Food Regime Analysis in Political Economy

Food regime analysis examines the historical and contemporary ordering of global agri-food systems through the lens of power, capital accumulation, state policy and social relations. Rooted in political economy, this approach identifies successive regimes – sets of geopolitical and market arrangements – that structure production, trade and consumption of food commodities. Each regime is characterised by dominant actors (for example agribusiness corporations or national states), prevailing ideologies about development and nutrition, labour relations and ecological impacts. By tracing shifts from colonial export systems to post-war mass production and the current phase of financialised, transnational supply chains, scholars reveal how food regimes shape inequality, environmental degradation and cultural transformations. This framework also highlights the potential for contestation and alternative pathways, as social movements, emerging markets and ecological imperatives disrupt established configurations and open space for more equitable and sustainable food futures.

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Technical terms

Food regime: A historical configuration of global food production and consumption defined by specific power relations, market structures and state policies.

Political economy: An analytical approach examining how political institutions, economic systems and social forces interact to shape production, distribution and consumption.

Protein shift: The global trend of reducing reliance on animal-source proteins in favour of plant-based and alternative protein sources to mitigate social-ecological impacts.

Justice gap: The disparity between those who enjoy secure, fair access to food and those who are excluded from such systems.

Polycentric governance: A multi-level framework in which decision-making authority is dispersed across multiple, overlapping centres, from local to global.

References

1. Power & protein—closing the ‘justice gap’ for food system transformation. Environmental Research Letters (2024).
2. New food regime geographies: Scale, state, labor. World Development (2021).
3. The political economy of the Brazil-China Soy-Meat Complex. Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural (2019).