The global commodification of agriculture and its perils

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THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE
Issue No. 295 (Mar 2015) Click on cover to download the magazine (PDF) COVER: The global commodification of agriculture and its perils* The illusion of cheap food under commodified agriculture The transition to a regenerative food system will only be possible when we begin viewing the food system as a social, ecological and economic system. By Gunnar Rundgren Driving agriculture into the ground Agribusiness hijacked and ruined the food chain with the introduction into developing countries in the 1960s by the US of the model of agriculture known as the Green Revolution. By Clare Westwood Agribusiness rules the food chain The 'Second Green Revolution', which has resulted in the introduction of genetically engineered crops in the 1990s, has enabled agribusiness to further consolidate its grip on global agriculture. By Clare Westwood Herbicides and antibiotic resistance A recent two-year study of the sub-lethal effects of three of the most commonly used herbicides has revealed some disturbing findings with regard to antibiotic resistance. By Jack Heinemann The dilemma of soy Since 1996, when Argentina began planting genetically modified soy, its expansion has resulted in the displacement of local farmers and has thus compromised the country's food security. By Fabiana Frayssinet Land and seed laws under attack as Africa is groomed for corporate recolonisation Across Africa, laws are being rewritten to open farming up to an agribusiness invasion - displacing the millions of small cultivators that now feed the continent, and replacing them with a new model of profit-oriented agriculture using patented seeds and varieties. Who controls our food? The debate on an alternative to the current intensive corporate agriculture is not merely about a set of farming techniques but about who controls our food supply and how that power is used. By Nick Dearden 'Agroecology offers us a collective path forward' Agroecology offers a viable alternative to the current system of agriculture. The following Declaration of the International Forum for Agroecology held in Nyeleni, Mali, on 24-27 February explains why.	ECOLOGY Four years after Fukushima, the same paradigm prevails in nuclear energy The same skewed decision-making process that led to ignoring the tsunami risk at Fukushima is still being applied to new nuclear construction and old nuclear operation. By Arnie Gundersen ECONOMICS HSBC, crime and high finance A recent US Department of Justice report on HSBC, the British-owned bank, has observed that its 'historical cultural deficiencies continue to pervade its operations today'. By Jeremy Seabrook WORLD AFFAIRS How Evo Morales's third term will challenge Bolivia's social movements It remains to be seen whether Evo Morales’ strategy of coopting elite sectors formerly opposed to him into his party of essentially popular social movements will succeed in ensuring continued support. By Emily Achtenberg HUMAN RIGHTS How multinational companies keep avoiding the threat of regulation For nearly 40 years, all attempts at the United Nations to draft a legally binding document to address human rights violations by transnational corporations have floundered. By Flor Gonzalez Correa WOMEN By girls, for girls - Nepal's teenagers say no to child marriage The tide appears to be turning at last in the fight against child marriage in Nepal. By Naresh Newar VIEWPOINT The irony of colonial apologetics The writer wields the cudgels against those who respond to sub-Saharan Africa's current woes by whitewashing colonialism's sordid record in the region. By Tommy Raskin POETRY Graves Like many of his contemporaries, the Vietnamese poet Che Lan Vien (1920-1989) participated in the country's struggle against foreign rule. While his early poems reflected his nationalist passions, his later poems, like the one below, took on a darker hue. By Che Lan Vien For subscription and enquiries: THIRD WORLD NETWORK 131 Jalan Macalister, 10400 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: 60-4-2266728/2266159; Fax: 60-4-2264505; Email: twnet@po.jaring.my Third World Resurgence Page Third World Resurgence Page
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