ABSTRACT
The system of food production and distribution is commonly referred to as “agribusiness.” This reflects the reality that food is no longer primarily associated with farming or agriculture. In the developed countries, both capitalist and state socialist, the industrial system has assumed a dominant role in the production and distribution of food. In Poland and Yugoslavia, farming remains primarily simple commodity production, but in the other centrally planned economies, the social organization of agriculture has been radically changed. Agriculture in the underdeveloped capitalist countries is often described as a “dual system,” contrasting traditional subsistence farming with modern commercial farming. The reality is much more complex. The modern industrial food system has brought with it serious problems, both ecological and social. In a natural terrestrial system there is a steady progression towards diversity of species, an increase of structural complexity, an increase in organic matter, and the development of metabolic stability. Animals, of course, are an integral part of the system.
