Metabolic rift theory and the crisis of our foodways

Graham Sharp

pp. 139-169

in: James S. Ormrod (ed), Changing our environment, changing ourselves, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016

Abstract

This chapter applies metabolic rift theory to a neglected area in food studies: Processed food in general and ultra-processed food in particular. It argues for a closer link between the study of production and the study of consumption. This raises questions of disciplinary belonging and boundaries. My analysis starts from the sociology of food but a similar argument might be made using other disciplines such as political science or history. The sociology of food, I argue, has focused on consumption, leaving production and distribution to other disciplines, notably human geography. Moreover, much research on food consumption is depoliticised, and refrains from challenging the underlying structures of contemporary food systems. This is despite the fact that producing, transporting, selling, and consuming food are an important contributor to anthropogenic climate change, responsible for as much as 30 % of all CO₂ emissions (Foresight 2011). Further, there is increasing evidence that ultra-processed foods are having impacts on human health, in particular obesity and all the health risks associated with being overweight.