Food is the ultimate commodity in our market-led economic system, and it has a great impact on global development and interdependence.
From cultivation to consumption, food provides the chief link between humankind and the "natural" environment. Yet, technological advances in genetics, agri-business, and food processing have combined with changing patterns of diet and employment to challenge our perception of the "natural" and our position within a "natural" system. At this point of dislocation, global crisis and conscience over our use of the environment have sharpened the ideological force of "Nature."
"Refashioning Nature" analyzes the apparently opposed imperatives of the industrial food system and environment. The authors argue that present means of food production, processing and consumption do not satisfy the demands of both North and South, resulting in food shortages and surpluses, as well as environmental destruction. One of the major developments within the global food system has been the change in diet associated with the movement of women into the labor market. Beyond the implications for the production of food and the position of the household, this transformation has had a profound effect on the way we manage the environment, and what we assume and perceive to be natural.