The Power of Multinational Corporations in the Global Food System: A Critical Analysis of Neoliberal Food Policies

Abstract

In the closing decades of the 20^th century, capitalism emerged as a dominant political belief, advocating for deregulation, commercialisation, privatisation and liberalisation in multiple sectors, including the food industry. This sets a favourable condition for multinational corporations (MNCs), altering the traditional food supply chain into a modern, profit-driven global food system. Using neoliberalism as the theoretical framework, this paper finds that neoliberal food policies have fundamentally shifted our food system. The study seeks to analyse (1) how neoliberal food policies have changed and increased corporate power in the global food scene, (2) the benefits that MNCs have brought about in the food industry, and (3) whether these corporate companies’ finances and technologies have helped to address the world food crisis. Even if MNCs have advanced the technological sector, diversified supply chains and developed the economy in host countries, their presence also leads to significant drawbacks, such as land grabbing, widened social inequalities, increased technological dependency, and changed food consumption patterns. This research further discusses the complexities of the neoliberal food framework from a critical perspective, addressing the controversies revolving around globalisation’s potential to end world hunger and ensure food security, the flaws of the food pyramid and the influence exerted by MNCs via regulatory bodies. This paper concludes that liberalisation measures significantly impact what is produced and eaten worldwide.