THE ATLAS OF FOOD

ED A T I ON PD T U UC H D IT O W TR IN

The

Atlas of

FOOD Winner of AndrĂŠ Simon Memorial Fund Best Food Book Award

Erik Millstone and Tim Lang

WHO EATS WHAT, WHERE, AND WHY

I

Erik Millstone is a Professor of Science Policy at the University of Sussex, UK. He has been working on foodrelated issues since the mid-1970s and is the author of Food Additives; Additives: A Guide for Everyone; Our Genetic Future; Lead and Public Health and BSE: Risk, Science and Governance, as well as numerous journal and magazine articles on the politics of food and health. He is currently working on a project concerned with reconciling improved food production for poor farmers in developing countries with poverty reduction and environmental sustainability, as part of the STEPs centre (steps-centre.org).

Tim Lang is Professor of Food Policy at City University’s Centre for Food Policy in London. He studies how policy affects the shape of the food supply chain, what people eat, and the societal, health, and environmental outcomes. He is a Vice-President of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and a regular consultant to governmental and non-governmental public bodies. In 2006–11, he was Land Use and Natural Resources Commissioner on the UK Government’s Sustainable Development Commission.

He is co-author of Ecological Public Health (2012), Food Policy (2009), Food Wars (2004), and The Unmanageable Consumer (1996).

In the same series: “Unique and uniquely beautiful.... A single map here tells us more about the world today than a dozen abstracts or scholarly tomes.” Los Angeles Times “A striking new approach to cartography.... No-one wishing to keep a grip on the reality of the world should be without these books.” International Herald Tribune

THE ATLAS OF

FOOD

Who Eats What, Where, and Why

With an Updated Introduction

Erik Millstone and Tim Lang Foreword by Marion Nestle

Berkeley

Los Angeles

University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California Copyright Š Myriad Editions Limited 2003, 2008, 2013 All rights reserved Cataloging-in-publication data for this title is on file with the Library of Congress.

ISBN: 978-0-520-276420 Produced for the University of California Press by Myriad Editions Brighton, UK www.MyriadEditions.com Edited and co-ordinated by Jannet King and Candida Lacey Designed by Isabelle Lewis and Corinne Pearlman Maps and graphics created by Isabelle Lewis

Printed on paper produced from sustainable sources.

Printed and bound in Hong Kong through Lion Production under the supervision of Bob Cassels, The Hanway Press, London.

10

19 18 17 15 14 13 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

1

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Contents Foreword by Marion Nestle Contributors Updated Introduction PART 1 Contemporary Challenges 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Current Concerns Feeding the World Unequal Distribution Environmental Challenges Water Pressure Nutritional Deficiencies Over-Nutrition Contamination

7 8 9 14

PART 3 Trade

64

16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

24 25 26 27 28 29

66 68 70 72 74 76

PART 2 Farming

32

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62

Mechanization Industrial Livestock Production Animal Feed Animal Diseases Agricultural R&D Genetically Modified Crops Pesticides Fertilizers Working the Land Land Ownership Urban Farming Fishing and Aquaculture Agricultural Biodiversity Organic Farming Greenhouse Gases

Trade Flows Live Animal Transport Subsidized Trade Trade Disputes Trade Dependency Fair Trade

PART 4 Processing, Retailing and Consumption 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Staple Foods Changing Diets Processing Giants Retail Power Organic Food Food Additives Eating Out Fast Food Alcohol Advertising and Marketing Citizens Bite Back

PART 5 Data Tables

78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100 102

Agriculture Consumption

104 112

Sources Index

120 126

Foreword

W

e live at a time when issues about how food is produced, marketed, and consumed are matters of unprecedented personal as well as public interest.

And why not? Food influences the lives of every person on Earth. On the personal side, everyone eats, and what we eat – in quantity and quality – greatly affects our health. On the public side, food has extraordinary economic importance.

In the United States alone, the food industry encompasses about 2 million farms and nearly 600,000 food processing, wholesale, retail, and service companies. Together, these components of the nation’s food system generate more than a trillion dollars in sales each year, account for about 12 percent of the Gross National Product, and employ about 17 percent of the workforce.

Anything this big deserves serious attention on its own, but the US food industry does not exist in isolation. We imported about $80 billion worth of agricultural products and seafood in 2007, and we exported nearly as much. The American food system is inextricably linked to the global food economy.

The interconnectedness of the world’s food systems can be illustrated by matters as seemingly diverse as the pet food recalls of 2007 and by rising food prices. The pet food incident began with a few sick cats but soon developed into an international crisis in food safety and trade relations. Toxic ingredients had been produced in China, shipped to the United States and Canada, incorporated into hundreds of brands of pet foods, and recycled into feed for pigs, chickens, and fish intended for the human food supply. Some of the adulterated food and feed was exported to countries abroad. Today’s national and international food systems are so interwoven that food intended for pets, farm animals, or people cannot be kept separate. A problem with food in one country must be expected to have international repercussions.

