Assessing freedom of food consumers within a glocalising context : a mixed-methods case study to assess consumer freedom in Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Assessing freedom of food consumers within a glocalising context.

A mixed-methods case study to assess consumer freedom in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Frank van Kesteren Student ID: 10462023

Research MSc International Development Studies vankesterenfrank@gmail.com

22-05-2015

Supervisor: Dr. N.R.M. Pouw

Fieldwork supervisor: Dr. Silvia Lago Martinez Second reader: Prof. Dr. I.S.A. Baud

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Credit photo 1 on frontpage:

Fransisco Aragao: Cafe Tortoni – Buenos Aires, Argentina Flickr.com – creative commons

Credit photo 2 on frontpage:

jglsongs: Shadows and height – San Telmo, Buenos Aires Flickr.com – creative commons

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Assessing freedom of food consumers within a glocalising context.

A mixed-methods case study to assess consumer freedom in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

MSc Thesis

written by Frank van Kesteren (vankesterenfrank@gmail.com)

under the supervision of Dr. Nicky Pouw and submitted to the Board of Examiners in May

2015 in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MSc in International Development Studies (research) at the University of Amsterdam.

Date of defence:

22-05-2015

Thesis committee:

Dr. N.R.M. Pouw Prof. Dr. I.S.A. Baud

Declaration

I, Frank van Kesteren, have read the University of Amsterdam plagiarism policy and declare that this MSc thesis is entirely my own work. I have acknowledged all sources used and declare to not have published or submitted this work before.

Signature: ……… Date:

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Acknowledgements

Even though I declare that this thesis is my work only there have been a lot of people without whom this thesis would not have been possible. I am very grateful to a number of people for their support in constructing this thesis.

First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Nicky Pouw. Her critical view has kept me on track in times when I was over-ambitious, vague or just unable to see the flaws in my work. Moreover, she has provided me with very useful theoretical and methodological tools. I would like to thank my supervisor in Buenos Aires, Silvia Lago Martinez, for discussing how to sample and approach respondents and for providing further methodological help. I thank Isa Baud for her work as second reader and I thank her and Yves van Leynseele for their suggestions in the first phase of designing the thesis.

I would like to thank my many friends for their support. Especially I want to thank Stella and JD, my friends in Buenos Aires, for their help in the final stage of my fieldwork, Genny for her help in editing, and Jos, Ymkje, Kati and Barbara for their support throughout writing this thesis in general.

This thesis is for Ineke, Mark and Anneloes who have loved and encouraged me always. But most of all this thesis is for my father Frans, always reminding me how actual freedom, rather than mere convenient trivialities, is important for the development of the self. Unfortunately he is not here anymore to reap this fruit of being a tremendous source of inspiration and genuine support throughout my entire life. Thank you!

“We do not measure a culture

by its output of undisguised trivialities but by what it claims as significant.”

Neil Postman –

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List of figures

Figure 2.1: example of a food supply chain 21

Figure 2.2: the food hour glass 21

Figure 2.3: development of nominal and real food prices 1961-2014. 30 Figure 2.4: the role of capabilities in consumption 33 Figure 2.5: the vicious circle of deskilling 38

Figure 2.6: conceptual scheme 46

Figure 3.1: epistemological limitations in a social science research design 48

Figure 3.2: contingent causality 50

Figure 3.3: example of a nested analysis-design 52

Figure 3.4: sequential research design 52

Figure 3.5: design of the experiment 56

Figure 3.6: the two products of the experiment 57 Figure 3.7: participants describing their ‘ideal food purchasing place’ 63 Figure 4.1: province of Buenos Aires, CABA and AGBA 71

Figure 4.2: wards of Buenos Aires 72

Figure 4.3: per capita GDP Argentina 1980-2019 77 Figure 4.4: per capita GDP Argentina 2005-2014 78 Figure 4.5: unemployment rates Argentina 2005-2014 79 Figure 4.6: supermarket sales Argentina 1996-2014 80 Figure 4.7: Argentina’s export share 2005-2013 82 Figure 4.8: trust in political institutions in Latin American countries 83 Figure 4.9: graffiti at CCEBA to protest against ‘bobalización’ 84 Figure 4.10: GINI-coefficient Argentina & Buenos Aires 1996-2013 85 Figure 4.11: Income growth of households in Buenos Aires 2007-2013 86 Figure 4.12: average temperatures in Buenos Aires 2001-2014 88 Figure 4.13: total annual rainfall in Buenos Aires 2001-2014 88 Figure 4.14: CO2 emissions Argentina 1998-2008 89

Figure 5.1: the Abasto market in 1925 92

Figure 5.2: a ‘Chino’ in the Balvanera ward 95 Figure 5.3: total expenditures on advertising in Argentina 2004-2014 98 Figure 5.4: proportional share of food groups’ consumption in Buenos Aires 99 Figure 5.5: Estación Saludable at Plaza San Martin 100 Figure 5.6: a protestor in the May 2013 ‘March against Monsanto’ 101 Figure 5.7: influence of actors within food markets in Argentina 103

List of tables

Table 1.1: sub-questions 16

Table 2.1: three mechanisms of glocalisation of food production 23

Table 2.2: the McDonaldisation of society 27

Table 2.3: two mechanisms of glocalisation of food consumption 28 Table 2.4: causes of the current food crisis 31 Table 2.5: 10 ‘new fundamentals’ for change in the food industry 31 Table 2.6: categorisation of explanations for deskilling 36 Table 2.7: food production and consumption skills 37

Table 2.8: five dimensions of alienation 41

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Table 3.1: planning of methods 53

Table 3.2: use of methods per concept 53

Table 3.3: treatments in experiment 57

Table 3.4: hypotheses for entire research population 58 Table 3.5: Cronbach’s Alpha’s of 4-item scales 65 Table 3.6: Cronbach’s Alpha’s of adjusted scales 66 Table 3.7: Cronbach’s Alpha’s for scale construction 66

Table 3.8: Shapiro-Wilk test for normality 67

Table 3.9: Levene’s test for homogeneity of variances 68 Table 4.1: research population for consumer profiles survey 73 Table 4.2: composition of research population according to ward 74 Table 4.3: research population for alienation survey 75 Table 4.4: trade in food products in US million dollars 81

