The Industrial Food System

Abstract

For many consumers, the industrial food system must appear as a bountiful enigma. Increasingly, food is available 24 h a day, 7 days a week. Gone are the days in the 1970s when Australian supermarkets were only open on Saturdays until 12 noon. Shelves are restocked nightly, and consumers are lured with attractive end-of-aisle displays, encouraging persuasive discretionary purchases. Celebratory foods such as traditional hot cross buns make an appearance in supermarkets in late January, months before Easter. Food production is neither bound by climatic nor seasonal rhythms; indeed, it appears as if to defy nature. It is possible to buy south-east Asian tropical fruit and Queensland strawberries from a supermarket in the depths of a Melbourne winter. Storms, cyclones and other natural weather events may wipe out a staple crop such as bananas in Queensland, but this poses little difficulty. Under the fluorescent lights of the fruit and vegetable section, local supermarket shelves are filled with bananas produced in New South Wales. The disconnect between the reality of the natural world and the supermarket offerings results in consumers being ‘divorced’ from the food supply. The food retail market has expanded beyond supermarkets and is omnipresent. Food and groceries are now available in petrol stations, convenience stores, vending machines and online. A weeks’ worth of groceries can be ordered from a supermarket website on your iPad and delivered to your home. Food is a highly profitable global commodity; from the way it is produced, manufactured and transported to how it is sold to consumers, it is all about maximising profit and minimising input. Food is big business; indeed, in his essay on food democracy and the future of American values, Hamilton (2004) uses the term ‘Big Food’ to describe the businesses and institutions that dominate the food sector. Hamilton’s notion of ‘Big Food’ encompasses one where consumers are not encouraged to ask questions; rather, it is a system ‘based on faith, trust, reassurance and unfortunately ignorance’ (Hamilton 2004). Forget nostalgic images about the food system being about the small local farmer with a herd of milking cows, or even regional cooperatives of Chapter 2 ‘Big Food’—The Industrial Food System