The following dialogues are transcribed text from the first two episodes of a podcast series by the ETC group (www.etcgroup.org), which began in the summer of 2023, titled “Who Will Control the Food System?”. In the first episode, three members of the ETC group participate: Zahra Moloo, a journalist and documentary filmmaker from Kenya, Kavya Chowdhry, a researcher from India, and Neth Dano from the Philippines, while in the second episode, the discussion takes place between Zahra and Kelly Bronson, who is a university professor in Canada and author of the book “Immaculate Conception of Data”.
“Our goal is to eliminate poverty and hunger among millions of people in developing countries, in a sustainable way that will address the climate crisis.” This is the core motto of the (inter)governmental and private organizations that have set out to save the planet. One such organization is the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which was founded in 1945 in Canada, with its headquarters in Washington. The war had just ended, and the victors began the processes of repairing the devastated world. Together with the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Health Organization, they would create this global community that would heal the wounds of war and declare “never again”.
In reality, as has been increasingly proven in practice over recent years, the role of Western states and interests was predominant within these organizations, which, after two world wars and before a third one that was beginning (the Cold War), were essentially a tactical redefinition of power structures at a global level, to the benefit of Western democracies. And who could be more suitable for the role of someone who wants to seal his power against others, than that of the “savior”?
Thus, this new organization, the “coordination center for food systems,” as a grandson of its grandfathers, comes to serve the same interests. It was founded in early 2022 and operates within the United Nations system to support the transformation of national food systems based on the “sustainable development goals” of the infamous 2030 agenda—which, by the way, has probably already missed its deadline. And its coordinating character has to do with aligning the goals and visions that different parties have, such as international organizations, states, companies, the scientific community, etc., regarding “sustainable development.”
A notable detail (;) is that if someone looks at the biographies of the executives and collaborators of this “coordination center,” they will observe that some of them have previous experience in the agricultural and chemical (for agricultural use) industry, which confirms the example of the global health organization, as well as the drug regulatory mechanisms, regarding the “conflict of interests” in these organizations. The “well-meaning” will speak about the transfer of “knowledge and experience”… Certainly, both are needed to defend specific interests.
Since related references are made in both discussions we have translated below, we will leave it at these few words as an introduction and with one final observation. Perhaps the food and agriculture organization, as a subsidiary of an “international organization” of western interests, is in the same declining phase as all the other similar organizations, and thus lacks the prestige and power to impose itself wherever and however it would like. But it still remains a sample of interest representation, a reflection of the tendencies of a part of capital. Which, if squeezed by its current representatives, will not hesitate to throw them in the trash and find other ways to promote its agenda. This trend towards digitization of the “food chain”, along with the promotion – now also at an institutional, European level – of genetically modified organisms, belongs to the same “progress” recipe: as proposed “solutions” to problems caused by their previous “solutions”. And the way we perceive it is as yet another attempt to redefine power relations and reorganize capital, this time not under the most favorable conditions. And this is twice as bad for us.
Wintermute
