The indigestible system of food as commodity

Abstract

The characterization of food as a consumable commodity emerges from a food system which is becoming increasingly concentrated and determined by few multinational corporations. This is one of the consequences of the capitalist structural crisis. Understanding how the production of food is dominated by the logics of private property and how food has become a commodity is essential in explaining the current context, which is leading to more diseases and social-economic inequalities. The methodology used in this article is based on the perspective of Marxist theory, determined by the emergence of dialectical criticism, as well as on heterodox approaches towards the current state of capitalism. This article proposes a discussion about the recent context of the global food system and the process of mass production of food as commodity, the general lines of the contemporary capitalist dynamics and its crisis with the impact on the food system. Moreover, how this new context is restricting Brazil in guaranteeing food and nutrition safety, as well as the Human Right to Adequate Food, thus giving rise to new and notable challenges in the field of public health and in securing human rights to citizens.