Power in the Food System:

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• Power in the Food System
• Some trends and processes
• Tim Lang
• Centre for Food Policy
• City University
• Power in the food chain conference.
• Academy for Technical Sciences Danish
  Agricultural Society,
• Copenhagen, January 12, 2006

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I sell here, Sir, what all the world desires to
have Power James Boswell in 1774 (quoted
in Jenny Uglow, The Lunar Men, 2002)
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C21st food power

• The food system is concentrating rapidly
• SMEs are being squeezed
• Power is regionalised but now globalising
• Power dynamics are cultural and ideological too
• The C20th food revolution has been fundamental
  but its future direction is uncertain
• There is pressure from below but so far weak
• A number of tipping points might alter this
• Change might be quite dramatic.

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Civil society

• Food is contested space, pulled in different
  directions by different interests

State
Supply chain
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Power is now multi-level

• Global
• Regional / continental
• National
• Sub-national
• Local / community

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Dynamics are in tension
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More dynamics
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The revolution has been in

• How food is produced tractors, agrichemicals ,
  breeding,
• Who produces it labour process, globally
• How it is processed factories , technology
• How it is distributed and sold markets
  hypermarkets
• How it is cooked cooking , microwaves
• Where we eat it out of home, fast food

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What has shaped this process? some drivers (see
Food Wars for more)

• Food economy supply chain shifts, etc
• Culture everyday rules and meanings, etc
• The legacy of history identity, etc
• Health individual vs. Public
• Environment eat now, pay later?
• Governance role of the state, capital, society
• Policy framework deliberate policies, etc

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The old view of power

• Power came from the land
• Farmers controlled the food we get
• Food is a national policy concern
• The State can and will act in times of emergency
  / food insecurity
• National laws determine food quality

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The new view of power

• Power is held by retailers traders
• Food can be sourced globally so national
  agriculture is not needed
• Food systems are regional but globalising
• Companies control food supply chains
• National laws are increasingly framed by
  international food bodies WTO, EU, Codex

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Problems for governance

• Dual regulatory structures State vs Company (eg
  EUREP vs EFSA)
• Companies answerable to consumers (but no open
  structures except consumer votes theory)
• States unwilling to act strongly (triumph of
  neo-liberal model of the state)

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Top 10 global food manufacturers, bn turnover
2005 source company reports / JPMorgan
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Rise of the UK retail multiples, 1990-2000
IGD (2001) Grocery retailing 2001, Letchmore
Heath Institute of Grocery Distribution
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European Grocery Turnover

• Source IGD Research, 2001
• Published in European Grocery Retailing now and
  in the future, Press Release, February 26th
  2001, IGD

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Power shift in the supply chainRetailers, not
farmers, dominate supply
Source J-PGrievink, Cap Gemini, OECD 2003
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World's Top 20 Grocery Retailers, by turnover
(2000) Source IGD (2002), Global Retailing
Letchmore Health Institute of Grocery Retailing,
pg 113
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Supermarketisation globally
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Changing consumer culture

• Food culture tastes are globalising more
  rapidly than the actual food (not new)
• Changed rules hands not forks, TV eating
• Changed tastes rise of pizzas, curries,
• Commercialisation of public space the
  permanently eating / grazing society
• The systematic moulding of desire
  (advertisements, marketing, sponsorship)

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Foodservice global Big 5
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Relative power

• Wal-Mart turnover 256bn
• Nestlé turnover 67bn
• McDonalds turnover 51.3bn
• WHO biennial budget 2.2bn (842m)
• UK Govt nutrition budge
• 2004 figs 2002-03 biennial budget

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UK Consumer Organisations Food Budgets and Staff
, financial year 2002-03
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UK Government Food Health spending on
consumer-oriented activities 2002/3
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Where the FSA Budget of 112m goes (2002-03)
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Marketing sweet fatty food UK, 2000
,000source ACNielsen MMS data, Advertising
Yearbook 2001
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Example leading US brand advertising spend 2001
(source Adex/ACNeilson 2002)
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Universal McCann 2004
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In the Diet Nutrition Transition, populations

• CONSUME MORE
• Meat
• Fats
• Sugar
• Soft drinks
• Energy dense foods

• CONSUME LESS / NOT ENOUGH
• Staples
• Fruit and vegetables
• Fibre
• Water

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Changing diets- the challenges Trends in
household consumption of soft drinks and mineral
water (UK) 1975-2000
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Source Pepsico
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The Yum factor Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC
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Policy response to this complex, emerging picture?