Table 4.5: the research context 90

Table 5.1: criteria for purchasing and consuming food 105 Table 5.2: rationalisation of purchasing criteria 106 Table 5.3: descriptive statistics and histograms of consumer profiles 107 Table 6.1: types of deskilling in Buenos Aires 111 Table 6.2: frequency of consumption for the two products 113 Table 6.3: importance of being fully informed 114 Table 6.4: reasons to be fully informed and not to be fully informed 114 Table 6.5: confidence of being able to find information 115

Table 6.6: the four treatments 116

Table 6.7: Mann-Whitney U test results 116

Table 6.8: indicators of deskilling for consumer types 118 Table 6.9: Mann-Whitney U test results (healthiness) 119 Table 6.10: Mann-Whitney U test results (environmentally sustainability) 119 Table 6.11: Mann-Whitney U test results (production consciousness) 120 Table 6.12: Mann-Whitney U test results (importance being fully informed) 121 Table 6.13: Mann-Whitney U test results (capability to find information) 122 Table 6.14: confirmed and rejected hypotheses for consumer types 123 Table 6.15: Mann-Whitney U test results (product 1) 124 Table 6.16: Mann-Whitney U test results (product 2) 125

Table 7.1: frequencies powerlessness 133

Table 7.2: frequencies meaninglessness 135

Table 7.3: frequencies normlessness 137

Table 7.4: frequencies social isolation 139

Table 7.5: frequencies self-estrangement 141

List of boxes

Box 2.1: the 8 consumer profiles 39

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List of acronyms

AGBA Aglomerado Gran Buenos Aires

ANT Actor-Network Theory

CABA Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires

CAC Codex Alimentarius Commission

CEC Centro del Educación al Consumidor

FAO Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations

FAOSTAT Statistical Division of FAO

FDI Foreign Direct Investment

FIC Fundación InterAmericana del Corazón

HDI Human Development Index

IDP Indice de Precios al Consumidor

ILO International Labour Organisation

IMF International Monetary Fund

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GMO Genetically Modified Organism

INDEC Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos de la República Argentina

LNA Large-N Analysis

MNC Multinational company

OMS Organización Mundial de la Salud

PPP Purchasing Power Parity

SNA Small-N Analysis

SRA Strategic-Relational Approach

SSS Standard Serving Sizes

UCA Unión de Consumidores de Argentina

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

US United States of America

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Foreword

Few things catch the impact of globalisation better than the two photos at the front of this thesis, both taken in the centre of Buenos Aires. The first is a photo taken within the Tortoni café at Avenida de Mayo. This café has been found by a French migrant in 1858 to mimic the Tortoni café in Paris, France. It has quickly become one of my favourite places in Buenos Aires, particularly due to its mix of specific Argentine characteristics (tango shows, games, food served) with the atmosphere of a French literary coffee house. The second photo is a food delivery moped, spotted in San Telmo, close to the city centre.

The two pictures give a good overview of how globalisation of food can unfold in different contexts. In the case of café Tortoni migration has resulted in a café where a traditional French and Argentine style are combined. In the case of the food delivery we see that quick, delivered food exists next to domestic, intensive cooking. Therefore, it is too easy to say that globalisation leads to homogenisation and intrusion only. In fact, my time in Buenos Aires has shown me how agents both adapt, repel, warmly welcome, protest against and transform globalising forces.

Because of globalisation, developing countries are experiencing radical changes in what people eat. In an age where consumption has global repercussions, this poses new challenges for consumers in developing countries. This is best illustrated by what one of my respondents stated: “Para mí lo más anti-ecológico es el hambre”.1

Due to constant uncertainty because of the unstable economy her only intention was to not be hungry. It is foremost important to be fed, even when being concerned about the environment.

Therefore: the freedom to consume sustainably is not determined by the will to do so only. Consumers’ will may differ considerably from their might, with huge percussions for actual freedom. In fact, might is not only determined by the economic stability of sufficient income and supply of food, but by the freedom to use these to feed ourselves according to our own preferences as well. Therefore, the question is: what can we expect in terms of consumer freedom in globalising, yet still developing, Argentina?

1_{“For me hunger is most anti-ecological”}

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1. Introduction

“De burger-consument is aan zet!”

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has defined food security as a situation where "all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life" (FAO, 2002). This definition encompasses many elements of food supply, such as cost, quality and distribution of food; all issues which are problematic in developing countries. However, by defining access to food as physical, social and economic access, it does not include the cognitive aspect of access in the equation; i.e. the capability to grow, select and/or purchase sufficient, safe and nutritious food.

Food markets are integrating globally. Increasingly, production and consumption of a product are organised transnationally, thereby linking the global North and South through consumption (c.f. Traill, 1997; Bruinsma, 2003; Harper and LeBeau, 2003; Lang and Heasman, 2004; Southgate et al., 2010). Our daily meals now originate from all over the world. A Dutch dinner for instance, may very well exist of vegetables harvested in Peru, South Africa or Spain, and beef from cows grazing in the grasslands of inner Argentina. Increased locations and complex modes of production and increasing trade in food products are only a few of the implications that this integration (frequently entitled as the globalisation of food markets) has for the diversity of food products.

Food globalisation, through economies of scale and comparative advantages, has succeeded in providing more people with nutritious food (c.f. Runge et al., 2003; FAO, 2004; FAO, 2014a). However, it also poses consumers with new challenges in terms of food knowledge: to gather the amount of information required to purchase the products according to one’s individual interests takes time, energy and skill. In the meantime, the economic, social and environmental externalities of food globalisation are increasingly visible (c.f. Mol and Bulkeley, 2002; IPTS, 2006; van der Ploeg, 2006; van der Ploeg, 2010).

The Dutch statement2 on the top of this page was discussed during the 2010 'Kerk en Wereld’-lecture by Prof. Spaargaren from the Wageningen University and Research Centre. Spaargaren rejected the idea of the consumer as unwilling to improve the sustainability of the food system; i.e. the idea of the consumer as ignorant, unpredictable and lazy (Spaargaren,

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12 2010). Especially the Dutch, he argued, are environmentally conscious and willing to contribute to a sustainability society, but lack the right incentives.

How sustainable are food consumers? Studies in Europe show that despite businesses switching to more sustainable modes of production (both in the social and environmental aspect of the term) and governments providing incentives for successful cooperation, consumers lag behind in their purchases of sustainable consumption. Even though the demand for responsible food is increasing (c.f. DEFRA, 2008; Adams and Salois, 2010; SCAR, 2011; Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2013), the market share of sustainable products remains at a low level. In the Netherlands for instance, this share is just seven percent in supermarkets, nine percent in other shops and three percent in catering services (Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2013).

