Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
speculation, and other economic forces in the state. In other words, the
existing characteristics of California agriculture drove the rise of large-
scale, corporate organic farming in the state, leading many academics to
warn that organic farming is becoming “conventionalized,” like industrial
agriculture. 39
W hat are the implications of what is happening in Kerala for the or-
ganic movement in the United States and consumers who buy organic?
The contrast between California and Kerala demonstrates that the global
organic farming movement is not homogenous. Nor is the movement's
future predetermined, because in various places local, cultural, and polit-
ical forces are exerting influence on the direction of organic production.
Despite globalization, agricultural systems continue to vary from place
to place.40 As such, in Kerala, organic farming has become an alternative
to the chemical-laden agriculture of the Green Revolution and is creat-
ing avenues for transparency and political participation in the state's ag-
ricultural politics. It is currently the opposite of “elitist,” “corporatized,”
or even “top down”—all terms critics of organic agriculture have used.
Kerala's organic countermovement illustrates the kind of change that is
possible, when and if activists, farmers, and policy makers collaborate and
mobilize around alternative solutions to societal problems.
