’s foodscapes and collectively makes the case that food is a focal point for public policy making, social activism, and cultural mobilization. With its rich case studies, the volume aims to further debate on the agrofood system and extends the discussion of food problems in Hawai`i. Given the island geography, high dependency on imported food has often been portrayed as the primary challenge in Hawai`i, and the traditional response has been localized food production. The book argues, however, that aspects such as differentiated access, the history of colonization, and the neoliberalized nature of the economy also need to be considered for the right transformation of our food system. The essays point out the diversity of food challenges that Hawai`i faces. They include controversies over land use policies, a gendered and racialized farming population, benefits and costs of biotechnology, stratified access to nutritious foods, as well as ensuring the economic viability of farms. Defying the reductive approach that looks only at calories or tonnage of food produced and consumed as indicators of a sound food system, Food and Power in Hawai`i shows how food problems are necessarily layered with other sociocultural and economic problems, and uses food democracy as the guiding framework. By linking the debate on food explicitly to the issues of power and democracy, each contributor seeks to reframe a discourse, previously focused on increasing the volume of locally grown food or protecting farms, into the broader objectives of social justice, ecological sustainability, and economic viability.

Debates during the postwar years about how food power could help the United States achieve goals such as stability, prosperity, and security were part of a larger conversation about the role of food in the security of states, communities, and individuals.0America helped build a new, postwar food system based on the steadying influence of American agricultural surpluses that helped maintain stable prices and food availability. This system averted a global-scale food crisis for almost three decades. The end of this food system in the early 1970s ushered in a much more unstable period in global food relations. 'Food power' argues that efforts to both interpret America's role in the world during the mid-twentieth century and to address contemporary food problems can be strengthened by understanding more fully the ways postwar American policymakers and experts sought to shape the politics of security and prosperity by linking people and places around the world through food.

Nearly every day brings news of another merger or acquisition involving the companies that control our food supply. Just how concentrated has this system become? At almost every key stage of the food system, four firms alone control 40% or more of the market, a level above which these companies have the power to drive up prices for consumers and reduce their rate of innovation. Researchers have identified additional problems resulting from these trends, including negative impacts on the environment, human health, and communities. This book reveals the dominant corporations, from the supermarket to the seed industry, and the extent of their control over markets. It also analyzes the strategies these firms are using to reshape society in order to further increase their power, particularly in terms of their bearing upon the more vulnerable sections of society, such as recent immigrants, ethnic minorities and those of lower socioeconomic status. Yet this study also shows that these trends are not inevitable. Opposed by numerous efforts, from microbreweries to seed saving networks, it explores how such opposition has encouraged the most powerful firms to make small but positive changes.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the production and consumption of food, suitable for use in undergraduate classrooms, either at the intermediate or advanced level. It takes an intersectional approach to difference and power and approaches standard subjects in the geography of food with a fresh perspective focusing on inequality, uneven production and legacies of colonialism. The book also focuses on places and regions often overlooked in conventional narratives, such as the Americas in the domestication of plants. The topics covered in the textbook include: descriptions and analyses of food systems histories of agricultural development with a focus on the roles of different regions major commodities such as meat, grains and produce with a focus on the place of production contemporary challenges in the food system, including labor, disasters/conflict and climate change recent and emerging trends in food and agriculture such as lab-grown meat and vertical urban farms Geographies of Food and Power takes a synthetic approach by discussing food as something produced within an interconnected system, in which labor, food quality and the environment are considered together. It will be a valuable resource for students of human geography, environmental geography, economic geography, food studies and development.

Raw food recipes and medicines for everyday life! Inspired by author Annelie Whitfield's time in the lush jungles of Costa Rica, this cookbook explores the wonderful tastes and unique benefits of using raw foods in everyday cooking. Her flavorful raw food recipes and remedies are filled with vibrant and all-natural ingredients that promote whole body wellness and increase energy levels. From healing teas and tinctures to nourishing dinners and beverages, you will feast upon the simplicity of recipes, like: Gingered watermelon juice Pineapple and cucumber gazpacho Wild green salad and citrus tahini dressing Mango, avocado, and tomato burritos Almond crunch cookies Filled with beautiful full-color photographs, Annelie's Raw Food Power shows you that you don't have to sacrifice taste to benefit from this healthy, plant-based lifestyle.

Drawing on ethnography conducted in Israel since the late 1990s, Food and Power considers how power is produced, reproduced, negotiated, and subverted in the contemporary Israeli culinary sphere. Nir Avieli explores issues such as the definition of Israeli cuisine, the ownership of hummus, the privatization of communal Kibbutz dining rooms, and food at a military prison for Palestinian detainees to show how cooking and eating create ambivalence concerning questions of strength and weakness and how power and victimization are mixed into a sense of self-justification that maintains internal cohesion among Israeli Jews.

At the relatively young age of 26, Adam Hart felt he had hit rock bottom. As he describes it, he was "living in an overweight body, extremely stressed and experiencing depression and anxiety attacks." He was also suffering with asthma and had developed an allergy to fresh fruit. Already feeling that he was living off medications, he had just been prescribed another drug, this time for high cholesterol. In the doctor's office, he was then told he was pre-diabetic. Adam puts his situation down to having spent most of his life up to that point as a human "doing" rather than a human "being." He decided then and there, in that doctor's office, to completely turn his lifestyle and his health around. Five years after embarking on a "journey of self-discovery," Adam is proof of what making a real commitment to personal health and wellbeing can look like. He has lost over 40 pounds, reversed his pre-diabetic state and eliminated his daily depression, saying that he now lives his life with "abundant health and happiness." In The Power of Food, Adam shows us how we can also achieve "abundant health and happiness" by eating foods with power. Power foods--whole, natural foods such as nuts, seeds, grains, legumes and beans, fruit and vegetables--are packed with nutrients and vitamins. The Power of Food shows us how to prepare and cook these foods-- simply--to make delicious meals. Much more than a collection of recipes, this book contains detailed profiles of 24 key power ingredients from each food group, for example, "The Power Nuts" (pistachios, almonds, pecans and cashews). With their whimsical titles and fresh takes on traditional favourites, the recipes in this book are sure to appeal: Outrageous Olive Tapenade Hungry Hungry Hummus Nude Pad Thai Oh My, Kale Gomae! Just Do It Hemp Milk That's An Amazing Strawberry Cheesecake Complemented by Adam's personal story as well as a thorough explanation of how to put your own The Power of Food plan into place, this book is both inspirational and practical. A must-have book, whether you want to turn your lifestyle and health around completely, like Adam, or just start taking steps to do so.