| Chapter 1: | ADM, A Tomato Named Local Lucy, and Small Farms: The Ecology and Reemergence of Farmers’ Markets |
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Mark Grey (2000) described the situation this way: “The United States has experienced the development of two food ‘streams.’ One is based on an industrial model and is dominated by a handful of large, integrated transnational corporations. The other relies on direct marketing that links food producers with consumers. Although the latter is small by the standards of industrial agribusiness, it is growing rapidly” (p. 143).
The issue of two food streams is best framed by examining the advertising message of a transnational corporation and the advocacy message of an environmental organization. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), in its widely distributed print and television advertising campaign from 2004, offers this vision of the future of agriculture:
What if we looked at the world as one giant farm field?
In tomorrow’s global food economy, every crop will grow where it grows best.
And, ADM can link farmers to almost any market in the world. It’s a natural way to improve agricultural efficiency, make food more affordable, and feed a hungry world.
Nature has answers. Is anyone listening?
Yes.
ADM.
The nature of what’s to come. (Archer Daniels Midland, 2004)
Here, ADM advocates a global food system and its own leading role in this system. This message is consistent with the views of Steven Blank (1998), an agricultural economist who argued that the United States has advanced technologically to a point where food production is no longer the best use for its land and capital. Noting that commodity prices are now set globally but production costs are set locally, he reasons that the United States no longer has a comparative advantage in food production because of its higher labor and land costs.