What is the future for farming inside the agri-food chain?

Farming is the subject of frequent criticism as regards the environment, food quality and sustainability. Thus it seems useful to Look at the factors that determine the trends of farming systems. This paper deals with factors often overlooked although important: the influences of the downstream sector on the evolution of farming. The text tackles these influences over the Last decades, the economic position of farming in the agri-food chain and finally the growing role of Large-scale retail.