Agrofood Globalization: The Global Soybean and Beef Commodity Chains

Abstract

Increased global demand for meat, and thus for farmlands—for soybeans and livestock grazing—is the ultimate driver behind recent agrarian change. This chapter presents the intertwined global soybean and beef commodity chains, using the lens of Global Commodity Chain analysis. The chapter explains how the soybean was converted into a main ingredient in the meat production systems in the US and how this model spread throughout the world. It also outlines the shifting geographies of production, trade, and consumption, as well as the structures of upstream (agrochemical inputs, biotechnology, and seeds) and downstream stages (trading and processing) of the long, distant supply chains. In short, the overall organization of the production and distribution systems of soybeans and beef are explored in light of their main actors, regulations, technologies, and power relations, as well as the wider context of contemporary agrofood globalization in which they are embedded.