Nutritionalizing Food: A Framework for Capital Accumulation

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe food and agricultural industry has long had influence in policy making. However, the active promotion of the private sector as the most viable option for resolving problems of nutrition is a more recent phenomenon. This contribution uses two case studies — the construction of a pure protein deficiency disease in the 1960s and the alleged obesity epidemic in present‐day India — to illustrate how scientific discourses in nutrition are shaped by the needs of capital and how capital determines scientific truths. Under the guise of partnering with the private sector, the boundaries of science and commerce have become blurred and potential conflicts of interest are no longer clearly demarcated. The entry of the pharmaceutical and food industries into functional foods and supplements has created a new epistemic authority for truth claims whose strength lies in the ability to convince through propaganda with little pretence of a scientific base. Thus, the very industry that has been held responsible for several problems in nutrition is now positioning itself as the deliverer of their solution. The reformulation of food needs as nutritional norms has facilitated the emergence of business as a pivotal player with further opportunities for capital accumulation.