Milling & Baking News - December 2, 2008 - 29

Regulatory Affairs

Seeking a balanced discussion,
approach to food production policy

rewards and control in the hands
of fewer and fewer farmers or agribusinesses.

50% more people, with higher per
Imagine a newly-inaugurated Presi- capita incomes, by mid-century will
dent Obama out pulling weeds in require a doubling of world food
his latter-day version of a "vic- production.
So there likely is coming a debate
tory garden" on the White House's
South Lawn rather than meeting in about food policy. One approach is
the Cabinet Room with his aides illustrated by Mr. Pollan's article:
discussing how to address terror- the U.S. should withdraw from
ism, the economy, health care re- global markets and use its abundant
form and energy security. Probably natural resources to provide itself a
not the best use of his time, but that high-cost, localized food supply deis the thrust of advice recently laid pending largely on solar and human
out in a New York Times opinion col- energy. A contrasting food policy
umn by Berkeley journalism profes- would use the tools of agricultural
sor Michael Pollan, urging the new productivity - specialization, science and scale economies - in a
president to set a good example.
The Pollan vision is for a
food system that repopulates
rural areas with millions of new
farmers serving local markets
with fresh, preferably organic
and "natural," foods. Meat
products would be slaughtered by roving "abattoirs,"
and American farms would be
"re-solarized" as they were before the advent of mechanization, man-made fertilizers and
chemical pest control.
Unlike many critics of current farm and food policies, Mr.
Pollan's objections are not to
subsidies but to how they are
being used. He would redirect
them to implement this idyllic model of a food economy,
although even with such pubPollan
lic assistance he acknowledges
that food costs would rise. But, he more open global food economy to
argues, a foundation would be laid feed more people better than they
for bringing health care costs down are being fed while using less land,
through improved diets and gaining water and fossil-based energy per
energy independence by replacing unit of output.
Those who favor the latter ap"factory" farms.
proach have some serious work
to do to advance their case. SpeGlobal food economy agenda
It is true that agriculture glob- cialization has lowered food costs,
ally is a major source of greenhouse increased output and - through
gases. It also is true that unbalanced trade - widened choice, but it has
diets and inactive lifestyles have been branded by its critics as moncontributed to rising health care oculture, with resulting issues to be
costs. These are new issues on the managed around pollution, erosion,
agenda for the global food economy. waste management and dependence
But they are not the only issues on on long supply chains. Science
that has brought powerful tools to
that agenda.
Some 800 million to 900 million control disease, pests and rot has
people suffer chronic hunger, stunt- been labeled as heightening risks
ing their development and shorten- from residues and dangerous bioing their lives. Hundreds of millions technological manipulations. And
more are periodically hungry or face scale economies that have greatly
nutrient deficiencies that weaken increased efficiencies and lowered
and shorten their lives. And, nearly costs are under fire for concentrating

Responding to challenges
Advocates of a more open global food system need to respond to
these challenges in both their words
and their deeds. They need to speak
more forcefully for what has been
achieved through specialization,
science and scale economies. They
also need to show how those tools
may be better deployed to optimize
their strengths while minimizing
their weaknesses.
For example, specialized production may deploy new techniques
to limit pollution, control erosion,
treat or use wastes for energy and
assure consumers access to the
quantities and qualities they
want in spite of increased reliance on trade. Science has
turned its attention increasingly
not only to issues of productivity but also to better techniques
for controlling risks, enhancing
and fortifying foods, heightening food safety and delivering
greater healthfulness in the diet.
Scale economies that result from
the commoditization of markets
lead to greater efficiencies for
the users of input, processing or
distribution services, while efforts to widen the competitive
field by bringing down protectionist barriers stimulates new
entrants, new ideas and new
sources of competition.

KEN LIGHT

BY ROBBIN JOHNSON

30 / December 2, 2008

Milling & Baking News

Progress on policy
All of this is to say that food policy must continue to make progress
against its quantitative goals - producing enough to give all people
access to food supplies at reasonable prices - while demonstrating
more clearly its responsiveness to
an emerging set of qualitative goals.
These latter objectives mean paying
more attention to how food is produced, processed and distributed. It
should not mean pursuing its growing qualitative agenda by ignoring
its quantitative responsibilities. MBN

Robbin S. Johnson, a fellow
with the Hubert H. Humphrey
Institute of Public Affairs,
is a contributing editor at
Sosland Publishing Co.
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - December 2, 2008

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