Creating food futures: reflections on food governance issues in New Zealand's agri-food sector

Abstract

The paper argues that New Zealand's agri-food sector, a new neoliberalising economic space, is in the midst of widespread contestation over possible food governance relationships and that New Zealand is an especially valuable site in which to examine contemporary governance developments in the globalising world food economy. Two industry examples, on the development of international production standards in organics and on the emergence of supplier–processor relationships in the lamb chain aimed at more precise production, illustrate the emergence of audit and contractual systems in re-aligning supply chains. A third case example, dealing with the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification, suggests that a new regulatory discipline is being brought to New Zealand's agri-food sector. In particular, a possible strategy of co-managing the range of interested parties involves new corporatist and managerial dimensions in food governance.