glucotropaeolin) and their breakdown products have been linked to a reduction in
the prevalence of certain types of cancer (Hounsome et al. 2008; Aires et al. 2009;
Jimenez-Garcia et al. 2013). A considerable pool of data shows a relationship
between the risk of cancer and dietary carotenoid intake. A case–control study
(2,706 cases of cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon and
rectum vs. 2,879 controls) indicated that a high intake of tomatoes and tomatobased food, both of which are rich sources of lycopene, was strongly associated
with reduced risk of digestive tract cancers, especially stomach, colon, and rectum
(Rea et al. 2010). Also, resveratrol protects the cardiovascular system by mechanisms that include defense against ischemic-reperfusion injury, promotion of
vasorelaxation, protection and maintenance of intact endothelium, anti-atherosclerotic properties, inhibition of low-density lipoprotein oxidation, suppression of
platelet aggregation, and estrogen-like actions (Krzyzanowska et al. 2010).
1.9 Cheap Foods
Feeding the world requires local, national, and global solutions in view of the
expected world population of 10 billion by 2050. Sustainability must characterize
the socioeconomic infrastructures as well as the scientific and technical components. Today almost half the world population lives on $2 a day or less and
although poor, most are not hungry (Hodges 2005). World Trade Organization
(WTO) objectives for world trade include agriculture and food with the hope of
supplying cheap food based on and generated by a capital intensive system.
However, the current paradigm of producing ever cheaper food is found to be
increasingly unsustainable and, if introduced globally, will create a variety of
instabilities. A policy of feeding the growing cities of the developing world with
imported food would remove domestic markets from poor farmers and would also
risk large-scale famine when global food trade breaks down (Pretty et al. 2003).
The cheap food concept is a dinosaur left over from a previous age. It is big,
powerful, anachronistic and consumes vast resources, harms the natural environment, emits negative influences far from its presence, is difficult to control and
resists a quiet end. Disposing of the cheap food culture will require a colossal
rethink by leaders and opinion makers and will not be easy because of the huge
vested business interests in selling ever more food (Godfray et al. 2010a, b).
In most countries around the world, national food production capacity has been
systematically dismantled and replaced by a growing capacity to produce agro
exports, stimulated by enormous government subsidies to agribusiness, using
taxpayer money (Rosset 2008). It is peasants and family farmers who feed the
people of the world, by and large. Large agribusiness producers in most countries
have an export ‘‘vocation.’’ The result is that we now face one of the tightest
margins in recent history between food reserves and demand, which generates both
rising prices and greater market volatility. In other words, many countries no
longer have either sufficient food reserves or sufficient productive capacity
18
L. Garcia-Mier et al.
the prevalence of certain types of cancer (Hounsome et al. 2008; Aires et al. 2009;
Jimenez-Garcia et al. 2013). A considerable pool of data shows a relationship
between the risk of cancer and dietary carotenoid intake. A case–control study
(2,706 cases of cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon and
rectum vs. 2,879 controls) indicated that a high intake of tomatoes and tomatobased food, both of which are rich sources of lycopene, was strongly associated
with reduced risk of digestive tract cancers, especially stomach, colon, and rectum
(Rea et al. 2010). Also, resveratrol protects the cardiovascular system by mechanisms that include defense against ischemic-reperfusion injury, promotion of
vasorelaxation, protection and maintenance of intact endothelium, anti-atherosclerotic properties, inhibition of low-density lipoprotein oxidation, suppression of
platelet aggregation, and estrogen-like actions (Krzyzanowska et al. 2010).
1.9 Cheap Foods
Feeding the world requires local, national, and global solutions in view of the
expected world population of 10 billion by 2050. Sustainability must characterize
the socioeconomic infrastructures as well as the scientific and technical components. Today almost half the world population lives on $2 a day or less and
although poor, most are not hungry (Hodges 2005). World Trade Organization
(WTO) objectives for world trade include agriculture and food with the hope of
supplying cheap food based on and generated by a capital intensive system.
However, the current paradigm of producing ever cheaper food is found to be
increasingly unsustainable and, if introduced globally, will create a variety of
instabilities. A policy of feeding the growing cities of the developing world with
imported food would remove domestic markets from poor farmers and would also
risk large-scale famine when global food trade breaks down (Pretty et al. 2003).
The cheap food concept is a dinosaur left over from a previous age. It is big,
powerful, anachronistic and consumes vast resources, harms the natural environment, emits negative influences far from its presence, is difficult to control and
resists a quiet end. Disposing of the cheap food culture will require a colossal
rethink by leaders and opinion makers and will not be easy because of the huge
vested business interests in selling ever more food (Godfray et al. 2010a, b).
In most countries around the world, national food production capacity has been
systematically dismantled and replaced by a growing capacity to produce agro
exports, stimulated by enormous government subsidies to agribusiness, using
taxpayer money (Rosset 2008). It is peasants and family farmers who feed the
people of the world, by and large. Large agribusiness producers in most countries
have an export ‘‘vocation.’’ The result is that we now face one of the tightest
margins in recent history between food reserves and demand, which generates both
rising prices and greater market volatility. In other words, many countries no
longer have either sufficient food reserves or sufficient productive capacity
18
L. Garcia-Mier et al.