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"Food security, food safety, healthy consumption habits, and environmental sustainability are essential to the well-being of societies worldwide. Yet, progress in fostering sustainability in the global agrifood system has been slow at best and significant challenges remain. First, food insecurity remains a problem for millions of people, while its range and consequences have been aggravated by the recent food crisis (FAO 2008b). Second, repeated food scandals and health scares constitute additional challenges for food governance (World Bank 2005). Food is the number one cause of premature death in the western world due to the increasing consumption of fattier, saltier, and sweeter foods and drinks (Popkin 2002). Even in many Asian countries obesogenic diets are becoming more prevalent (Florentino 2002; IOTF 2005). Third, threats to the provision of adequate amounts of nutritious food are expected to multiply as a result of climate change (European Commission 2008a). At the same time, the food sector itself is a major contributor to direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (FAO 2008a). Fourth, alternative food products – while promising environmental and health benefits in relation to their conventional equivalents – are also associated with costs. In India, thousands of farmers have reportedly committed suicide, partly as a result of debt due to unfair biotech deals (Nagaraj 2008).(...)" [authors remark]

"This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of private food governance in addressing the environmental challenges facing the global food system, today. Greenhouse gas emissions, decline of biodiversity, water pollution, pesticide use and the generation of waster are considered the new agrarian questions of this century. Crucially, the governance of such environmental strains is a rapidly emerging issue for private actors, who have become key players in global food governance. Yet, few studies have tried to understand the actual impact of private rulesetting, in general, and retail governance, in particular, in detail. Drawing on global governance literature and organisational theory, this paper evaluates the effectiveness of private food governance institutions for sustainability, in terms of their comprehensiveness, stringency, compliance and coverage. Next to this quite narrow understanding of effectiveness the paper also identifies the broader political and soci-economic influence of private food governance in terms of structural, cognitive and normative effects. The paper illustrates its arguments in two cases, namely GlobalGAP and the Marine Stewardship Council. As such, the paper advances our theoretical knowledge on private rule-setting institutions and contributes empirically to political science research by making available new data on a currently understudied case of private governance." [author's abstract]