Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
also displayed the more strident opposition to GM technologies, continues to contest other
technologies that seek to intensify British agriculture and battle the corporate domination of
agriculture more broadly.
Joining with other movements, across ideological and spatial divides remains a challenge
for the British movement. Although much of the English language critique of the food
system stems from North America, on the ground the differences between European food
system and that of the US robs these criticisms of practical application. The broad
ideology might be shared, the rhetoric and imagery appeal, but the gap in practice and
policy is too wide to have much practical bearing. As the debate about air freighting
organic produce demonstrates, the trade-offs between environmental benefits and social
goods are difficult; with the Soil Association ultimately preferring to demonstrate
solidarity rather than environmental purity. Although influential individual enterprises
such as the Riverford family of box schemes have taken a different route, choosing not to
airfreight
(Watson and Baxter 2008)
. At the same time global trends, such as the
embedded water in meat and dairy products are less germane when considering the wet,
temperate uplands of the west of England and Wales. Here often the most sustainable
form of agriculture is extensive grass fed animal husbandry. Weaving a sustainable food
system will be in part attentiveness of the specifics of place and culture, but solidarity
across distance will also be important.
The focus of the organic movement also remains locked onto the food system of the
twentieth century, with questions of agriculture production trumping those of processing,
distribution and consumption although these latter concerns are moving up the agenda.
Although occasionally the role of poorly paid, migrant and abused labour has been raised in
relation to the food industry; this has not been taken up the domestic organic movement.
The IFOAM review of organic standards may be put social justice into the core of organic
aspirations, it has yet to find its way into certification standards. Repenting from its up-
market image during the boom years at the turn of the century, the newly organised organic
sector is determined to be more egalitarian and popular, social claims about organics have
yet to find its way into the promotion of organic products. It also needs to construct new
roles for activists, producing and consuming organic products are quietist roles - the farmers
literally tying people to the farm and the latter at most a supporting role. Experiments in
mass share holding of a farm, or more direct forms of protest have proved to be popular
within the movement suggesting that new roles could be quickly filled if more widely
articulated.
9. Conclusion
By insisting on class positions tied to food movements, Holt Gimeniz and Shuttack
remind us that whilst northern consumers are relatively powerful actors in the food
system, this power is circumscribed by political opportunity and the greater powers of
corporate actors. Hence protests and mobilisation tend to be reactive, contestations of the
actions of others rather than initiatives from the movement. The protests and lobbying
against the introduction of clones and mega-dairies continues a long history of fighting
the development of mainstream agriculture - innovation by innovation. One area where
the movement has been able to make considerable strides in the development of
knowledge and interventions supportive of sustainable agriculture. Although the global
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