Therefore, it is frequently concluded that consumers “just don’t care”, even though several statistics do not support that conclusion. For example: the protection of environment, nature or landscape is the primary reason cited for buying certified food products in the Netherlands (PBL, 2014). Additionally, only 16 percent of the consumers are unconcerned with ethical issues surrounding food in the UK (DEFRA, 2011). Even though 80 percent of Dutch consumers are prepared to pay up to ten percent more for sustainable and animal friendly products (Carabain and Spitz, 2012), both Dutch and British consumers see the higher price of sustainable products as a barrier to buying them more (DEFRA, 2011; PBL, 2014).

Price and availability of sustainable products, an unwillingness and lack of organisation of consumers and the image of some environmental products are frequently mentioned as factors withholding sustainable products from a larger market share. This thesis will not discuss these factors nor will it discuss sustainability in itself, but will rather focus on an underestimated aspect of decision-making of food consumers, namely their cognitive capacity. In the debate surrounding whose ‘turn it is to act’, the role of the consumer is usually viewed in terms of the mismatch between consumer preferences and their actions. Why do Dutch consumers shop unsustainably if they proclaim concern for sustainable production? Is there a bias in surveys? Do consumers ‘hide’ their real preferences through socially desired answers? Are they not informed properly? Are they unable to organise themselves? These are all valid questions, but the question ‘whose turn it is’ is more than a question of who is willing to act. The more important question is to what extent consumers are capable to act.

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13 Consumers in developing countries face an increasingly complex food market as globalisation of food impacts the availability of food in both the global North and South. International brands compete with local products in the fights for the mouths, minds and hearts of consumers. Furthermore, multinational companies (MNCs) take over regional and local markets, leaving little space for small-scale domestic industries. Consumers thus have more to choose from, but the question is how this impacts their capability to choose between products.

This question stems mostly from psychological research on the effect of choice on consumers. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz outlined how more choice (i.e. the amount of options available) creates anxiety amongst consumers and leaves them with feelings of depression and loneliness (Schwartz, 2004). The amount of choice can even be negatively related to the willingness of consumers to buy products (Iyengar and Lepper, 2000). Even though experimental research found the amount of options to be positively related to performance, intrinsic motivation and feeling of control (Langer and Rodin, 1976; Zuckerman et al., 1978), these investigations entailed little options (two to six). As options increase, so do frustration about the choice-making process and dissatisfaction about the final choice (Iyengar and Lepper, 2000). What Schwartz (2000) named the ‘tyranny of freedom’ thus may have a serious impact on the satisfaction of consumers in their food purchasing, as for instance regular supermarkets sell between 3.000 and 25.000 products. In sum, as the amount of products increases and production processes are increasingly complex in integrated food markets (as will be outlined in Section 2.1.1.), the impact these processes have on consumer freedom needs to be examined.

This thesis presents an investigation of consumer capabilities within complex food markets in a developing context. It will centre around the concepts of deskilling and alienation in order to view the freedom of consumers to act according to their preferences. It investigates the process of obtaining and maintaining skills required to function within their food environment (skilling) and their feelings of control, meaning and isolation within this environment (embedding). By zooming in on the skilling (or deskilling) and the embedding (or alienation) of consumers in their food environment this research focuses on the cognitive, more intangible aspects of consumer freedom. It presents the results of a field experiment to test the relations between what consumers want, what they are capable of and what they do in terms of purchasing food. Furthermore, it presents results of additional qualitative and quantitative research to assess the freedom of consumers in their changing food environment.

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14 Fieldwork for this research was done in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Buenos Aires has faced a rapid globalisation of its food markets in the late twentieth century, as is outlined in Chapter 4. Therefore, it provided an ideal location for investigating how consumers function within this changing food environment.

The explicit objectives of this research are as follows:

 The theoretical objective is to expand the conceptualisation of consumer freedom, emphasising the cognitive aspect of freedom. By incorporating the skilling process of consumers in the analysis of consumer freedom, the cognitive capacities of consumers are taken into account. Similarly, by incorporating alienation in the same framework the more intangible aspects of consumer freedom are assessed. By means of the conceptualisation of consumer freedom, the objective is to shift the focus of research on sustainable consumption and consumer freedom more towards cognitive capacities. Moreover, this research attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of what globalisation means for consumer freedom to put the results of empirical investigation of consumer freedom in this context of globalisation.

 The methodological objective is twofold: first, the objective is to develop a research design consisting of an optimal combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, using their respective advantages and reducing their respective disadvantages to a minimum. Second, the objective is to develop a predominantly quantitative model for measuring deskilling; a concept not empirically tested yet.

 The practical/societal objective of this research is to develop an impact investigation of globalisation of food markets for Buenos Aires. The extent to which deskilling and alienation impact consumer freedom in the Argentine capital can be reason for concern. Since little research has investigated these concepts empirically, and none of them have been done in Buenos Aires, the outcomes provide insight in cognitive capabilities in Buenos Aires. Specific policy recommendations may result from the investigation, both in terms of the control of globalisation of food markets and specific consumer-focused campaigns to enlarge consumer freedom. By distinguishing between groups based on age, gender, education and income, specific advice can be given in relation to the latter.

The question is if the definition of food security, as provided by the FAO, needs to be broadened by incorporating the cognitive element of access in the equation. Only by assessing the ‘threat’ of deskilling and alienation for consumer freedom the state of food security in the

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15 developing world can be properly examined. Doing so allows for an answer to the question if it really is the consumer who is to act. The research thus aims to provide recommendations for both theory and methodology of science, as well as policy.

Based on the theory, research location and objectives outlined above the following research question has been formulated:

How do processes of deskilling and alienation impact the freedom of food consumers in Buenos Aires (Argentina), within the context of transforming food

markets and dynamics in food culture(s)?

This question requires some further elaboration:

- First, the question of how deskilling and alienation impact consumer freedom implies that consumer freedom is the overarching concept, with the skilling process (or deskilling) and the embedding of consumers (or alienation) as elementary.

- Second, the use of the term ‘food consumers’ implies that the research population encompasses all inhabitants of Buenos Aires (as all inhabitants eat). The motivation for this choice is given in the methodology (Chapter 3).

- Third, the phrase ‘within the context’ implies that the results of the empirical study are related to the transformations of food markets, but without investigating the relationship directly. Thus, the transformation of food markets and consumer freedom are analysed separately, but their relation is not studied comprehensively, meaning that in the analysis of consumer freedom I might relate to changes in food markets – e.g. by quoting a respondent -, but not systematically.This is done because it is beyond the scope of this research to investigate the impact of a concept as diverse as transformations of food markets empirically.

