Food Security and Sustainable Development: CAP and Farm Bill and their International Economic Constraints and Environmental Services

The industrial processing of food is an economic activity which produces negative externalities, like any other business activity: it is a possible source of pollution for land, water and natural habitats, hence affecting the balance of ecosystems. However, unlike other business sectors, the food industry needs a healthy environment since the products that are the object of its activities (food) are directly produce and livestock as well as processed products. In agriculture, all natural resources are the constituent elements of the business, and its need for a healthy environment coincides with the needs of the com- munity, because the abuse of natural resources can seriously undermine the quality of the produce to the detriment of the business. In this context, therefore, entrepreneurial activity in the food sector plays a dual role in that it produces negative and positive externalities. On the one hand, like any other form of production, its activities are subject to the rules, obligations, constraints and limits designed to protect the environment. On the other hand, since agriculture is an important part of the food chain, the food business has the function of preserving biodiversity and protecting and regenerating the environment. Hence, it is subject to specific rules. In this sense, a harmonious and sustainable development of the agro-food sector should be based on the diversification of production, also for exports, and on farming practices, which besides supplying food to the food industry, shape and produce the environment.