The food industry is the complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population. Only subsistence farmers, those who survive on what they grow, can be considered outside of the scope of the modern food industry.

The food industry includes:

    * Regulation: local, regional, national and international rules and regulations for food production and sale, including food quality and food safety, and industry lobbying activities
    * Education: academic, vocational, consultancy
    * Research and development: food technology
    * Financial services insurance, credit
    * Manufacturing: agrichemicals, seed, farm machinery and supplies, agricultural construction, etc.
    * Agriculture: raising of crops and livestock, seafood
    * Food processing: preparation of fresh products for market, manufacture of prepared food products
    * Marketing: promotion of generic products (e.g. milk board), new products, public opinion, through advertising, packaging, public relations, etc
    * Wholesale and distribution: warehousing, transportation, logistics
    * Retail: supermarket chains and independent food stores, direct-to-consumer, restaurant, food services

Overview

Essentially, the food industry involves the commercial movement of food from field to fork. The modern food industry is the result of technological and cultural changes that have occurred over the last 150 years. Traditionally, over thousands of years, food production was centered around two activities:

       1. Labor-intensive agricultural activities, the farming of grain, produce and livestock;
       2. Personal food preparation, where individuals and families acquire raw and minimally processed ingredients, and prepare them for their own consumption.

A significant percentage of the population was directly involved in farming, and in the process, many people actually fed themselves, from field to table. By contrast, the modern food industry relies far more on technology, particularly on mechanization and biochemistry, than on human and animal labor. In this way, food is raised, manipulated, preserved and moved around, resulting in a food industry that is to a great degree global in nature, with food and related resources travelling great distances. For example, farm machinery and parts from Europe and agrichemicals from the US may routinely travel to farms in South America, where farm products are raised and shipped to North America for fresh market consumption, or for use in processed foods which may then travel to further points around the world. The point at which foods are gathered and prepared has also become fragmented: much of what we eat has already been assembled for consumption.

This modern food system relies heavily on technology, transportation, management and logistics for physical fulfillment, and on marketing and government regulation for maintaining an efficient consumer market. An incredibly wide range of businesses and individuals are employed by and profit from all aspects of this huge and complex system. A tremendous amount of governmental regulation and administration is also involved in this continual flow of materials, food products, and related information.