This text contains papers which present up-to-date thinking on the effects of globalization and agri-food restructuring from a regional and peripheral perspective. While Australia and New Zealand are important components of the global agri-food system, the economic and political decisions which impact at the regional and local level are usually made elsewhere, for example in the boardroom of global companies and the political institutions of Europe and North America. At the same time though Australia and New Zealand have sought to establish some independent room for manoeuvre, albeit in different ways - Australia by targeting the consumers of SE Asia and New Zealand by sweeping deregulation and niche marketing. The success or failure of such strategies cannot be finally determined at this point, although the editor's introduction discusses some possible future scenarios.