Long recognized for its resilience and stability in the face of changing political and economic conditions, U.S. food and agriculture policy has entered a period of flux. Recent struggles over passage of omnibus agricultural legislation, known as the Farm Bill, illustrate the degree to which long-standing coalitions and institutionalized policy agreements at the federal level are under stress. The emergence and evolution of new issues, ranging from concerns with obesity to labeling of foods containing genetically engineered ingredients, illustrates a widening agricultural policy agenda. This paper argues that a gradual process of institutional unraveling is underway in U.S. food and agriculture policy. These recent developments indicate a weakening in the institutional foundations of policy durability marked by fraying coalitions, an enlarged issue agenda, and new forms of governance. These insights have implications for students of food and agriculture policy, as well as scholars of public policy and institutions more generally.
