We all need food to survive and forty percent of the world's population relies on agriculture
for their livelihood. Yet control over food is concentrated in relatively few hands. Turmoil in
the world food economy in recent decades has highlighted a number of vulnerabilities and
contradictions inherent in the way we currently organize this vital sector. Extremes of both
undernourishment and overnourishment affect a significant proportion of humanity. And attempts
to increase production through the spread of an industrial model of agriculture has resulted in
serious ecological consequences. The fully revised and expanded third edition of this popular
book explores how the rise of industrial agriculture corporate control inequitable
agricultural trade rules and the financialization of food have each enabled powerful actors to
gain fundamental influence over the practices that dominate the world food economy and result
in uneven consequences for both people and planet. A variety of movements have emerged that are
making important progress in establishing alternative food systems but as Clapp's penetrating
analysis ably shows significant challenges remain.