• Growing awareness (this conference!)
• Some monitoring NGOs, academics (e.g.
  matrix.com)
• Reliance on Codes of Conduct but are they strong
  enough?
• Competition policy but national and weak
  nothing global YET THAT IS WHERE CONTROL LIES

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What can be done?

• Need to take a long view
• Monitor research gather information
• Debate
• Think radically (break up big companies?)
• Think beyond price as main form of engagement in
  the food supply chain
• Think ecologically localism environment
  culture
• Ask people what do they want?
• Be prepared for strange alliances

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Potential Tipping Points?

• Climate change
• Ozone depletion
• Contamination from chemical and radiation
  pollution
• Food safety
• Water shortages
• Top soil depletion
• Oil shortage

• Unemployment
• Supply irregularities and uncertainties
• Poverty and inequalities
• Urbanisation
• Wars and political uncertainties
• Healthcare costs

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Tipping points 1. Tensions in the food supply
chain

• Manufacturers worried about energy (Ramirez 2005
  13 nations, 30 yrs ? 1.8 p.a. growth)
• Retailers aware of growing pressure for squeezing
  farmers and ecological crisis
• Foodservice aware of cultural icon dangers
  (McWorld)
• Advertising under pressure over childrens diet

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Tipping points 2. Agricultural crisis

• Energy reliance (machines replace labour)
• Genes, plants, etc.
• Land ownership / control
• Soil
• Climate change
• Water shortage (Spain)
• Labour (UK c.400k migrant farmworkers)

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Tipping Point 3. Externalities eg 6-a-day but
food miles

• dessert apples (1993) 685,000
  giga joules ( 14 m litres fuel) from
  transporting 417,207 t of imported apples
  Garnett, T (1999). City Harvest
• 4/5 pears and 2/3 apples now imported Hoskins
  Lobstein, T (1998). Food Facts no 3
• 1995 net import of ghost hectares into UK
  4.1 m hectares MacLaren et al (1998)

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Tipping Point 4 Water

• 2000-2020 water availability for humans is
  expected to drop by one-third
• Water scarcity or stress (having less than 1,700
  cubic metres of water per person per year) is
  estimated to affect 40 of humanity by 2050
• Consequences
• 1. increased food prices and health threats
• 2. poor countries likely to be most heavily
  affected
• Stockholm International Water Institute (2003).
  General water statistics World Water Week
  Symposium data sheets, August 10-16. Stockholm
  Stockholm International Water Insitute
  www.siwi.org/waterweek2003
• Cosgrave W, Vice-President of the World Water
  Council, quoted in Houlder V (2003), World in
  drier straits, Financial Times, 11 August, p 16

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.                                                
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
                                
Sourcehttp//www.solcomhouse.com/drought.htm Acce
ssed 17 May 2004
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Tipping Point 5 Oil Stocks

• IEA 1974 agreement to keep 90 days oil stocks
• IEA calculates oil / energy growth 2000-30 in
  demand at 1.7 per yr
• equivalent to two thirds extra on todays
  consumption
• 60 of demand growth will come from developing
  countries (esp. China and India)
• Source IEA (2003). World Energy Outlook
  http//library.iea.org/dbtw-wpd/textbase/nppdf/fre
  e/2003/findings.pdf

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Tipping point 6 Urbanisation needs agriculture!
Source Population Division of the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations
Secretariat, World Population Prospects The 2002
Revision and World Urbanization Prospects The
2003 Revision, http//esa.un.org/unup, 17 May 2004
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Scenarii thoughts for a Plan B?

• Globalism vs. Bio-regionalism
• War footing vs. Leave it to the market
• State intervention vs. Leave it to Tesco /
  Wal-mart (but what about LDCs?)
• Life Sciences vs. Ecological thinking
• Food as nutrition vs. Food as culture
• North/South dynamics vs. Class dynamics
• Making markets work?