Grains

Bill Winders

• Publisher: Polity
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780745688046, 9780745688039
• eBook ISBN: 9780745688077
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Environment & Energy Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Grains - particularly maize, rice, and wheat - are the central component of most people's diets, but we rarely stop to think about the wider role they play in national and international policy-making, as well as global issues like food security, biotechnology, and even climate change.
 
But why are grains so important and ubiquitous? What political conflicts and economic processes underlie this dominance?  Who controls the world's supply of grains and with what outcomes?  In this timely book, Bill Winders unravels the complex story of feed and food grains in the global economy.  Highlighting the importance of corporate control and divisions between grains - such as who grows them, and who consumes them - he shows how grains do not represent a unitary political and economic force.  Whilst the differences between them may seem small, they can lead to competing economic interests and policy preferences with serious and, on occasions, violent geopolitical consequences.
 
This richly detailed and authoritative guide will be of interest to students across the social sciences, as well as anyone interested in current affairs.

CHAPTER ONE
Grains for Food, Grains for Feed

The average supermarket has tens of thousands of items, including fresh fruits and vegetables, bakery items, dairy products, meats, and a wide array of processed foods such as crackers, cookies, condiments, boxed dinners, cereals, sodas, frozen foods, and alcohol. There are so many choices. Behind this diversity of products, however, are grains: barley, buckwheat, maize (corn), millet, oats, quinoa, rice, rye, sorghum, and wheat among others.¹ However, just three grains can be found in almost every grocery store aisle: maize, rice, and wheat. Maize pervades supermarket shelves under a variety of names: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, decyl glucoside, dextrin, dextrose, ferrous gluconate, lactic acid, maltodextrin, xantham gum, and zein among many others. Wheat can be found in thousands of grocery store items in the form of gluten or starch. Likewise, rice takes the form of rice milk and flour, and different forms of rice can be found in a variety of foods, from baby food to beer. Grains in these and other forms permeate most of the processed foods found in supermarkets. Grains are also fed to animals – particularly, cows, chickens, and pigs – that are slaughtered for meat. In short, grains are ubiquitous in supermarkets, belying the apparent variety of foods, which in some fashion are often either grains entirely or contain grains. Even the typical fast food meal in the US – a burger, French fries, and a soda – has far more grains in it than might be apparent at first: grains are in the bun, obviously, but they are also very likely to be in the burger, soda, and ketchup, as well as the oil used to make the French fries. Put simply, grains are everywhere.²

Despite the pervasiveness of grains, we do not often think about their deep, underlying political implications, nor do we generally consider why some grains are more predominant than others. Instead, we tend to reflect on whether the amount and types of grains we eat are healthy for us. Maize is often, but not always, the focal point of such discussions. The various forms of maize that appear in foods, especially corn syrup, are argued to be important contributors to health issues, such as obesity. Some popular diets have centered on “low carb” (i.e., “low grains”) foods or even urged avoiding grains altogether. Many processed food labels now tout products as “gluten-free” for customers looking to avoid the protein in wheat, barley, and rye. Other public discussions of grains center on issues related to technology, such as genetically modified grains. Rarely do we move beyond these largely individual concerns, primarily about our health, to reflect on the more complex political and economic implications of grains.

Considering the geopolitics of grains is important, though, because people throughout the world consume grains as a central component of their diets. Grains are, therefore, an important factor in political stability, economic well-being, and even cultural heritage and traditions across the globe. Since grains are a central component of most people’s diets, one fundamental issue concerning grains is food security: having enough access to grains to provide an adequately nutritious diet. When access to grains decreases, for example because of rising prices, social and political stability can be undermined as people may begin to question or even challenge their political and economic institutions, which have not provided adequate food. Grain production is so widespread that millions of people engage in it as farmers, which means that grains not only provide food but also serve as an important basis for income as well as economic and social status around the world. And finally, grains and their production permeate life and culture around the world, including through music, art, poetry, holiday celebrations, rituals, and even language. For example, the cultivation of rice plays an important role in Japanese origin myths, and many Mexican cities hold festivals every year to celebrate maize. As the production of or access to grains is disrupted, a nation’s social, economic, and political stability can also be undermined. Understanding the geopolitics of grains is, therefore, critically important.³

The same three grains that are most prevalent in the supermarket – maize, rice, and wheat – are also the grains of greatest political and economic importance across the globe today. One or some combination of these grains forms the basis of diets in every region of the world. Table 1.1 shows annual world grain production for several grains and conveys clearly the importance of maize, rice, and wheat to global food supply. In 2015, world maize production was 967 million metric tons (MMT), rice was 470 MMT, and wheat was 735 MMT. That same year, the total world production of barley, millet, oats, rye, and sorghum together was 277 MMT. This means that the production of all other grains combined totaled only 59 percent of rice production, 38 percent of wheat production, and a mere 29 percent of maize production. Put another way, of the eight grains considered in Table 1.1, maize, rice, and wheat account for almost 90 percent of world grain production. In considering the geopolitics of grains, then, we must focus to a greater extent on the influence of these three grains.⁴

Table 1.1 Annual World Production of Grains (in million metric tons).

