A Coevolutionary Approach to Understanding the Paradox of Social Pressures versus Economic Efficiency Across the World's Food Chains

摘要

In recent years considerable social pressure has been brought to bear on commodity food chains throughout the world. Events such as the introduction of bioengineered crops, the discovery of BSE in beef and instances of food contamination directly leading to human illness have focused attention on the food supply chain. Traditionally the operations of commodity-based food chains attracted relatively little attention from anyone not directly involved in agriculture and food systems. And, even within those logistical and marketing systems, their low margins and scale efficiencies tended to inhibit innovation. Now, however, the tension between social pressures and food chain economic efficiency has become an issue of concern. On the one hand, loud voices "demand" rapid and dramatic change to the commodity-based system to provide each consumer with any physical and information attribute that might be of interest. Conversely sector decision makers know that consumers, voting with their pocketbooks, will discipline those food chains that venture too far in adding costs to final products. This setting extends beyond, however, the normal marketing question of whether sufficient numbers of consumers will buy a new product and at a sufficiently high price to attain profitability. In food chains today, decision makers are besieged with messages that are contradictory and paradoxical. For example, at the same time that there is a potential threat that US commodity exports are being restrained because of international resistance to bioengineered crops, US soybean and cotton exports, (both primarily produced from bioengineered seeds) are at record levels (Abbott, 2001).