E-Book Overview
The Political Economy of Diet and Health continues the exploration of food systems theory begun in the author's previous publications. It presents a critical exposition of food systems theory and analyses the existing approaches to food consumption. Subjects include: * resolving the diet paradox * the impact of the EU * the lack of policy in the UK * an exploration of the 'diseases of affluence'.
E-Book Content
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DIET, HEALTH AND FOOD POLICY Governments and individuals are becoming increasingly aware of the physical and political implications of what we eat. The Political Economy of Diet, Health and Food Policy discusses food in relation to public health policy. Continuing the exploration of food systems undertaken in the highly acclaimed Consumption in the Age of Affluence: The World of Food, this volume offers a provocative critique of traditional food systems theory and existing approaches to food consumption. Deploying an interdisciplinary approach rooted in political economy, the author develops a unique perspective on diet, health and policy issues. It is argued that patterns of food consumption and choice can only be understood in relation to specific foods and the chains of activities and processes that surround them. These principles inform the incisive discussion of a number of food problems, including eating disorders and diseases of affluence, the contradictions of the food information system and the relationship between European Union agricultural policy and food policy. The author concludes with a critical assessment of the UK government’s newly published proposals to set up an independent food standards agency. Unique in offering a coherent picture of what we eat and why, and how food policy is responding to this, this volume will be a valuable contribution to the new and vital discipline of food studies. It will be of interest to students of political economy, food studies and the social sciences. Ben Fine is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Economic Policy for South Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Recent books include The World of Consumption (Routledge, 1993) and Consumption in the Age of Affluence: The World of Food (Routledge, 1996). ROUTLEDGE FRONTIERS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY 1 EQUILIBRIUM VERSUS UNDERSTANDING Towards the rehumanization of economics within social theory Mark Addleson 2 EVOLUTION, ORDER AND COMPLEXITY Edited by Elias L.Khalil and Kenneth E.Boulding 3 INTERACTIONS IN POLITICAL ECONOMY Malvern after ten years Edited by Steven Pressman 4 THE END OF ECONOMICS Michael Perelman 5 PROBABILITY IN ECONOMICS Omar F.Hamouda and Robin Rowley 6 CAPITAL CONTROVERSY, POST KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS AND THE HISTORY OF ECONOMICS Essays in honour of Geoff Harcourt, Volume One Edited by Philip Arestis, Gabriel Palma and Malcolm Sawyer 7 MARKETS, UNEMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICY Essays in honour of Geoff Harcourt, Volume Two Edited by Philip Arestis, Gabriel Palma and Malcolm Sawyer 8 SOCIAL ECONOMY The logic of capitalist development Clark Everling 9 NEW KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS/POST-KEYNESIAN ALTERNATIVES Edited by Roy J.Rotheim 10 THE REPRESENTATIVE AGENT IN MACROECONOMICS James E.Hartley 11 BORDERLANDS OF ECONOMICS Essays in honour of Daniel R.Fusfeld Edited by Nahid Aslanbeigui and Young Back Choi 12 VALUE DISTRIBUTION AND CAPITAL Edited by Gary Mongiovi and Fabio Petri 13 THE ECONOMICS OF SCIENCE Methodology and epistemology as if economics really mattered James R.Wible 14 COMPETITIVENESS, LOCALIZED LEARNING AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Specialization and prosperity in small open economies Peter Maskell, Heikki Eskelinen, Ingjaldur Hannibalsson, Anders Malmberg and Eirik Vatne 15 LABOUR MARKET THEORY A constructive reassessment Ben Fine 16 WOMEN AND EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT Jill Rubery, Mark Smith, Colette Fag