This book presents recent, well-developed and interdisciplinary scholarship about the variety of mechanisms governing global food systems and their impacts on human and environmental well-being

Food provides a particularly exciting and grounded research site for understanding the mechanisms governing global transactions in the 21^st century. While food is intimately and fundamentally related to ecological and human well-being, food products now travel far flung trade routes to reach us. International trade in food has tripled in value and quadrupled in volume since 1960 and tracing the production, movement, transformation, and consumption of food necessitates research that situates localities within global networks and facilitates our capacity to "see the trees and the...

Fair Trade promises to raise living standards in developing countries through:

- worldwide minimum prices for commodities

- support for democratically governed cooperatives

- requirement of minimum wages and safety standards for workers

- training to help producers improved quality and develop business skills

- encouragement of eco-friendly practices

- third-party certification

In contrast to the free trade status quo, Fair Trade relies on informed consumers to choose more direct supply chains that minimize the role of middlemen, offering economic...