dc.description.abstract | The growth in population and migration from rural to urban areas (urbanization: “process of population concentration”
(Tisdale, 1942, p.1)), has greatly affected the way food is grown and distributed. The United Nations Population Division
reported that by the year 2007 “more people will be living in cities around the world than in rural areas … the world’s
population topped 6.4 billion people in 2005, more than twice as many people than populated the Earth in 1950” (Nierenberg,
2007, p.74). “Assuming the 1990’s rates of growth continue, the urban populations in developing countries will double to
nearly four billion by 2020” (Regmi and Gehlhar, 2001, p.4). This increase has altered consumer demands, affecting the way
the food and agriculture industries handle production and distribution, and has reduced the amount of production by local
farmers. | en |