Today’s topic is globalization. No guest poster, you’re stuck with me 🙂
It’s something I feel passionately about, because I have had the privilege of visiting farmers in the developing world and saw firsthand how globalization affects them. First of all, what exactly is globalization?
According to the website Globalization101, “Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies. around the world.
Globalization is deeply controversial, however. Proponents of globalization argue that it allows poor countries and their citizens to develop economically and raise their standards of living, while opponents of globalization claim that the creation of an unfettered international free market has benefited multinational corporations in the Western world at the expense of local enterprises, local cultures, and common people. Resistance to globalization has therefore taken shape both at a popular and at a governmental level as people and governments try to manage the flow of capital, labor, goods, and ideas that constitute the current wave of globalization.”
To help you put a face to this phenomena, I encourage you to watch this video.
As you can see from the video, issues of fair trade, money, and immigration are all intertwined with the concept of globalization. We will explore the issues of money and fair trade in the coming weeks.
Today’s Passage
15Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”
16-19Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’
20“Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’
21“That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”
Luke 12:15-21Â (The Message)
This Week’s Challenge
Questions for Reflection (share your response below for any one of these for an entry in this week’s drawing)
- What do YOU think of when you hear the word “globalization?”
- It has been said that “our food security is responsible for someone else’s insecurity.” Do you think this is an accurate description of our current situation? Do we, in fact, have a responsibility to the people who grow the world’s food supply?
Challenge to Action (choose one of these and post on your blog and add a link below to the specific post about this challenge or simply add your response in the comments before Friday May 28 by midnight EST for an additional entry into this week’s drawing).
- As the daughter of a farmer, I have seen firsthand the effects of globalization on U.S. farmers. Describe how globalization negatively affects farmers in North America.
- How can we help farmers around the world obtain more security? How does eating local, seasonal food contribute to this goal?
This week’s prize is a copy of Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe. You can read my response, “A Farmer’s Daughter’s Response to Organic Manifesto,” over at Kelly the Kitchen Kop. You won’t want to miss it!
I have never really thought alot about this. I do eat organic, local (when possible) believe in whole foods, raw milk and Fair Trade. I guess when I hear globalization in terms of food I think of foods coming here from India or China (gasp) and us shipping our foods elsewhere. I dont’ think that’s necessarily a bad thing, but can see how it endangers the local farmer/grower for the ease of buying everything you “need” at one place, aka. Walmart. We’ve given up our health in this country for convenience. Why shop local farmers markets when I can make one stop and buy all I need there for a cheap price? Why cook meals when I can nuke a TV dinner? We are literally killing ourselves for convenience………
So true! Although in reality I find I prefer going to smaller stores because I don’t have to hike through the parking lot and through a mall just to get one or two things. 🙂
When I hear “globalization” I think of our world growing smaller and people becoming more interconnected. This can definitely be a good thing if we all band together to protect the planet!
The produce buying club I’m a part of is debating this right now: whether or not to buy local. Some people are worried about the farmers in Chile if we stop buying from them. Seriously? What about the farmers here? The food is better tasting, fresher and we support the local farmers and eat what’s in season.
Good point. Plus, the farmers in Chile probably don’t get a very large percentage of the profits, unfortunately.
I know that over the last number of years there is increased dialog about making the world a global marketplace. As a result, everyone and everything has become more integrated – our currencies, our food supply, our business practices, the way we view ourselves and others (our social construction of the world), our cultures, and our beliefs. Is this a good thing? While globalization in theory makes big business maneuvering easier (which I equate to mass production and high profits), it degrades the value of quality products and craftsmanship which I believe are inextricably tied to ethics, and morals. As a big supporter of local, I am gravely concerned about the loss of quality and nutrition of real food in the global marketplace, as we have witnessed by the incidence of negative outcome from globalization of standards and products – the many food recalls we see reported by the media regularly are a prime example. Those recalls have become more and more numerous over the years, and while I do believe many of those products come from first-world countries (such as the United States and others), the move toward industrialization of every aspect of life is continuing on at a dizzying rate.
