World Food Policy Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 117

World Food Policy

It too acknowledged agro-ecological
methods, which have been shown to be
equally productive, less energy-intensive,
restorative, carbon sequestering and
stabilizing of rural cultures and healthy
diets (Pretty, Morison, and Hine (2003);
see also numerous articles in the journal
Agroecology and Sustainable Food
Systems).
4.1.2 - Government monitoring and
regulation of food trade, commodity chains,
and environmental resource use

Within public health and
development circles, stronger government
leadership and involvement in food
markets is being recommended on several
fronts, including: food reserves, foreign
investment in farming and fisheries,
and free/fair trade. Calls for stronger
government regulation in food systems
repeatedly appear in reports on dietrelated chronic NCD. Where there is
considerable support within the public
health community is for government
regulation of food-company marketing
and advertising (WHO-FAO 2003;
Hastings 2012) with some support also for
“fat taxes” in order to make high energy,
processed foods less affordable relative to
nutrition-rich fresh foods (PLoS Medicine
Editors 2012). It is in this context, that
INFORMAS—the International Network
for Food and Obesity/NCDs Research,
Monitoring and Action Support—has
been established to provide guidelines to
monitor the impact of food trade on food
environments (see Friel et al. 2013).

Another arena where there is
growing consensus for government
intervention
relates
to
foreign
investments in farming lands, aquaculture

environments, and associated firmlevel
operations—whether
through
purchase or lease-arrangements. The
FAO (2011a; 2012a) has expressed
concern about national countries leasing
their marine areas to countries keen to
control fish commodity chains, often
to ensure continuity of supply for their
own consumption. Such arrangements
are questioned on environmental
sustainability and social justice grounds.
See for example: ttp://www.srfood.
org/index.php/en/component/content/
article/1-latest-news/2543-ocean-grabbingas-serious-a-threat-as-land-grabbing-unfood-expert.

In the area of free trade, there
are also calls for stronger government
engagement. For example, under the
WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture (AoA),
as well as WTO agreements on public
procurement, it is difficult for national
governments to establish food reserve
schemes (i.e., set aside food at times of
crises in supply and to stabilize price
volatility). This development has led the
UN Special Rapporteur on the right to
food to argue that governments in poorer
countries are denied a key instrument
in ensuring adequate food supplies (De
Schutter 2011). The Special Rapporteur
has identified the opportunity in DOHA
negotiations to introduce flexibility in
current arrangements to increase public
investment and oversight of agriculture
(De Schutter 2011).

This oversight is appearing in
low- and middle-income countries, with a
growing number of governments in Asia
and Latin America providing support, for
example, to cooperative farm ventures—
through establishing food distribution
hubs, logistics company support to

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