Food Regime Building: The Joko Community Learning Center Nan Province and Social Forces, 2014-2019

Abstract

The objective of this article were to examine the working process of establishing a food regime at Joko Community Learning Center in Nan Province and to explain the interactions of various social forces from 2014 to 2019. Institutional factors had opened the door for multinational corporations to enter developing countries with seeds, agriculture, the food industry, and chemistry and science experiments under the guise that “Thailand’s efforts to build food security” The arrival of multinational corporations and international investments has impacted the establishment of local food regimes in many areas. The lower cost of farming and smaller community markets made it difficult for farmers to compete with capitalists, who help expertise and power over the economy.

The results of the research showed that: As a result of the relationship between Joko and social forces, it became necessary to interact and negotiate with the government, particularly regarding the villagers' land rights. Because almost all of Nan Province's lands were in the area of national parks and national reserved forests, this had long been a problem for the villagers and hampered the development of a food regime for the community in Nan Province. So, the authors wanted to emphasize that food was "power," and the food regime was "power relations" that determined the interactions between the state, the private sector, and the people.