Inscribed bodies within commodity chains: Global wheat and local insecurity

In 1921 some 36 firms accounted for 85 per cent of the United States’ wheat exports; by the end of the 1970s just six companies – Cargill, Continental Grain, Louis Dreyfus, Bunge, Andrea & Co and Mitsui/Cook – exported 96 per cent of all US wheat, 95 per cent of its corn, 90 per cent of its oats and 80 per cent of the nation’s sorghum. The top five companies also handled 90 per cent of the Common Market’s trade in wheat and corn, 90 per cent of Canada’s barley exports, 80 per cent of Argentina’s wheat exports and 90 per cent of Australia’s sorghum exports. Together, the aforementioned six companies accounted for over 60 per cent of the world’s grain traffic, including shipments under food assistance programmes.