The recent rise in food prices also has profound global dimensions. Its multiple causes may appear many steps removed from supermarket shopping carts: increasing demands for meat and cooking oils among populations in developing countries and, therefore, for feed grains and oil seeds; Middle East conflicts leading to reductions in the supply of fuel oil, thereby increasing the costs of fertilizer and transportation; and American incentives for Midwestern farmers to grow corn to produce ethanol rather than feed. Throughout history, food shortages have threatened the stability of governments. Today, they pose a threat to world security.

These interconnections are complex and the “big picture” is often hard to fathom.

That is why The Atlas of Food is such an invaluable resource. Here, in one place, beautifully illustrated, is the global food system available to anyone at the mere turn of a page. The Atlas maps provide rich material. Millstone, Lang and colleagues make the prodigious amount of research that went into creating them look easy. The maps tell the story at a glance. This Atlas is a generous gift to the world community of people who care about food in any of its dimensions, from farming to advocacy.

We owe it a great round of applause.

Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University and author of Food Politics, Safe Food, and What to Eat.

7

39

A DV E RT I S I N G

Global advertising budget for food in 2001:

$40 billion

29

M ARKETING

AND

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE CHOICES depend on factors such as price, availability and adequate information about products, as well personal preference and cultural values. The promotional activities undertaken by food and beverage companies can influence all these factors. The global advertising budget for food products in 2001 was estimated to be around $40 billion – more than the national economies of two-thirds of the world’s nations.

Several studies have indicated that food advertising and marketing is associated with more favourable attitudes, preferences and behaviours among children towards the advertised products. Even a 30-second exposure to an advertisement can significantly influence the food preferences made by children as young as two years old. Children in the developing world may be especially vulnerable to food promotion because they are less familiar with advertising. They are considered by Western firms as a key “entry point” to new markets because they are more flexible and responsive than their parents, and because they associate Western brands with desirable life-styles.

New forms of advertising are increasingly being employed that bypass parental control and target children directly. These include internet promotion (using interactive games, free downloads, blogs and chatterbots), SMS texting to children’s cell phones, product promotions in schools and pre-schools, and brand advertising in educational materials.

New forms of advertising are occurring in public areas: such as on-screen advertising in public transport and interactive electronic hoardings.

The most frequently advertised foods are confectionery, sweetened breakfast cereals and meals from fast-food outlets. There is a huge disparity between the proportion of advertisements that promote foods high in fats, sugar and salt, and the proportion of our diet these foods are supposed to represent. The intensive marketing of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods undermines healthy lifestyle choices.

Consumer organizations have called for stronger regulation of advertising to children, and have voiced concerns that voluntary or self-regulatory controls will not be effective. In

24

TARGETING CHILDREN

17

Number of advertisements during children’s commercial television 1996

16

adverts per hour

14 12 12

11

12

food-related adverts

12

10

7

8 6

7

6

5 5

4 2

Australia

98

USA

UK

France

Greece Germany Finland Denmark

7 Over-Nutrition; 31 Changing Diets; 37 Fast Food

4

Neth.

4 2

2

1 <1 Norway Belgium Austria Sweden (TV3) (Kanaal 2) (TV4)

Fatty & sugary foods

DISPROPORTIONATE ADVERTISING

Dairy, meat, fish & alternatives

The components of a balanced diet compared with the time devoted to advertising them on children’s television 2003

Fatty & sugary foods mainly: confectionery, highly sugared breakfast cereals, ready prepared foods, and fast-food restaurant meals

fruits & vegetables

bread, cereals & potatoes

A balanced diet

response to rising concern among consumers and health professionals, and to its own report on diet and the prevention of chronic disease, the World Health Organization produced a report, endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2004, that set out a global strategy on diet, physical activity and health. This clearly states that food advertising influences dietary habits, and that messages encouraging unhealthy dietary practices or physical inactivity should

Imbalanced advertising

therefore be discouraged, with positive health messages encouraged. It urges governments to work to address the marketing of food to children and deal with such issues as sponsorship, promotion and advertising. As of the end of 2008, advertising of junk food has been banned in the UK around children’s TV programmes in an attempt to combat an increase in childhood obesity rates.

