. As Marx(1967: 131) wrote, "the more perishable the commodity is and the greater the absolute restriction of its time in circulation as a commodity on account of its physical properties, the less it is suited to be an object of capitalist production. Yet recent changes in the food system have reduced these risks considerably, from improvements in packaging, transportation, and refrigeration to the invention of food additives and the genetic engineering of food to withstand picking and transportation. Uncertainties related to weather have also historically presented considerable risk to farmers, though crop insurance and federal farm subsidies now make the production of certain commodities a far safer bet than was the case a century ago.