- Finally, the concept of (dynamics in) food cultures is incorporated as structural forces unfold within the context of local cultures. The interface between food cultures in Buenos Aires and the globalisation of its food markets is essential for an understanding of the real impact of globalisation on consumer freedom (as outlined in Section 2.4).

To answer the research question in a coherent way, the thesis is structured as follows: Chapter 2 presents the literature study underlying this research and will give an overview of the meta-theories, concepts and variables used in this study. Chapter 3 consequently outlines how they are investigated. It discusses the epistemological position underlying my selection of methods

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16 and sets out how the methods are used. Chapter 4 discusses the research area; why it has been chosen, what the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the research population are and an overview of the area in terms of the concepts in my theoretical framework. Chapters 5 to 7 are the empirical chapters, discussing the results of the empirical study of food cultures, deskilling and alienation respectively. Chapter 8 presents the major findings and policy recommendations of this research and answers the main research question. Moreover, a reflection on the methodology and recommendations for further research.

Based on the main research question, a set of sub-questions has been formulated. Table 1 below presents these questions, as well as the chapters in which they are discussed.

Table 1.1: sub-questions

1. How do glocalisation3 of food production and consumerism unfold within Buenos Aires’ food markets?

2. Which dynamics in Buenos Aires’ food cultures can be identified?

Chapter 5: food cultures

3. How, and to what extent4, does a process of deskilling occur for food consumers in Buenos Aires?

Chapter 6: deskilling

4. How does a process of alienation occur for food consumers in Buenos Aires?

Chapter 7: alienation

3_{The use of the term ‘glocalisation’ rather than globalisation is explained in Section 2.1.1.} 4

Although generally ‘to what extent’-questions need to be avoided because they require quantification of the phenomenon, given the methodology of the testing of deskilling this type of question is appropriate here.

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2. Theoretical framework

2.1. Introduction

The previous chapter has outlined the ambiguity in evaluations of consumer freedom as a result of globalisation.5 Analyses merely focused on choice and access correctly argue that globalisation has enlarged consumer freedom. However, they do not pay attention to the cognitive capabilities constituting them. The theoretical objective of this research therefore is to expand the conceptualisation of consumer freedom in order to study it within the context of globalising food markets. This chapter presents both a discussion of existing studies on globalisation of food markets and consumer freedom, and provides a conceptualisation of the two concepts. It starts by outlining the limitations of scope underlying food and freedom studies in order to introduce the need for the conceptualisation that follows. In the subsequent sections the three overarching concepts of the research are discussed. The section on transforming food markets outlines the global changes in food production and consumption as the context in which the other concepts need to be studied. The section on consumer freedom outlines the concepts of deskilling and alienation as elements of cognitive freedom. Finally, food cultures are introduced as a concept to understand the interplay between structural and agentic forces in the relation between globalisation and consumer freedom.

2.2. Overcoming imbalances in food studies

Food studies are very diverse in terms of theories and underlying epistemologies. Studies on agriculture in social sciences traditionally have a very materialist focus based on Marxist deduction (Goodman, 2001). Concepts as industrialisation, commodification or economies of scale have not been unpacked nor challenged until the late 1980’s (Marsden, 1998; Vandergeest, 1988). The counter-movement of rural sociology, building on Actor-Network Theory (ANT), brought farms and farm households’ agency in the picture (Long et al., 1987; Arce and Marsden, 1993; Arce and Long, 2000a). Agricultural studies are still rooted in very different ontologies and epistemologies, especially because these differences are not made explicit (Goodman, 2001).

A similar duality can be seen in consumer studies, where the politics of consumption are either investigated as organised, social movement against food industries (c.f. Buttel, 1997; 2000) or through the connection between consumption and citizenship (DuPuis, 2000; Spaargaren and Oosterveer, 2010). One of the causes of this divide is the imbalance in focus of studies on production and consumption: consumer studies refer to changes in production

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18 merely as the explanation for the studied phenomena, whereas Marxist, agricultural studies treat the consumer as elusive; an actor who cannot be counted upon, beyond control of producers (Goodman and DuPuis, 2002).

Several scholars have contributed to overcoming the consumer-producer dualities. Murdoch and Miele (1999) for instance recognise the standardisation impact that globalisation has on both consumers and producers at the same time. Marsden and Wrigley (1995) study the transformation of the retail industry and the impact consumer interactions have on them in a dialectical manner. However, they conclude by stating that the future would

“depend upon the development of the social and political consciousness of the consumers themselves. This in turn depends upon an ability to overcome the types of commodified individualism and positionality much of the contemporary system attempts to promote” (Marsden and Wrigley, 1995:

1911).

Although this study is no attempt to overcome the consumer – producer divide, it moves beyond the idea of consumers as elusive agents in times of structural transformations in food markets and recognises the impact of consumer agency on transformations in food markets and vice versa. Moreover, it answers to recent pleas for pluralism (c.f. Sent, 2003; Van Bouwel, 2007; Pouw and McGregor, 2014) both at the epistemological and methodological level – see Chapter 3 – and at the theoretical level through incorporating cognitive elements in consumer decision-making. The study attempts to open up the black box of consumer agency through broadening the concept of consumer freedom. Since consumer freedom determines the ability to satisfy individual needs and exercise power and control within food markets, its investigation is essential to bridge gaps in food studies of ‘who’s turn it is to act’.

However, although food studies relate to freedom through studying behaviour, constraints to choices and organisation, consumer freedom is seldom studied explicitly. On the one hand, studies mostly relate to negative freedom – the individual’s independence from other people or institutions (Berlin, 1969) – through the impact of politics or the organisation of food production on food supplied. This negative freedom, or the “ability to act, rather than abstain from acting” (Poder, 2013: 98), is generally studied through the diversity in products available (c.f. Traill, 1997; Murdoch and Miele, 1999; Burch and Lawrence, 2007). On the other hand, those studying elements of positive freedom – individual capabilities to realise one’s individual intentions (Berlin, 1969; Sen, 1999; Robeyns, 2005a) – mainly study these intentions (c.f. Kahle, 1984; Schlosser, 2000; Adams and Salois, 2010) and the resources

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19 required to act accordingly (c.f. Bauman and May, 2001; DEFRA, 2011), but do not investigate actual capabilities, and thus do not investigate actual positive freedom.

