Rural geography II: Discourses of food and sustainable rural futures

A dominant discourse in contemporary rural debate relates to food. Deliberated in multiple and complex ways, the conversation vacillates between issues of food sustainability, security, type and provenance, to those of food scarcity, access and safety. Further compounding this complexity, food is equally central to discourses of energy, climate change, biofuels, production patterns, land use and a ‘21st-century land rush’. The use and management of rural resources consequently finds itself near the top of current political, social, economic and environmental agendas. However, while there have been limited contributions by rural geographers on food-related issues, there is no doubting that the oft-declared challenge of providing safe and secure food supplies, and feeding a growing world population, has witnessed increased vigour of engagement. This report explores this engagement, deliberating on the promotion of a ‘new productivism’, the endorsement of the role of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in securing food supplies, the escalation of global land grabs, and the subsequent impacts on sustainable rural futures.