No abstract

In reviewing the so-called obesity "epidemic", we critique the individual-focused explanations that also lead to interventions at this level. Instead, we suggest a different possibility: that food choices are structurally conditioned by income inequality, first; and, second, that we eat what huge oligopolistic food producers and distributors have on offer, which is in turn shaped or facilitated by neoliberal state intervention. To highlight the relevance of structural factors, we develop an index that measures the risk of exposure to what we call the "neoliberal diet" for low-to-middle-income working classes. Using this index, we compare the United States and Canada, advanced capitalist countries that are also agro-export powerhouses, with a group of countries including the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) plus Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey.We conclude that state interventions need to refocus on reducing social inequality and the social determinants of food production and distribution. Transcending individualistic and consumption approaches will help us appreciate that the state, not the individual consumer, is best positioned to implement change when it comes to food "choices" and food production.

The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of public policies and institutional support in the development of the wine industry of Argentina. It is concerned principally with understanding how interaction and coordination among actors within this sector aids the developments of this industry. It relies upon the Triple Helix approach of university /research-industry-government interaction to compare and examine the institutional arrangements in the wine industry of three Argentine provinces and at the national level.It finds that this approach is useful for understanding the institutional foundation for innovation, knowledge diffusion, and economic success; however, it struggles to explain how different actors make sense of coordination and how the latter is achieved. This study demonstrates that it is necessary to first build a sense of collaboration and coordination among the relevant institutional spheres to reproduce a Triple Helix framework in practise.