In order to answer the question underlying the imbalance between production and consumption studies – ‘what we can expect from the consumer’ – this study investigates actual consumer freedom through measuring capabilities. This conceptualisation is outlined in Section 2.4.

2.3. Transforming food markets

In order to study the impact of globalisation of food markets it must first be clear how this process is defined. Because globalisation of food markets is a broad and abstract concept with very diverse implications, it has been defined in various ways in food studies: very concretely as food production taking place a considerable distance from its consumption (Bonanno, 1994) but in more abstract terms too: “a set of pronounced and extended linkages between the sites of production and consumption” (Murdoch and Miele, 1999: 467). Traill (1997) argues that food globalisation is the ‘convergence’ of international consumer demands and preferences. Globalisation is thus defined both by increased physical space between producer and consumer, but also by increased proximity of consumers worldwide through converging consumption patterns. Anyhow, it means that today it is possible to eat food from all over the world, albeit depending on your location.

Globalisation is frequently described as a process structuring societies into a new world order (Robertson, 1990). In consumer studies globalisation is often the key driver for the emergence of cultural homogenisation, eliminating the need for local modifications of products or advertising strategies. Yet, multinational food companies have national and regional departments determining strategies. For example, Coca-Cola modifies its products and advertising approaches to avoid ‘culture-clashes’ (Blackwell et al., 1994). In fact, specific amendments are made based on service, ingredients and other factors (ibid.; Svensson, 2001). This indicates that globalisation essentially has a local and cultural dimension too.

Food globalisation is not the convergence of food markets only, nor is it the homogenisation of food cultures. The concept of glocalisation, combining the words

globalisation and localisation, recognises the interplay between structural changes in food

markets and local dynamics. Robertson introduced the term as “the interpenetration of the universalisation of particularization and the particularization of universalism”, recognising the interdependence and dialectical relationship of the two processes (Robertson, 1992: 100). Especially in the study of food consumption, which is particularly a cultural phenomenon,

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20 studying the ‘local’ in glocalisation is essential. It is inevitable to absorb commercial goods and information in internationally organised food markets, but the selection of this absorption is made locally, communally or regionally (Bauman, 1998a; Beilharz, 2001). I therefore refer to glocalisation, rather than globalisation, in explaining the global changes in food production and consumption outlined in the next sections.

2.3.1. ‘Glocalisation’ of food production

Although glocalisation of food production cannot be grasped within one study, there are three mechanisms which stand out in all discussions on glocalised production of food: the emergence of food value-chains (food chains), increased trade in food products and the dominance of processed foods.

Food chains

Multinational Companies (MNCs) have narrowed the core of the production process through chains of players in the production process. Producers and consumers are linked through a set of players such as manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers (see figure 2.1). It entails the (national or international) linkage of producers and consumers, through a production scheme which builds on Fordist logic. In contrast to vertically coordinated, state-led chains (c.f. Rozelle and Swinnen, 2004) the lead role in these chains is not pre-determined. Value chains may be producer-driven and buyer-driven (Gereffi, 1994). It depends on the uniqueness of the product, its production methods (such as technology used), the importance of brands and their advertising, the governance structure and the organisation of both producers and consumers what the power ratios are (Humphrey and Schmitz, 2001).

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Figure 2.1: example of a food supply chain (Manos, 2010).

In their book Food, Society and Environment, Harper and LeBeau have introduced the hourglass as an analytical model for studying food chains (see figure 2.2). It displays how food markets exist of two relatively large groups (consumers and producers), being connected through a very small number of agents (processors) (Harper and LeBeau, 2003). This model displays how a relatively “small amount of players are responsible for feeding the world population” (Jaffe and Gertler, 2006: 144). Especially retailers can be seen as ‘brokers’ within a consumption-driven market.

The dominance of the group of processors poses “tensions, challenges, threats and opportunities” in terms of accountability and control (Lang and Heasman, 2004: 12), and the integration of multiple actors in the commodity chain-structure poses new challenges in terms of responsibility (who is responsible for what happens within the production process?) and ownership (who is the owner of the product?).

At the local level, the emergence of food chains has

Figure 2.2: the food hour glass (source: Harper & LeBeau, 2003)

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22 led to a situation of co-existence of global brands with local craftsmen/firms (Traill, 1997) and small-scale farmers with more diversified agricultural systems (Beets, 1990; Netting, 1993) or farmers ‘absorbed’ by these chains because of the increased benefits (OECD, 2011).

Food trade

The second mechanism of glocalisation is the substantial amount of trade in food commodities. World trade is an integrating force that “connects spatially separated markets and tends to equalise prices” (Traill, 1997: 394). Because of the international value-chain structure, most trade is intra-industry trade between similar countries, based on economies of scale (Krugman, 1995). Today’s products are organised via ‘stages of production’ in different countries. Food manufacturers assemble their ingredients and source them supra-nationally. Hence, most trade is not only intra-industry trade, but even ‘intra-firm trade’ (Traill, 1997: 395). Especially trade in processed foods (the third mechanism) has increased: 9.4 percent annually between 1961 and 1990 compared to 2.1 percent for bulk agricultural commodities (ibid.). 30 developed countries account for 90 percent of processed food imports, with only a 6 percent share of production (Dayton and Henderson, 1992). Trade between developing countries is mostly intra-industry trade for further processing (ibid.). The trade in processed food is mostly driven by Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the form of international production, strategic alliances or franchising (Malanowski et al., 1997; Traill, 1997).

Processed food

The third mechanism is the dominance of ultra-processed foods. I use the definition provided by the IFIC (2010) of processed food as: “any food that has deliberately been changed before being available to eat”. Using this definition makes almost all foods available on food markets processed foods. Therefore, Monteiro’s categorisation in three groups is useful: he distinguishes between minimally processed foods (e.g. dried/packaged food), substances subtracted from whole foods (e.g. pasta’s or oils) and foods based on combinations and transformations of the two groups; the so-called ‘ultra-processed foods’ (e.g. cereals or chips) (Monteiro, 2009). A subsequent study outlined how the world-wide production of the third group (ultra-processed foods) is increasing rapidly (Monteiro et al., 2010).