I realize there are countries whose economic condition and standard of life are suffering, but since the beginning of time there has been a disparity between those who have wealth and those who do not. And does the creation of a global system really ensure a better way of life for those who are less fortunate, or does it deliver them into bondage because they must rely on others to sustain them. And are we really closing a gap between us and someone who lives in Chile? I’m definitely not a person who believes in segregation nor racial superiority, but I do think it’s a mistake to try to force one people’s culture on another. We all have gifts and talents within each of our cultures, but does that mean we need to integrate them into each other? Unlike many people, I think the emergence of globalization has resulted in a loss of culture, pride in ourselves as individual nations, and focus on supporting our local communities. What has happened to community support within our own regional areas has brought us into wanting what others have, instead of being satisfied with our own blessings and holdings. It has has created a dissatisfaction within us of our provincial way of life and caused longing for that which others have. In our “wanting more” mentality, it’s not just that we want to do better and achieve more, we are in a continual state of discontent with the simple things, and now believe we are entitled to “having it all”. Unfortunately, the having it all mentality also comes with a desire for power and breeds insatiability and greed. That, I believe, is the root of the downfall we are experiencing in the world.
It has been said that “our food security is responsible for someone else’s insecurity.” Do you think this is an accurate description of our current situation? Do we, in fact, have a responsibility to the people who grow the world’s food supply?
I do think this is *often* accurate but it doesn’t have to be, and isn’t always the case. Much of our food, often grown outside of seasons, often transported great distances to fill our demand, is grown and picked at the expense of the environment, which often harms the community and people who live there, and at the expense of workers. Conventional banana field workers, and the Florida tomato industry are both striking examples of what our consciousless demand can cause.
Do we have a responsibility? Yes, if only in that in the long run, its all connected. Why support industries that create unliveable, harmful situations for people that we then provide private and government aid to? Why keep building a food system that isn’t sustainable? Beyond that though, I just feel better being part of a system that works.
And there are systems that work. I recently read “Confessions of an Eco-Sinner: Tracking Down the Sources of My Stuff”, and in the section on food, there were some really interesting cases, and not even necessarily organic, just places where the food system, even though they were growing for Western nations far away, had actually done good for communities in Africa, for example.
I think we need to not get too carried away making blanket statements, that importing food is bad, and that all poor people working farms are being taken advantage of. The green beans tracked in this book really provided a good living for these people, and allowed them to grow other crops at home for their families, whereas buying a Florida tomato means contributing to the practical slavery of people in our own country.
Our food security does not have to mean the insecurity of others. In many cases, local and not, our food system can support thriving small businesses and families. It can also support large scale, unsustainable agriculture, and enslaved, marginalized people. Its all about being aware of what you buy, and that needs to be something we do in other areas of consuming as well.
I don’t have a blog (still!) so I’m posting my comments on “How can we help farmers around the world obtain more security? How does eating local, seasonal food contribute to this goal?” here.
I think the best thing we can do to help farmers around the world is to be aware of what we contribute to when we buy. Is it really worth the difference for most things, in price? A fair trade banana usually costs about .79/lb. A conventional banana, .59/lb. A typical banana weighs about 4 oz. The difference in price is really negligible, and yet, means so much in what you support. Conventional banana farming is one of the most chemical-heavy, and workers live in near slavery, and suffer great health concerns from the chemicals. Is paying a few cents more really worth that? Even better a fair trade, organic banana is about .99/lb. For a few cents more per banana, you can support people making a living wage without being covered in chemicals every day.
Beyond that, I think we need to start being more appreciative of our food and quality. Buying local and seasonal allows us to celebrate the real bounty of our areas. Its actually a lot of fun to find small local producers of great products, and to enjoy the better tasting, seasonally ripe, produce, and in doing so, we support our local economies. And you know what supporting a thriving local economy does? It means, in the long-run, lower taxes!
here here! And no worries that you dont’ have a blog – it’s just as informative reading your comments here 🙂
I think we do have a responsibility to those who grow food. This responsibility can take many forms and vary from beginner to advanced. A beginners approach would be to eat leftovers and not just throw them away (to me this is a natural thing because we never wasted food growing up, but it astounds me how many people do!) Eating locally and buying produce directly from the farmers helps eliminate the middleman and actually gives the farmer more money than they would make otherwise. It also depends on the area you live… hubby and I have moved from a city that had a great farmers market and focused on green living to a place that doesn’t have a farmers market at all and people are not as concerned as living green. Unfortunately we’re only going to be here for another couple of months so I cannot start and follow through with starting a farmer’s market or the like here. To those of you who have a farmer’s market, please take advantage of it!
