Book Chapter Details
Mandatory Fields
Sage, C., Kenny, T.
2017 December
ADVANCES IN FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABILITY
Connecting Agri-Export Productivism, Sustainability, and Domestic Food Security via the Metabolic Rift: The Case of the Republic of Ireland
Academic Press
London
Published
1
Optional Fields
Food security; Productivism; Sustainability; Metabolic rift; Republic of Ireland
Drawing on the concept of metabolic rift we trace the development of productivism in Irish agriculture, given huge impetus by the implementation of an industry-led agri-export strategy, Food Harvest 2020. Yet the consequences of productivism at home are significant principally through depleted environmental support systems besides potential threats to human wellbeing. The chapter then proceeds to examine the changing Irish foodscape which has witnessed a rapid expansion of corporate retail and food service outlets. Evidence would suggest that these new forms of food provisioning have increased the availability of energy dense foods with Ireland ranked high in international tables in consumption of fast food and confectionary and low in fruit and vegetables. Paradoxically, despite rising volumes of meat and dairy exports, net imports have grown faster especially as a consequence of retail supply chain logistics and the drive to cheaper food. Nevertheless, food poverty remains an intractable problem in Ireland and reinforces patterns of consumption that data suggest are evidently deleterious to human health. Yet the state continues to emphasise the need for individual behaviour change rather than reforming a food system that, while preoccupied with agri-export success, is responsible for a high burden of disease at home.
Barling, D.
978-0-12-813079-7
41
67
10.1016/bs.af2s.2017.09.006
Grant Details