The three mechanisms mentioned have implications for consumer freedom. These are outlined in table 2.1. These are highly dependent on spatial differences in the degree to which these mechanisms are at work and how they impact on consumption. Regions and nations differ considerably in their period and extent of glocalised consumption (c.f. Elena, 2011;

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23 Matsuyama, 2002; Pink, 2011; Schechter, 2008). The reasons for spatial differences can be found in different combinations of economic factors (e.g. comparative advantages, economies of scale), political-economic factors (e.g. trade policy, political will), socio-cultural factors (the demand for ‘global’ products) and geographical factors (e.g. fertility and altitude determine the need for international cooperation) of every region, country or locality.

All three mechanisms however demand a shift in the sets of skills that consumers possess: since production goes through multiple stages at different places, it requires more and different knowledge to be aware of the content, method of production and origin of products.

Table 2.1: three mechanisms of glocalisation of food production (source: self-constructed)

Mechanism Implication for consumer freedom6

Commodity chains

The organisation of food production in complex commodity chains

Issues of accountability and control are complex within value chains. As production is organised in different stages a declining feeling of accountability and control over the production process may be experienced.

Trade in food products

Increased trade in food amongst and within countries. This includes intra-industry trade.

Traceability becomes an issue. As not only end products but also ingredients are traded there may be difficulty to be informed about where products come from.

Ultra-processed foods

The increased production (and consumption) of foods that are highly processed

As food products are increasingly ultra-processed it requires more knowledge to know the exact ingredients of food products and the way they have been manufactured.

2.3.2. ‘Glocalisation’ of food consumption

Glocalisation thus entails three mechanisms of internationally organised production, and therefore it also involves shifts in consumption, because changes in food production are highly driven by changing preferences (Lang, 2010). Scholars frequently see parallels between glocalised food production and the emergence of mass consumption as a cultural shift (Counihan and van Esterik, 2012; Clutterbuck and Lang, 1982; Elena, 2011; Pilcher, 2012). These shifts involve both the quantity and the type of food consumed. There is

a decline in based food production [...] the shift from unprocessed wholefoods and home-prepared meals to increasingly processed, home-prepared and convenience foods [and] an overall decline

in the percentage of gross income spent on food (Scrinis, 2007: 121-122).

Two drivers of these changes in consumption can be identified: consumerism and

rationalisation.

6

These are possible implications for the cognitive dimension of consumer freedom and do not cover all the implications for consumers.

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24 Consumerism

According to Bauman, part of glocalisation is the shift from solid modernity to liquid

modernity (Bauman, 2000). Modernity entails a constant aim on progress, which in solid

modernity was measured by hierarchies of social orders and institutions. Yet, in liquid modernity these hierarchies cannot take shape because of a society that is constantly obsessed with improvement and, thus, change. Liquid modernity thus entails a focus on progress, driven by change. Flexibility, adaptability and the management of identity are key to achieving progress.

Conventional social orders and institutions as work, religion, unions, nationality or relationships lose their importance for one’s identity (ibid.). Instead, consumption has taken over the spindle role that used to be played by work (Bauman, 2005; 2007). Although food consumption is foremost driven by personal needs, conspicuous consumption7 is increasingly important in liquid modernity. This marks the shift from consumption to consumerism. Consumerism not only means the importance of consumption for personal identity, but also the functioning of society around consumption. According to Bauman, wants, desires and longings are detached from individuals and recycled into an exogenous force through a process of commodity fetishism. Instead of consumers chasing commodities, consumers have become commoditized by marketers (Bauman, 2007). An essential component of commodity fetishism is freedom of choice: consumers demand freedom of choice, and more freedom of choice, in order to achieve progress and establish their position within consumer hierarchies (ibid.).

Because preferences are exogenous and change is essential for progress marketers can continuously invent (or re-invent) new products. Existing products lose their value after consumption. The goal becomes to consume new or better versions of that object, chasing for products higher in the ‘institutional and ceremonial order’ (Veblen, 1934). Foods are ‘positional goods’, their use signal one’s rank in a continuously changing hierarchy (Hirsch, 1976). As Lee (2005) outlined, transience replaces durability: new objects to be admired, possessed and consumed dominate the new society.

Ideally, nothing should be embraced by a consumer firmly, nothing should command a commitment till death do us part, no needs should be seen as fully satisfied, no desires considered ultimate (Bauman,

1998b: 89).

7_{See Veblen, 1967.}

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25 A central role in consumerism is played by brands. In liquid modernity, food companies battle not only for power over our mouths, but over our minds too (Lang and Heasman, 2004). There is a constant emphasis on emotional bonding with both products and brands. Hence, though the desire of products is in constant flux, brands are an essential component of consumers’ identities. The three mechanisms of glocalised food production outlined in the previous section distance consumers physically and cognitively from the sites of production, but through marketing brands are able to maintain the bond with consumers.

In food markets consumerism is amongst others notable in changes in ‘recommended diets’. Marketers adapt to both scientific and producer-driven developments, resulting in continuous changes in product compositions, which can be re-marketed.8 Consumerism is based on a model of total, free choice. Therefore, the food industry has provided enormous amounts of information on product content and place of production but do not question if the consumer is able to interpret them (Lang, 1995). An important element is the use of aggressive marketing campaigns to promote processed food as tasty, healthy and natural foods (Navarro, 2005).

Essential in consumerism is identity management, because of the liquidity of hierarchies. One needs to adapt, change or switch identities based on the contemporary order of products. Since progress is infinite (Bauman, 2000), progress is relative rather than absolute. Consumption is therefore essentially ‘competitive’ (Schor, 1998; Bauman, 2007). Because of the commodification of consumers food companies are able to design products specific for certain food identities to uphold this competition, as is illustrated by Pietrykowski in the case of the Slow Food movement (Pietrykowski, 2004).

In essence, consumerism can increase consumer freedom through increased options (products or services) to choose from. However, freedom may mean more than the choice itself; it also exists of the influence on the range of choices (Bauman and Tester, 2001). Bauman describes this as the agenda of choice: choices are made by individual agents, but the range of choices is set by others (Bauman, 1999: 72). Moreover, the criteria used to choose are increasingly set by others through emphasis on manipulation of preferences (ibid.). Everything is choice, except from the compulsion to choose itself (Bauman, 2000: 73). This compulsion can be “psychologically unbearable” (Bauman, 1976: 29) and a source of fear through the irreversibility of the choices made. It can lead to depression, loneliness (Bauman,

8_{The most notorious current example is the introduction of ‘light’ versions of food. However, recently markets} have opened up for high-fibre, low additional vitamins, organic foods or (most recently) Superfoods (Llorent-Martinez, 2013). These new or ‘re-discovered’ demands are being picked up by marketers to create new (or different versions of) commodities.

