Abstract
The Missouri School of Agrifood Studies began with a focus on the power of agribusiness corporations in relation to quality of life of farmers and their related communities. The poultry industry was the first commodity studied, with later research into other commodity sectors and then the global dimensions of this process. In this paper I continue the Missouri School agenda by focusing on the entry of the poultry firm Sanderson Farms and the hog firm Seaboard Farms into Texas. This paper combines a sociology of the agrifood system conceptual framework with two case studies of agribusiness expansion in Texas to inform discussions regarding the characteristics of the globalization of the agrifood system. The results of the research indicate that the CAFO-based economic development strategies in Texas created significant controversies as local citizens organized to challenge the initiatives. This contested process of the globalization of the agrifood system was mediated by the state, mostly in favor of the agribusiness transnational corporations (TNCs).
Recommended Citation
Constance, Douglas. 2008. "Contested Globalization of the Agrifood System: A Missouri School Analysis of Sanderson Farms and Seaboard Farms in Texas." Journal of Rural Social Sciences, 24(2): Article 4. Available at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/jrss/vol24/iss2/4
Publication Date
8-31-2008