Source: Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA, “PS&D Online Database,” available at http://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/.

Table 1.1 also shows the recent trends in production, further demonstrating the importance of these grains. Maize production has shown the greatest increase over the past 25 years, doubling from 481 MMT in 1990 to 967 MMT in 2015. While rice and wheat did not match maize’s increase over this period, they nonetheless showed substantial growth in production: rice increased by 34 percent and wheat increased by 25 percent. None of the other grains matched this. World production of barley, oats, and rye decreased over this same 25-year period by a combined 75 MMT, or about 29 percent across these three grains. World millet production remained roughly unchanged. World sorghum production increased by 28 percent, but its total increase in production was only 15 MMT, which pales in comparison to the increases of more than 100 MMT for maize, rice, and wheat. Finally, it is also noteworthy that maize, rice, and wheat accounted for 81 percent of world grain production in 1990, but by 2015 these three grains accounted for almost 90 percent of world production. Thus, maize, rice, and wheat dominate world grain production, and this dominance has grown over the past 25 years.

These trends raise two important questions. First, why are maize, rice, and wheat so predominant among world grains? Second, why did the production of these three grains increase so substantially over the past 25 years? We will return to each of these questions, particularly the second one, as they go to the heart of issues examined throughout this book: shifts in the global food system, economic competition and conflicts between grains, world hunger, the use of biotechnology in grain production, and access to land. But for now, our focus is the influence these three grains have on societies.

The distant and recent histories of maize, rice, and wheat reveal their importance not only in terms of feeding populations but also in their political, economic, and social influence. Each of these grains has shaped in various ways the political struggles and economic development of many nations. For example, the land tenure systems (i.e., the ways that landownership is organized) that have arisen around grain production have been linked to the economic and political structures found in societies. Some land tenure systems have been more favorable to the rise of political democracy, while other land tenure systems have inhibited democratic developments and contributed to dictatorships. Sharp reductions in people’s access to these grains – which, again, are the basis of most diets around the world – can contribute to food riots and political instability. Economic competition between producers of different grains – or producers of the same grain in different countries – has led to trade wars and increased political tensions. Finally, large companies dominate the grain trade, seed industry, and processing of these grains. This market dominance often translates into significant influence over political institutions and the production and dietary trends in countries around the globe, as well as the exploitation of labor. Through these and other ways, these three grains have shaped the political, economic, and social histories of nations around the world.⁵

The social and political influence of these grains is evident in recent global food crises. World grain prices reached historic heights in 2008, with wheat more than 200 percent higher and rice more than 250 percent higher than 2004–5 levels. The price of maize saw similar though less dramatic increases as well, as did prices for meat and dairy products, for which maize is the main source of feed. This rise in prices made food less accessible for millions of people and world hunger increased. As food prices rose and the threat of hunger spread, more than 30 countries were struck by mass protests and riots. These protests contributed to political instability in a number of countries. In Mexico, tens of thousands of people joined “tortilla protests” in response to the sharp increase in maize prices. In Haiti, the prime minister was removed after a week of food riots in April 2008. Later in 2010, rising grain prices again played a role in protests in Tunisia and Algeria, which then spread across the Middle East as the Arab Spring shook the region. High food prices, particularly for grains, fueled food riots and general protests across the globe that ultimately contributed to violent confrontations and even to changes in political regimes. Grains have the power to transform societies.⁶

Even outside of periods of crisis and change, the political economic influence of grains is apparent. For example, wheat farmers in the US and Europe, rice farmers in Japan and South Korea, and other grain farmers around the world have exerted significant influence over their respective nations’ trade and other national policies. Organizations representing maize farmers in the US were strong advocates of expanding trade with Mexico, China, and Cuba in the 1990s and 2000s. Rice farmers in Japan were important advocates of protectionism in the mid-twentieth century. Grain farmers in a variety of nations have influenced a whole range of policies from fiscal and banking policies to labor and social welfare policies.

Grain companies also have a long history of exerting political and economic influence. For many decades, for example, four companies have dominated the global trade in grains: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus. These four agricultural trading firms are referred to as the “ABCDs,” and their histories reach back to the 1800s or early 1900s with roots in North America and Europe – ADM and Cargill in the US, Bunge in the Netherlands, and Louis Dreyfus in France. Table 1.2 shows the size and geographic reach of these companies. The economic activities of these companies are widespread as well, as Jennifer Clapp has noted: “They buy and sell grain as well as a host of other agricultural and non-agricultural commodities, while they also undertake a range of activities from finance to production to processing and distribution.”⁷ The ABCDs control about 70 percent of the global grain market, though they face growing competition from new companies in Asia, including Noble Group, Olam, and Wilmar, which are three Singapore-listed agribusinesses; Cofco in China; and Glencore Xtrat...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Grains for Food, Grains for Feed
• 2 Grains and the US Food Regime
• 3 The Search for New Markets
• 4 Feed Grains, Food Grains, and World Hunger
• 5 Genetically Engineered Grains
• 6 Seeds of Change
• Selected Readings
• Index
• End User License Agreement