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26 1988; Schwartz, 2000; 2004), frustration and dissatisfaction about the choice itself, especially because choices are not always based on genuine alternatives (Iyengar and Leppar, 2000). The continuous emphasis on progress may thus both increase or decrease the freedom of individuals, as a result of their experience of increased options and the range of real alternatives.

Rationalisation

Eder argues that in modernity there is a ‘double structure’ of nature: a view of nature as moral authority or as ‘utilitarian object’ (Eder, 1996) The former emphasizes the feelings and morals one has with nature, while the latter views nature more instrumentally; as an object to be utilised according to human desires. The result is either non-standard consumption practices based on the former, or “a set of increasingly globalised mass consumption food patterns” (Murdoch and Miele, 1999: 466). According to Eder the balance is shifting towards the latter in modernity (Eder, 1996).

The shift from morality towards instrumentality can be classified as a shift from value-oriented, affective or traditional rationality towards instrumental, means-end rationality (Weber, 1972). According to Ritzer, this rationalisation process (described as McDonaldisation) affects food consumption through an emphasis on four dimensions:

efficiency, predictability, calculability and control (Ritzer, 1983). An overview of their

implications can be found in table 2.2.

Although Ritzer recognises the advantages of rationalisation, his critique concerns the irrational consequences; the so-called “irrationality of rationality” (Ritzer, 1983) which prevents us from a conceivable future:

Unfettered by the constraints of McDonaldized systems, but using the technological advances made possible by them, people could have the potential to be far more thoughtful, skilful, creative and well-rounded than they are now. In short, if the world was less McDonaldized, people would be better able

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27 Table 2.2: the McDonaldisation of society (based on Ritzer, 1983).

Dimension of rationality: Implication for food consumption:

Efficiency To use as little energy and time necessary to gain the optimal utility out of food. E.g. the use of pre-prepared or quick meals, the reliance on cookbooks or visiting fast-food restaurants

Predictability The insurance of meeting equal expectations between places. Food should taste and look the same as in earlier places and danger or unpleasantness should be prevented. Therefore, systems, order, routines and consistency are important. Calculability Food should have quantifiable measures for quality. Performances are measured by

sizes of products, the amount of ingredients, prices and profits earned.

Control In order to stabilise food supply (and prevent from hunger), a steady and regular food supply creates more certainty for the majority of people. Similarly, through the emphasis on technology, producers have more control over the production process. Finally, through designs in supermarkets or restaurants producers aim to have control over customers.

Several developments illustrate the rationalisation of consumption. First of all, sizes of food portions have increased at the end of the 20th century (Young and Nestle, 2002). Current portions are equal or bigger in size compared to their size at introduction (Hershey Foods Corporation, 1991; Anheuser-Busch, 1995; Coca-Cola Company, 1996 according to Young, 2003). Most marketplace portions in the U.S. exceed the Standard Serving Size9 by at least a factor of 2 and sometimes 8-fold (Young, 2003). Young’s explanation is that foods were introduced in one size, while now they are available in more and bigger sizes. Although the desire to consume more is not elementary to rationalisation as such, calculability and efficiency result in buying higher portions, because they are relatively cheaper (ibid.).

Moreover, there is a tendency to consume time-efficiently as well. In general, people spend less time on eating than before (Aguiar and Hurst, 2007). Moreover, a lot of time spent on eating and drinking occurs as ‘secondary’ activity; thus in combination with another activity such as work or watching TV (Bertrand and Whitmore-Schanzenbach, 2009).

The increased consumption of ultra-processed foods is distinctive for rationalisation as well (Hawkes, 2010; Monteiro et al., 2010; Rivera et al., 2004). Ultra-processed foods are relatively predictable and calculable, and can generally be prepared more time-efficiently.

Consumerism and rationalisation combined imply an emphasis on conspicuous food that is quick, homogenous and quantifiably good. The impact of these mechanisms on consumer freedom are briefly outlined in table 2.3, but will be clarified in Section 2.4. Although Eder argued the balance between instrumentality and morality is shifting towards the former, morality is not obliterated. In fact, there is “a clash between morals and markets”

9_{See Young (2003)}

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28 (Coyle, 2011: 223), an increasingly bigger clash as the externalities of food consumption are visible in the shape of a food crisis.

Table 2.3: two mechanisms of glocalisation of food consumption (source: self-constructed)

Mechanism: Implication for consumer freedom:10

Consumerism The centrality of consumption in life, in a continuously changing society aimed at infinite progress. Choice is the main ingredient of freedom.

The increased range of options can increase the freedom of consumers. This however depends on the following:

- The dependency on a pre-set range of choices and a compulsion to function within a market of choice. Fear, frustration and dissatisfaction can be results.

- The will and ability to adapt to a constant changing orders of products. Not doing so can result in feelings of isolation and a decline in power and control, while adaptation may lead to feelings of meaninglessness and

self-estrangement.11 Rationalisation A ‘utilitarian’ view on

consumption, through emphasis on efficiency, predictability, calculability and control

An increased emphasis on quick, homogenous and

quantifiable good food requires new or ‘updated’ skills. The decreased emphasis on morality in food consumption can result in marginalisation of ‘moral’ consumers, with

decreased options (e.g. fewer desirable products) for them.

The question why consumerism and rationalisation are mechanisms of glocalisation cannot be answered only by stating that the logic of McDonalds has been exported all over the world. In fact, consumerism and rationalisation occur in certain extents according to different spatial levels (c.f. Ritzer, 1987; Taylor and Lyon, 1995; Ilbery et al., 2005; Stolle et al., 2005; Hirsh and Dolderman, 2007).

Consumerism and rationalisation are mechanisms of glocalisation because they are both homogenising structures, engaging in an interplay with local forces. Whereas means-end rationality is universal, value-oriented, affective or traditional rationality are based on personal and cultural experience (Weber, 1972). Similarly, the appeal of high position in social orders is universal, albeit with an emphasis on consumption through the decreased importance of traditional institutions in liquid modernity. Hence, both are spatially homogenising forces in a constant interchange with the local; both at the individual and cultural level.

10_{Similar to table 2.1: these are possible implications for the cognitive dimension consumer freedom and do not} cover all the implications for consumers.

