Below is the opening paragraph and thesis for my work in the political economy of food class I took this summer. You can find the full text here.

The patent of food and seeds to grow food has led large agribusiness to a natural monopoly. This natural monopoly’s barrier to entry is ever increasing because of the need for a constant increase in input to yield the same output or increase output. This business of food, led by large multinational agribusiness is a recipe for death, environmental devastation and economic failure. This cycle of destruction is hidden and entangled deeply into the United States economy and foreign policy. If we are to overcome the possible devastation of this natural monopoly on food a new model for regional based decentralized food production and consumption will be required. In order to get a focused view of the agribusiness market, we will first take a global view on one food item, corn.