With increased coverage of the financialization of food, food and culture, gender, ethnicity and justice, food security, and food sovereignty, the book is perfect for students with little or no background in sociology and is also suitable for more advanced courses as a comprehensive primer.

Table of Contents

• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of boxes
• Preface to the second edition
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction: the changing structure of agriculture
• PART I The global food economy
• 2 Understanding the food system: past, present, and future
• 3 Malnutrition: hidden and visible
• 4 Financialization of food
• PART II Community, culture, and knowledge
• 5 Community, labor, and peasantries
• 6 Food and culture
• 7 Gender, ethnicity, and poverty
• 8 Agrobiocultural diversity and knowledge transfer
• PART III Food security and the environment
• 9 Agro-ecosystems and the nature of “natures”
• 10 Food, agriculture, and the environment
• 11 Food security and food sovereignty
• PART IV Agri-food futures
• 12 Alternative agri-food networks
• 13 The “traps” in agri-food studies … and beyond