A compelling new e-book titled Power Play: The Future of Food (Global Research, 2024) by Colin Todhunter has just been released. This concise, open-access book serves as the third instalment in a trilogy by the author that critically examines the dynamics of food production, distribution and consumption in a rapidly changing world.
Power Play: The Future of Food intricately links the global food system to broader political and economic power dynamics. It examines how corporate consolidation and political centralisation intertwine to undermine democratic processes, emphasising the implications of these trends for food production.
There is a critical examination of the ongoing corporate capture of Indian agriculture, highlighting the involvement of major global corporations. Despite a year-long farmers’ agitation in India leading to the revocation of three controversial farm laws in 2021, the Indian government continues to pursue policies that favour corporatisation.
The book critiques an increasingly technocratic approach to food production (AI, cloud platforms, genetic engineering, ‘precision’ agriculture etc.). By framing the discussion around monopolistic technologies, it challenges readers to explore more equitable and democratic alternatives, not least agroecology.
The roots of the ongoing economic crisis in the Western countries are explored too. This crisis is linked to the shift towards authoritarianism and the narrative of ‘new normal’ based on top-down stakeholder capitalism, net-zero and a ‘food transition’.
Other key topics include a discussion on health implications stemming from current food systems and an analysis of how land is increasingly viewed as a commodity rather than a vital resource. The book also examines what the future of food may look like if we do not act and traces the shift from traditional farming to a technology-driven one-world food system and transhumanism.
This multifaceted approach identifies the need for urgent action against entrenched power structures that perpetuate corporate dependency and undermine the vibrancy of local communities.
Power Play: The Future of Food urges readers to reconsider the concepts of ‘development’ and ‘progress’ while recognising the transformative potential of re-localising food systems and reconnecting with traditional ecological wisdom. By drawing on agrarianism and the actions of the 17th century Diggers’ Movement in England, the book aims to inspire action towards reclaiming food sovereignty and challenging state-corporate power.
Power Play: The Future of Food is published by Global Research: read it here.
*
Click the share button below to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.
Global Research’s Holiday Fundraiser
Power Play: The Future of Food
This ebook provides insight into aspects of the global food system, including the micronutrient crisis, contested climate emergency rhetoric and its use in implementing the rollout of controlling technologies, the emergence and influence of digital platforms in shaping agricultural practices and the increasing corporate capture of Indian agriculture.
The book is the third installment in a trilogy of ebooks by the author exploring the global food system. It evolved from a series of articles originally published by various media outlets and written by the author and follows the February 2022 publication of Food, Dependency and Dispossession: Resisting the New World Order and the December 2023 release of Sickening Profits: The Global Food System’s Poisoned Food and Toxic Wealth.
Click here to access the e-Book.
.
.
