ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that food fears are rooted in: the division created between society and nature, the industrialization and commercialization of food, the regulation and scientific domination of the food systems and the application of high technology to food production. The connections between food adulteration, contamination and the neophyte food regulatory systems in the US and Canada are described as they provide part of the foundation for the industrialization of the North American food system. The progressive nature of the regulatory, retail and consumer environments in the UK provide an instructive perspective on alternative approaches to food system evolution. Several observers have referred to the applications of the new genetic technologies as the beginning of a 'biorevolution'. Chemicals and technology are used as a first line solution when resolving production and other challenges. Larger farms are favoured as a way to make more money, and monocultures are the dominant production strategy.
