The emerging global food system

de Gerald E. Gaull, Ray Allan Goldberg

Drawn from the work of international experts, this important book presents an in-depth study of the rapidly evolving global food system covering such important topics as the biological revolution and food technology, the potentials of nutrition, the new forms and scope of business organizations, the diverse regulatory processes and their harmonization, and the standards for safety and risk. The Emerging Global Food System also discusses the conflicts over international trade policies, including the relations between developing and advanced countries, and the public willingness to validate these often discordant changes. The Emerging Global Food System clearly illustrates the range and intensity of conflicts and tensions inherent in the biotechnological change occurring in today's global food system. The book covers the standards of risk assessment and safety, the regulatory process, the complexities of reactions among diverse groups in the general public, the role of the press and media, and the activities of public interest groups. The Emerging Global Food System confronts the consistent problems of both food surpluses and hunger. It looks at the reorganization of agriculture and food production and distribution systems in eastern Europe and the republics of the former Soviet Union, the North American trade treaty, changes in the European Community agricultural policies, and the famine in parts of the Third World, which comprise some of the forces now transforming the global food system. The Emerging Global Food System discusses in greater detail many of the issues identified in the editors' previous book, New Technologies and the Future of Food and Nutrition. Both volumes reflect the continuing discussions of the Ceres Conferences, organized under the aegis of the Ceres Forum and the Center for Food and Nutrition policy at Georgetown University.