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29

2.3.3. Food crisis

Both through production and consumption, food markets impact upon natural environment and human health. This section outlines some of these impacts as relating - explicitly or implicitly - to glocalisation of production (commodity chains, trade and ultra-processed food) or consumption (consumerism and rationalisation). It does not provide an all-encompassing overview of the impacts, but shows illustrations of more structural mechanisms of a ‘food crisis’ introduced later in this section.

Impacts on environment and health

Current consumption patterns relate directly to environmental degradation, such as the loss of biodiversity (c.f. Robinson and Sunderland, 2002; Butler et al., 2007), depletion of marine sources (c.f. Hilborn, 2012), soil erosion (c.f. Montgomery, 2007) and the emission of greenhouse gasses through transportation and production (c.f. Jorgenson, 2003; Naylor et al., 2007). Jorgenson argues how the environmental degradation caused by the production process is caused by a dependence on foreign capital (Jorgenson, 2006; see also OECD, 1999).

Further, as the demand for cropland increases because of changing diets, the need for feed and biofuels and increasing global food consumption in general, issues of land deprivation and tenure arise (Eide, 2008; Gallagher; 2008). Moreover, inequalities in water availability arise due to the presence of water-intensive large-scale food production, leaving downstream farmers with little access to water (Oxfam, 2012). Finally, the use of pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has been associated with decreased resistance of crops and animals to diseases (c.f. James, 1999; Tabashnik et al., 2003; Good et al., 2014) and exposure to fertiliser results in higher risks of cancer (c.f. Galaviz-Villa et al., 2010; Zaldívar and Robinson, 1973).

Though overarching, comprehensive studies of the impact of ultra-processed foods on human health are missing, e.g. the intake of soft drinks and snacks have been related to excess body weight and obesity (Allison et al., 1999; Bachman et al., 2006; Malik et al., 2006; Pereira, 2006; Vartanian et al., 2007) as well as hypertension (c.f. AHA, 2004) and osteoporosis or osteopenia for women (Siris et al., 2001). These diseases do not result exclusively from e.g. excessive intake of fat or sugar, but from a complex interaction of the intake of ultra-processed foods with changing life patterns (Cordain et al., 2005). In general, obesity has been related to changing lifestyle patterns (Flegal et al., 2002; Ogden et al., 2002; Wu, 2006). The relation between the excessive consumption of sugar and decreasing dental health has been identified by Tahmassebi et al. (2006).

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30 Food crisis

In 2007 world food prices skyrocketed (see figure 2.3). This had huge implications; mainly for availability of food in developing countries (Ghosh, 2010; FAO, 2014a).

Figure 2.3: development of nominal and real food prices 1961-2014. Index: 1990 (source: FAO, 2014b)

Scholars have argued that this ‘food crisis’ of 2007 was not of a temporary nature, but was grounded within squeezes in the food system. In their 2013 report on food insecurity, the FAO argued that due to factors as climate change, reliance on biofuels and financing of agricultural commodities food prices are in a constant state of flux (FAO, 2013). Speculations of banks and hedge funds on food commodities contribute to these fluctuations (Ghosh, 2010; Livingstone, 2012). Van der Ploeg (2010) has outlined how the food crisis is rooted in three structural elements of food markets: the industrialisation of agriculture, the use of the principle of one global food market and the creation of ‘food empires’ which have integrated risks management in food production (see Beck, 1992). Lang, on the other hand, presented his ‘new fundamentals’ for overcoming the food crisis, by outlining how food consumption is unsustainable in ten domains. Tables 2.4 and 2.5 outline both authors’ arguments. Both authors argued that explanations need to be found within the functioning of the food system. Moreover, they argue that the elements mentioned interrelate and must be assessed comprehensively to be effectively tackled.

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31 Table 2.4: causes of the current food crisis (based on Van der Ploeg, 2010)

Dimension: Explanation:

Industrialisation of agriculture The disconnectedness of farming and nature (e.g. through the use of artificial growth by pesticides and herbicides rather than soil fertility and local breeds and varieties), which has created a dependency on industrial and financial capital and on short-term results.

Emergence of the world market as dominant principle for agricultural production and marketing

The loss of factor specificity at the local or regional level, due to the creation of one market, which allows for enormous flows of

commodities. This glocalises insecurity and threatens continuity of agricultural systems.

Restructuring of large companies into ‘food empires’.

As outlined by Harper and LeBeau, power is concentrated in the central part of the hourglass. MNC’s have integrated tasks into hegemonic empires (heavily dependent upon credit) and exert power in a monopolistic way, making it more difficult for both consumers and producers to influence upon the food chain.

Table 2.5: 10 ‘new fundamentals’ for change in the food industry (based on Lang, 2010)

Climate change Complex climate change effects of agriculture, ranging from emissions of meat production to the spread of invasive pests.

Water The use of water throughout the entire process (growing crops, feed cattle, processing and selling the product) put considerable stress on water-scarce areas.

Biodiversity and Ecosystems support By 1995, since 1900 about three-quarters of the genetic diversity of domestic agricultural crops had been lost. A similar comment can be made about fish stocks.

Energy and non-renewable fossil fuels The increasing use of fossil fuels as oil and coal in the production and transport of food have put considerable pressure on fuel stocks. Population growth Expectations of (particularly urban) population growth for the 21st

century put pressure on production capacities

Waste Although waste reduction was one of the rationales for post-Second World War production, particularly rich, consuming societies produce a lot of waste, of which only one-fifth is unavoidable.

Land Particularly large cities have large ‘footprints’ in terms of the amount of land that is needed to feed their populations. Especially meat production is very land-intensive and current consumption patterns put high pressure on land and its ownership.

Soil Soil erosion and degradation at the international level leave less fertile land for food production.

Labour At the top end of the hourglass (farmers) there are considerably lower wages earned compared to the other parts in the production chain. Many (young) people are unwilling to start new businesses due to the financial risk.

Dietary change and public health There is a consumption shift to high-value-added processed foods which are frequently fatty, salty or sugary. In combination with fewer physical activities this pattern is associated with more

non-communicable diseases.

At the (international) policy level, there is continuous dispute over food safety standards (Post, 2006), especially because the paradigms van der Ploeg (2010) outlines that are underlying food markets are not questioned. In dealing with food safety and risks, industrial

Assessing freedom of food consumers within a glocalising context : a mixed-methods case study to assess consumer freedom in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Assessing freedom of food consumers within a glocalising context.

Assessing freedom of food consumers within a glocalising context.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of figures

List of tables

List of boxes

List of acronyms

Foreword

1. Introduction

2. Theoretical framework