CATCHING THEM YOUNG

Examples of school-based commercial activities by food companies in the USA Product sales

• Contracts to sell food and soft drinks on school grounds • Credit awarded for coupons collected by schools or children • Internet sales from which a percentage is given to a school

Direct advertising

• • • • • •

Indirect advertising and incentives

• Free educational materials on issues that promote industry goals • Poster contests, reward-based reading schemes • Corporate gifts to schools, with commercial benefit to the donor

Market research

• Student questionnaires or taste tests • Use of the internet to poll students’ responses • Tracking students’ internet behaviour

Copyright © Myriad Editions

Advertising and product displays in school and on school buses Corporate logos on school furniture, equipment and books Advertisements in sports programmes, yearbooks, school newspapers Advertisements in educational television programmes Computer-delivered advertisements Free snack food

40 Citizens Bite Back

99

40

C ITIZENS B ITE B ACK FOOD AND WATER are vital ingredients for life. It is little wonder, then, that access to safe, nutritious food has become a political issue worldwide. The production, distribution and retailing of food is, in many countries, controlled by large corporations. Yet, consumers of that food – and the people most closely involved in producing, transporting, serving, selling and inspecting it – have also found a voice, and have formed large umbrella groups that link affiliated organizations around the world.

Many different food issues are the focus of sustained campaigns, which include identifying causes of contamination in food and water, and improving access to safe sources of both, supporting breastfeeding mothers in developing countries, improving animal welfare, highlighting the environmental impacts of unsustainable farming, protecting the health, safety, wages and conditions of food workers, improving food labelling, and counteracting the advertising of unhealthy food and drink.

CANAD A

USA

MEXICO

CUBA DOMINICAN REP.

JAMAICA HONDURAS EL SALVADOR

CAPE VERDE

N. ANTILLES

NICARAGUA

ST LUCIA

ARUBA

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

COSTA RICA PANAMA

GUYANA

COLOMBIA

ECUADOR

PERU

BRAZIL

BOLIVIA CHILE

ARGENTINA FAEROES

URUGUAY

BERMUDA

MALTA Hong Kong SAR

BAHAMAS ANTIGUA & BARBUDA CAPE VERDE DOMINICA BARBADOS ST VINCENT & GRENADINES TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

ST KITTS & NEVIS ST LUCIA GRENADA

MAURITIUS

FIJI

INTERNATIONAL UNION

Number of unions affiliated to the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) 2007

100

more than 5

2–4

1

none

CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL Number of affiliated organization 2007 5 and over 2–4 ICELAND

1

FINLAND

RUSSIA

NORWAY SWEDEN

none

ESTONIA LATVIA

DENMARK

UK

RUSSIA NETH.

GERMANY

BEL.

LITHUANIA BELARUS

POLAND

CZ. REP. AUS. HUN. SL. CRO.

FRANCE

BUL.

MONT.

SPAIN

ALB. ITALY

PORTUGAL

TUNISIA

K A Z A K HS TA N

UKRAINE

M O NG O LI A

ROM.

GEORGIA

MAC. GREECE

MALTA

MOROCCO

TURKEY

JAPAN

ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN

SOUTH KOREA

TAJIKISTAN

CHINA

CYPRUS LEB. ISRAEL

JORDAN PAKISTAN

NEPAL

KIRIBATI

E G YP T

IN D I A SENEGAL

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

SAMOA

THAILAND

YEMEN

CHAD

BURKINA FASO

GHANA TOGO BENIN

NIGERIA

ETHIOPIA

PHILIPPINES

FIJI

VIETNAM

SRI LANKA

CAMEROON

MALAYSIA SINGAPORE

KENYA

GABON

I N D O N E S I A

BURUNDI

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

SEYCHELLES

Street food MALAWI

ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE BOTSWANA

MOZAMBIQUE

SOUTH AFRICA

LESOTHO

MAURITIUS

City dwellers in developing countries are heavily dependent on food bought from street traders.

Consumers International is campaigning to preserve its diversity, and improve its safety.

AU S TRALI A

NEW ZEALAND

The pillars of food sovereignty In 2007, more than 500 people from 80 countries met in Nyéléni, Mali to strengthen the global movement for food sovereignty. They represented family farmers, fisherfolk and urban dwellers, forest, indigenous and landless peoples, and consumer and environmental organizations. They identified six key pillars upon which food sovereignty could be built: 1 Food is primarily a right, not a commodity.

