Global cereal production is one of the modern industries that is built on the legacy of the colonial and imperial politics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It exploits lands that were once home to indigenous, self-sufficient communities, using new technologies that include satellite-guided machines, chemical fertilisers, gene manipulation, and chemical sprays, plus a sophisticated infrastructure of ports and shipping lines that make it possible to deliver vast quantities of grain to anywhere in the world, undercutting the viable market price for any small-scale, sustainable produce in the area.
Fascinating blog on traditional farming methods.