When I think of globalization, I think of Wal-mart. They have come into our town and become an institution. When you need anything-go to Walmart. It started as an american company that prided itself on selling american products, but decided that the bottom line was more important. The local worker was sacrificed to provide larger profits for the stockholder. When will companies like Walmart realize that the best and only way to guarantee their own stability is to make the local worker and economy as strong as possible. They have sold their souls and the american economy to foreigners.
I used to think of “globalization” as attitudes or policies that place the interest of the entire world above those of individual nations. Now I believe (and hope) that the concept of the global village better describes the term “globalization”- that the world is the home or village of all nations and peoples living interdependently.
When I think of globalization I think of expanding industry-and not always in a good way. I’m all for capitalism and a free economy, but the greed of some takes it too far. That greed also takes freedom out of the equation, as in “do it our way or we’ll drive you out of business”. I think we need to support local farmers growing crops w/o chemicals. Most of the country doesn’t even think about where food comes from, but if they knew the truth would demand change. I think that’s what we’re doing as we learn these things, so ongoing education is a key factor.
I think it is very important that we stick with organic and local foods. The more we the consumers insist on this the more farms will change. We need to stop the pollution of the planet with all the pesticides and so forth used in today’s farming and livestock raising methods.
think of Fair Trade
Wow, such great conversations here.
I think if we are going to talk about issues of justice towards a “global village” something should be said about both U.S. and European subsidies. I also agree with Alisha in saying that we need to steer away from very blanket statements that repeat things we’ve heard–like all imported produce is full of chemicals and borderline slavery to its workers.
Right now it seems as if our theory is something like this, (and forgive me if this also sounds like a blanket statement). Here in the United States, it’s important for us to protect our farmers, so we are going to pay billions of dollars in subsidies so that we can protect our domestic farms (Which, keep in mind, is generally not your local family-owned farm, it is the wealthiest corporate owners of huge cornfields in our country.) This may mean that we are not participating in any sort of “free market” that we like to preach about to the rest of the world. Instead, we are grossly distorting the global market so we always win. But us, in our “good will” will try to make a better name for ourselves by providing aid and other forms of charity to these same countries. Aid, keep in mind, that is required to benefit our own economy and often undercuts farmers overseas if not used in an emergency situation.
I believe that we should know where our food comes from, that we should eat locally and support farmers as close as possible. I also believe, however, that as a country we need to start getting educated on our policies that create and keep people in poverty around the world.
some links:
the effects of the U.S. Farm Bill: http://www.alliancetoendhunger.org/members/in-the-news/documents/BeckmannOp-EdWashingtonTimes05.19.08.pdf
the effects of “food aid” turned to “dumping”: http://www.globalissues.org/issue/9/food-dumping-aid-maintains-poverty
Good conversation Wendy!
When I think of globalization I think back to the essay I wrote for my college admission applications. I celebrated globalization as a coming together of the world in one large market place where all could benefit and we would all live side by side celebrating each others cultures and differences. Oh what a naive one I was! I now think of globalization as exploiting other cultures and forcing our values and beliefs onto them. I know the argument that the factory we opened in that third world country is giving them jobs. In reality, we are taking away what has worked for them for hundreds of years – local economies, simple living, family centered societies – and forcing them to adopt our view of success – work more to have more stuff. The only ones who benefit are the owners of those factories.
Thank you for sharing, Laura. I think that globalization in and of itself is neither good nor bad. It’s how we treat others that will make the difference. I hope to explore this more deeply in upcoming weeks.
i do believe that if i have too much then someone else doesn’t have enough
Yes, I think that we need to be concerned about the people who produce our food. It’s our responsibility to care not only for ourselves and our families, but for others as well.
I think of international corporations and worldwide media access when I hear the word “globalization”.
Globalization to me is being in touch with different people of different lands. To me it’s making this big world a bit smaller because we’re all tied together.
globalization is the basis for the way we live now. With our new technologies we as a people are so interconnected in every way. That is good and bad.
I have a hard time seeing the global benefit of shipping food that is grown locally to another country and then having that same product shipped in from a different country back into the US. That being said, I am a big fan of bananas and avocado. Without a global marketplace I would not have those things readily available…
Maybe instead of subsidizing the US farmers we should be putting a higher tariff on the goods coming in, that way the goods from the US end up being the less expensive option – at a true market price. I know there is more to it than that, but if you removed politics from the equation this seems like a good start…