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An In-Depth Examination of the Relationships Between Globalization, Food Production and The

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An In-Depth Examination of the Relationships Between Globalization, Food Production and The AN IN-DEPTH EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GLOBALIZATION, FOOD PRODUCTION AND THE BANANA INDUSTRY By HOLLY ANDERSON Integrated Studies Project submitted to Dr. Gloria Filax in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts – Integrated Studies Athabasca, Alberta January 2010 There is a growing interest in contemporary times regarding the relationship between food and globalization. Consumers want to know about the food on their dining room table – from where does it come and how far has it traveled. Questioning includes asking about the environmental impacts of agricultural and distribution practices as well as the labour practices behind the seemingly innocuous fruit and vegetables available for purchase in food markets. My final project paper is an analysis of the connections between food production and consumption as these are tied to economic globalization. This is an interdisciplinary work, integrating theory from areas including feminism, sociology, social justice, and globalization. It is an area of study that yields a growing number of moral and ethical questions. Various social movements (i.e. Fair Trade, organic foods, and 100 mile diet) speak to the impact of globalization on our food sources and more and more consumers are asking questions about global food chains. Questions reveal a tapestry of food and globalization that is a complex weave of corporate power, free trade, diminishing governmental roles and a western culture of consumerism (Nutzenadel and Trentmann, 2008). For example, marketing blurs with consumption in the question of ‘Why do we eat what we eat?’ and both appear to be controlled by a monopoly of transnational corporations. Food brings about consumer desires, passions, and trends as it has also come to be firmly planted in the economic system of globalization. The current system of food sources and production oppresses some, empowers others, and ensures that power rests beyond those that consume the food or those that directly produce the food. How we produce and consume food is an example of the impact of globalization in our daily lives, and is representative of the intrinsic values of our economy and of those in positions of power. Foucault (1982) points out how power relations are rooted deeply in the social nexus of society, rather than imposed from above. It is this premise that shapes the platform for deeper theoretical analysis. Societal acceptance of values that are built around principles of capitalism and profit silence the voices on social issues including those from consumer groups, labour movements and environmentalists. This project aims to take these voices seriously and examine what is possible if these are given priority or mobilized in great numbers. This project focuses on the banana as an exemplar of a food commodity that has implications reaching far beyond the breakfast table. Food and globalization are about ethics as much as about taste and identity (Nutzenadel and Trentmann, 2008, p.12). The banana industry represents an industry where growing and production is done almost exclusively in impoverished regions of the Global South for consumption in the Global North. Further, the industry is almost solely dominated by corporate interests. This dynamic lays the foundation for an industry whose opaque commodity chain (Jackson and Ward, 2008) is representative of a system of power imbalances, of complex international trade agreements, and of a system that silences the voice of the labourer while tolerating only a weak voice from the consumer. My project draws attention to the growing social movements addressing this industry, to the oppressive nature of the trade, and reveals the impact of the banana on social structures involving women and men, labourers and the environment. To do so, an examination of overarching theories of globalization, ecofeminsim, power/knowledge and oppression will be discussed briefly to situate my project in current theory. A critical examination of the promising fair-trade movement will follow, specifically looking at barriers in North America, and why consumers only have sporadic access to choosing and consuming the market’s most ethically produced bananas. Ultimately this is a project that advocates for the consumer to exercise power in regards to consumer choice and therefore demand change that will impact the many labourers in the production process, thus addressing oppressive global trade practices through consumer purchasing power. This final project is built on a reading course that included an examination of the moral commodity chain analysis of the banana industry. Before turning to the theory important to this project, I provide an overview of previous research. Overview of the Banana Industry The banana industry is an industry that is founded on the relationship between food production and neo-liberal economic policy inherent in globalization. I address these concepts below. The small non-profit group, Banana Link (2009) outlines concerns particular to the banana industry and its marriage to international trade. Banana Link argues that it is this partnership that has created non-unionized work environments and conditions, environmental effects of mass pesticide use, and the disproportionate economic and political power of the multinational corporations that supply bananas to international markets. Globalization and liberalization of markets dominate the current economic platform of neo-liberal governments. Neo-liberalism is a set of economic policies that have become widespread during the last 25 years, including deregulation, privatization, and a liberating of private enterprise from any bonds imposed by the state. Richard Falk describes the neo-liberal scheme as pointing to “autonomous markets and facilitative states” (1999). For Falk, these tenants are implemented without thought to the social damage they may cause. According to economic theory, liberalization, by increasing competition, leads to efficiency savings and lower prices for consumers. But in the absence of enforceable labour and environmental standards, the banana trade creates oppression of workers, governments and the citizens of developing countries. Multinational corporations further mark the banana industry through domination. More than 90% of internationally traded bananas are produced on massive mono-crop plantations in Latin America, West Africa and the Philippines. Three companies, Dole, Del Monte and Chiquita, account for 60 percent of world trade in this industry, whilst Fyffes and Noboa control a further 25 percent (Nicholls and Opal, 2005, p. 87). This has created a monopolistic industry in which five transnational corporations control the entire market from farm to distribution (Nicholls and Opal, 2005, p. 88). These production companies dominate the industry and given their size and power, control international trade decisions, set prices, and impact the economies of developing nations. The other growing multinational corporate players are the supermarket chains themselves. Supermarkets consistently make profits from bananas, and have dramatically increased their economic power in the banana chain. The banana trade is worth 980 million dollars a year in the UK (McCarthy, 2009). In recent years of banana surpluses, the supermarkets have locked into low consumer prices, creating a trickledown impact to the plantation worker and farmer. The produce is sold for a lower price to the western consumer and the lower price is absorbed through lower wages for the worker on the plantation. Banana Link calls this a ‘race to the bottom’ in the banana industry, where the continual search for lower prices for bananas in the supermarket leads to worsening working conditions on plantations and farms. Over the last few years supermarkets have engaged in ‘banana price wars’ matching each other’s price cuts to such a low level that it is now impossible for many plantation workers to earn a living – or even a legal minimum wage (Banana Link, 2009). Myers highlights that the increasingly powerful supermarket chains are able to exploit the free-trade framework to insist on even lower prices to the short term benefit of the consumer and to the serious detriment of growers in the developing world (Myers, 2004, p. i). The power of the supermarket chains has, at times, overridden traditional multi-nationals that dominate most of the supply chain. With competition continuing at a frenetic pace, it is unclear where this race to the bottom will end. Organic enthusiasts are particularly concerned about the environmental impact of banana production. Bananas produced for export consume the largest volume of chemicals of any crop except cotton, and the use of over 400 agrochemicals in the banana industry is – literally - fatal for both workers and their environment (Banana Link, 2009). The banana industry is marked by ‘monocrop’ style agriculture which contributes to environmental degradation, large corporate plantations, and excessive pesticide use. These plantations are usually non-unionized work environments that do not provide a living wage, and offer no job security. The transportation and distribution of bananas further account for many carbon miles, as transportation links the routes from the South to the North. Transport must be done in refrigeration vessels adding to the overall energy cost of the fruit. Culture also shapes this industry creating desires and needs that were not previously present. Bananas have followed a rise in popularity
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