Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
to no longer be relying as much on local markets to purchase pesticide-
laden produce from unknown farms, since his own farm was producing
a significant amount of organic fruits and vegetables. George is now the
coordinator of Organic Wayanad, a group of organic farmers in northern
Kerala, and actively organizes local farmers to join the organic “family”
to act as advocates and reinforcements for one another in their everyday
lives and in local politics.
These stories suggest that organic farmers in South India have joined
in a strong countermovement opposed to chemical-
dependent, market-
driven, industrial agriculture.52 This countermovement is producing
positive political, ecological, and health outcomes for farmers and their
communities. These are outcomes that consumers can't see while at the
grocery store, and that reports skeptical of organic farming's promises
have largely ignored.
In the next few chapters, I examine the emergence of organic farm-
ing in South India and its impact on the people who earn their living by
growing the food we eat. I also reflect on the criticisms of organic agri-
culture using evidence from India. I take this place-speciic approach to
analyzing organic farming because I'm commited to understanding the
relationship between nature and culture as dynamic and open-ended.53
The global organic farming movement does not have a predetermined
future. W hat is happening in India and elsewhere, in the United States
or Europe, isn't the only way organic agriculture can develop. I show that
alternative farming movements can take a variety of uneven and place-
specific trajectories, influenced by government policies, natural disas-
ters, existing institutions, social movements, and global dynamics. These
particular circumstances create unique opportunities for substantively
criticizing chemical-dependent agriculture and building viable alterna-
tives to it. In Kerala specifically, its history of radical politics and social
movements, legacies of land redistribution at the state level, and existing
cultural politics are contributing to the growth (and transformative po-
tential) of organic farming in the state.
In the following chapter, I explain why and how industrial agriculture
came to India, a place that has historically batled famines and food short-