2 The people who produce it should be respected.

3 Food systems should be as localized as possible.

4 Local resources should be controlled by local people.

5 Knowledge and skills should be supported.

6 Nature should be worked with, not against.

Copyright © Myriad Editions

GAMBIA

BANGLADESH

OMAN

MALI

101

food prices 17 irrigation 24 live animal trade to 68 nutrition transition 62 water shortage 24 milk, increased demand for 38 Netherlands alcohol consumption 96, 97 coronary heart disease 28 fair trade 72 live animal trade 69 organic food sales 88, 89 restaurants 92, 93 Newcastle disease 40–41 North America heart disease 28 irrigation 24 live animal trade 68 organic food sales in 89 see also Canada, USA nutraceuticals see functional food nutrition transition 18, 28, 38, 62, 79, 82–83 nutritional deficiencies 26–27 obesity 15, 28, 91, 94 Oceania irrigation 24 organic food sales in 89 oil palm 22 oil prices 15, 16 organic farming 33, 60–61, 76 food 60, 88–89 over-nutrition 28–29 see also obesity patent protection 43 pesticides 15, 46–47, 76 Philippines deforestation 22 GM soya 45 Jollibee 94 pig meat production 36, 37, 84–85 pollution 15, 22, 30, 37 population increase 20, 21, 24–25, 62 poultry industry 36–37, 84–85 battery hens 36 egg production 36 fish meal in feed 56 processed food 79, 84–85, 87, 90–91 productivity 20, 21, 23 under-nutrition 26 public health programmes 30

128

restaurants 92–93, 94–95 rice 34, 62, 80 root crops 80 Russia alcohol consumption 96 coronary heart disease 28 food price freeze 17 sheep pox 40–41 shopping 86–87 social change 15, 22 soil quality 15, 22, 38, 52, 60, 76 South Africa, 45, 53 South America see Latin America South Asia 20 child labourers 20 cost of food 17, 19 impact of climate change 23 population growth 21 South-East Asia deforestation 22 street food 92 supermarkets in 87 soybean cultivation 22, 34, 38 Spain alcohol consumption 96, 97 coronary heart disease 28 dietary energy 82 land ownership 53 live animal trade 69 restaurants 92, 93 staple foods 80–81, 82 street food 92, 94, 101 subsistence farming 40, 42, 58, 74, 76–77, 101 sugar, subsidies for 71 supermarkets 86–87, 88 sustainable production 22, 60–61, 62 Svalbard Global Seed Vault 58 technological change 15, 20, 22, 33, 42, 82, 84 tractors 34, 35 see also mechanization trade 30, 50, 65–77, 82 dependency 74–75 disputes 72–73 environmental impact of 63, 66 GHG emissions from 63 subsidies and tariffs 70–71 UK alcohol consumption 96, 97 allotment holders 55 animal feed 38 convenience food 94

coronary heart disease 28 cost of food 18, 95 fairtrade sales 76 functional foods 84 GHGs from food system 63 live animal trade 69 organic food 88, 89 restaurants 92, 93 supermarkets 86 under-nutrition 15, 18–19, 20–21, 30 urban farming 54–55, 60 urbanization 50, 54 USA advertising to children 99 alcohol consumption 96, 97 biofuels 16 contamination 30 cost of food 18 dietary energy 82 food processors 84, 85 GM crops 44 land ownership 52 live animal trade 68 meat consumption 62 mechanization 34 organic produce 60, 88, 89 restaurants 92, 93 supermarkets 86 water resources 24 vegetables 28, 54 vitamin A deficiency 26–27 Wal-Mart 63, 86, 87, 88, 89 water contamination of 30–31, 15, 38, 48 resources 15, 30, 38 supply 24–25, 33 wheat 16, 24, 80 World Bank 42 World Food Programme 16, 18–19 World Health Organization 99 World Organisation for Animal Health 40–41 World Trade Organization 72, 73

blank

Foreword by Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics

“An extraordinarily clear basis for understanding the underlying issues.” Ecologist “A unique and easily accessible insight into the way our world food system works. This splendid presentation of deeply worrying data and trends should be a wake-up call.” Times Higher Education Supplement This award-winning atlas maps every link of the food chain, from farming, production and retail to the food on our plates. It also investigates how, in an era of new technologies, globalized food trade and even plentiful supply, millions remain hungry.

Topics include: prices and shortages • malnutrition • dietary changes and increasing obesity • climate change impacts • industrial farming • live animal trade • GM crops • fertilizers and pesticides • organic farming • land rights • trade justice • fast food and additives

“Impressive and far-ranging, an extremely useful and comprehensive, if disturbing, read.” Financial Times

Cover design by Myriad Editions.

Front cover: Broccoli © YinYang / istockphoto.

Back cover (from left): farming field © L. Pettet / istockphoto; burger © Hemera photo objects; cattle © RTimages / istockphoto; schoolchildren, Egypt © Myriad Editions.

pigs: 739 breeds 37 74 225

140

University of California Press Berkeley 94704 www.ucpress.edu

263

Manufactured in Hong Kong

9 780520 276420