Asian Education and Development Studies

Purpose – Our global food system today is characterised by an unprecedented scale of centralisation, intensification and concentration. The record-high food supplies are supposed to suffice the mouths of seven billion and famines become something in history, which is ironically not the case today. The purpose of this paper is to study whether the globalised food system in the current form is sustainable for all and whether the alternatives are available.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper will discuss the benefits of, as well as challenges facing, a localised food system. It will also analyse how the “Food Empire” undermines universal “food security” and “food sovereignty”, especially the way the underprivileged in the south are being exploited.

Findings – Created by several transnational corporations, the “Food Empire” dominates the global agri-food industry, from agricultural inputs to food retails, under intensive globalisation of agri-production and liberalisation of international trade. Instead of a globalised food system, this paper argues that it is better to have localised food systems as they can offer people an equitable access to food and ensure long-term productivity of our farmlands as part of the agenda for sustainable development.

Originality/value – We have to review trade rules and stop the food war against nature, the poor and justice. “Free market” and “green revolution” in which many believe are not whole of the answers to achieve a sustainable food system, but only the “political will” to change the way food is produced and consumed from now on.