Major questions surround who, how, and by what means should the interests of government, the private sector, or consumers hold authority and powers over decisions concerning the production and consumption of foods. This book examines the development of food policy and regulation following the BSE (mad cow disease) crisis of the late 1990s, and traces the changing relationships between three key sets of actors: private interests, such as the corporate retailers; public regulators, such as the EU directorates and UK agencies; and consumer groups at EU and national levels. The authors explore how these interests deal with the conundrum of continuing to stimulate a corporately organised and increasingly globalised food system at the same time as creating a public and consumer-based legitimate framework for it. The analysis develops a new model and synthesis of food policy and regulation which reassesses these public/private sector responsibilities with new evidence and theoretical insights.

Major questions surround who, how, and by what means should the interests of government, the private sector, or consumers hold authority and powers over decisions concerning the production and consumption of foods. This book examines the development of food policy and regulation following the BSE (mad cow disease) crisis of the late 1990s, and traces the changing relationships between three key sets of actors: private interests, such as the corporate retailers; public regulators, such as the EU directorates and UK agencies; and consumer groups at EU and national levels. The authors explore how these interests deal with the conundrum of continuing to stimulate a corporately organised and increasingly globalised food system at the same time as creating a public and consumer-based legitimate framework for it. The analysis develops a new model and synthesis of food policy and regulation which reassesses these public/private sector responsibilities with new evidence and theoretical insights.

"Consuming Interests" focuses upon the key interests which lead to the provision of food choices: corporate retailers, government regulators and consumer organisations; and examines how a retailed form of food governance has emerged. Divided into three sections: Concepts and Strategies, National Strategies and Local Strategies, the book provides a detailed examination of corporate retailers, state agencies and consumer organisations involved in the food sector. The analysis raises some key social scientific questions concerning what the public can expect the central and local state to ensure; what limits there may be upon state action; and what the most appropriate balances should be between public and private interests in the provision of "quality" foods. Blending critical theory, empirical research and policy, "Consuming Interests" provides a topical and interdisciplinary exploration into the nature of food provision, policy and regulation and gives an insight into the broader social science concerns of the nature and powers of the contemporary state.

"Consuming Interests" focuses upon the key interests which lead to the provision of food choices: corporate retailers, government regulators and consumer organisations; and examines how a retailed form of food governance has emerged. Divided into three sections: Concepts and Strategies, National Strategies and Local Strategies, the book provides a detailed examination of corporate retailers, state agencies and consumer organisations involved in the food sector. The analysis raises some key social scientific questions concerning what the public can expect the central and local state to ensure; what limits there may be upon state action; and what the most appropriate balances should be between public and private interests in the provision of "quality" foods. Blending critical theory, empirical research and policy, "Consuming Interests" provides a topical and interdisciplinary exploration into the nature of food provision, policy and regulation and gives an insight into the broader social science concerns of the nature and powers of the contemporary state.

As the first book in the Restructuring Rural Areas series, "Constructing the countryside" presents a new methodological approach to the analysis of rural change. The authors seek to link wider developments in the global political economy to the behaviour of local actors and, in so doing, they place research into rural studies much more firmly than hitherto in the mainstream of social science enquiry. The outcome is a book that promotes a truly interdisciplinary approach through which the constant "reconstruction" of the countryside can be properly understood. This holistic perspective, sustained by an historical analysis of rural change, has been made possible by the extensive research experience of the authors. The book is a product of the work done at the London Countryside Research Centre, which was set up in 1989 by the Economic and Social Research Council. The Centre's research has focused upon the social and political forces for change in rural areas and how these relate to rapid alterations in national economic circumstances and to public policies affecting the countryside (for example, the Common Agricultural Policy of the EC ). On the one hand, the book provides a set of i