The New Food Economy: Consumers, Farms, Pharms, and Science

Abstract

The new food economy is bigger, broader, faster, and more demanding. It is a kaleidoscope of foods, firms, consumers, countries, contracts, and agreements that provide us with a dizzying vision of moving targets. We have witnessed the food and agricultural industry move from a set of independent producers and marketing firms to a set of integrated and highly managed supply chains. We have witnessed the development of demand chains as consumers and retailers demand differentiated products, identity preservation and special food attributes. And now, we are watching linear demand and supply chains morph into webs of activities and tasks that are undertaken not by well-defined or selfcontained firms or households, but by multiple parties up and down the food chain. At least half of the Presidents of this Association since 1990 spoke from this podium about new, broader definitions of agriculture and about the creativity of (us) agricultural economists in finding new questions to ask and economic agents to analyze (Johnston, Houck, Armbruster, Schmway, Antle). Warren Johnston likened us to black-footed ferrets who continually find new ecological niches within which to thrive (Johnston, p. 1115). Our former presidents saw the new