Agribusiness in the Americas: The Political Economy of Corporate Agriculture

Examines the problems of agribusiness in the U.S. and Latin America, the expansion of corporate involvement in agriculture, and industry trends for the future Acknowledgments 7 Introduction 9 Part One: Agribusiness in the United States 1. Crisis and Change in U.S. Agriculture: An Overview by Carol MacLennan and Richard Walker 20 2. Exports for Empire: U.S. Agricultural Policies in the 1970s 41 3. The U.S. Grain Arsenal: Food as a Weapon 62 Part Two: Agribusiness in Latin America 4. Modernization Capitalist Style: An Introduction 82 5. The Grim Reapers: Transnationals and Their Impact 107 6. Latin America in the World Market: The Ties that Bind 127 7. The Agricultural Workforce: From Peasant to Proletarian 139 Part Three: The Corporate Connection 8. The Del Monte Corporation: Planting the Seeds of Empire 164 9. Canned Imperialism: Del Monte in Mexico 182 10. Modern Plantation Systems: Del Monte in the Pacific 192 11. A New "Banana Republic": Del Monte in Guatemala 206 12. The Grain Trade: A Seedy Business 220 13. Harvest of Profits: The World Empire of Cargill, Inc. 230 Appendix: Multinational Investments in Latin America 253 Notes 283 Index 305 By Roger Burbach And Patricia Flynn. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.