Connecting Agri-Export Productivism, Sustainability, and Domestic Food Security via the Metabolic Rift: The Case of the Republic of Ireland

Projections over future food demand have served to drive agricultural productivism in developed countries in pursuit of “feeding the world.” Yet this process has been accompanied by a transformation of consumption practices featuring higher intakes of refined foods that have resulted in undesirable dietary health outcomes. Drawing on the concept of metabolic rift we trace the development of productivism in Irish agriculture, given huge impetus by the implementation of an industry-led agri-export strategy, Food Harvest 2020. The consequences of productivism at home are significant principally through depleted environmental support systems and associated potential threats to human wellbeing. The chapter then examines the changing Irish foodscape which has witnessed a rapid expansion of corporate retail and food service outlets. Evidence would suggest that these new forms of food provisioning have increased the availability of energy dense foods with Ireland ranked high in international tables in consumption of fast food and confectionery and low in fruit and vegetables. Paradoxically, despite rising volumes of meat and dairy exports, net food imports have grown faster especially as a consequence of retail supply chain logistics and the drive to cheaper food. Nevertheless, food poverty remains an intractable problem in Ireland and reinforces patterns of consumption that data suggest are evidently deleterious to human health. Yet the state continues to emphasize the need for individual behavior change rather than reforming a food system that, while preoccupied with agri-export success, is responsible for a high burden of disease at home.