This book presents recent, well-developed and interdisciplinary scholarship about the variety of mechanisms governing global food systems and their impacts on human and environmental well-being

Sara R. Curran is an Associate Professor of International Studies & Public Affairs at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. Dr. Curran has written Shifting Boundaries, Transforming Lives: Globalization, gender, and family dynamics in Thailand (forthcoming, Princeton University Press) and with Ellen Perecman edited A Handbook for Social Science Field Research: Essays & Bibliographic Sources on Research Design and Methods (Sage Publications, 2006).

April Linton is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and University of California at San Diego. Her work addresses many aspects of globalization including international migration, translational social movements, and the ethics of consumption. Currently Dr. Linton is researching the development impacts of Fair Trade in the global South.

Abigail Cooke is a graduate student in Geography at the University of California at Los Angeles. She studies food systems, food security and local effects of global transactions. She has conducted research on laughing records, T.V. medical personnel, and cassava export industry in Thailand.

Andrew Schrank is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico. He works on the organization, regulation, and performance of industry-especially in developing countries-and is currently studying the social origins and consequences of export diversification in Central America and the Caribbean.

1. Introduction: Agriculture, Trade, and the Global Governance of Food Abigail M. Cooke, Sara R. Curran, April Linton and Andrew Schrank Part 1: Global Complexities and Local Dynamics 2. The Global Complexity Framework Sara R. Curran 3. Unexpected Outcomes of Thai Cassava Trade: A Case of Global Complexity and Local Unsustainability Sara R. Curran and Abigail M. Cooke 4. The Bitter Harvest of Gambian Rice Policies Judith A. Carney 5. Sugar's Political By-Product: The Caribbean Basin Initiative Andrew Schrank 6. Globalizing Unsustainable Food Consumption: Trade Policies, Producer Lobbies, Consumer Preferences, and Beef Consumption in Northeast Asia Sjur Kasa Part 2: Responses to Global Complexity-Branding and Certification 7. Branding and Certification Abigail M. Cooke 8. Aquaculture, Trade, and Fisheries Linkages: Unexpected Synergies Rebecca J. Goldburg 9. Global Resources and Market Impacts on US Pacific Northwest Fisheries Michael T. Morrissey 10. Places, Chains, and Plates: Governing Transitions in the Shrimp Aquaculture Production-Consumption System Louis Lebel, Phimphakan Lebel, Po Garden, Dao Huy Giap, Supaporn Khrutmuang and Sachiko Nakayama Part 3: Responses to Global Complexity-Ethical Trade 11. Ethical Trade Initiatives April Linton 12. A Niche for Sustainability? Fair Labor and Environmentally Sound Practices in the Specialty Coffee Industry April Linton 13. Linking Consumers to Sustainability: Incorporating Science into Eco-friendly Certification Thomas V. Dietsch and Stacy M. Philpott 14. Are Sustainable Coffee Certifications Enough to Secure Farmer Livelihoods? The Millenium Development Goals and Nicaragua's Fair Trade Cooperatives Christopher M. Bacon, V. Ernesto Mendez, Maria Eugenia Flores Gomez, Douglas Stuart and Sandro Raul Diaz Flores 15. Is Fair Trade-Organic Coffee Sustainable in the Face of Migration? Evidence from a Oaxacan Community Jessa Lewis and David Runsten 16. Fair Trade Wine: South Africa's Post-Apartheid Vineyards and the Global Economy William G. Moseley 17. In the Mists of Development: Fairtrade in Kenyan Tea Fields Catherine S. Dolan 19. Conclusion: Negotiating the Dynamics of Global Complexity Abigail M. Cooke, Sara R. Curran, April Linton and Andrew Schrank