Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
for such high consumption is seen as a trustworthy and recognisable organic label, which
guarantees that organic production rules have been observed (Wier
et
al
. 2004). Public good
attributes, such as improved animal welfare and environmental protection, were seen by most
respondents as important features of organic production, even higher than private good
attributes such as health. In the United States of America (USA), Allen and Kovach (2000)
acknowledged that social and environmental relationships are not separable in practice, but
went on to say that there was a disturbing invisibility of important social issues, such as labour
relations and land tenure, within conventional agriculture as well as within its organic coun-
terpart. Social responsibility considerations may have been integral to the visions of pioneers
in the organic movement, both producers and consumers, but these have been neither well
articulated nor codified. In 2002, the social justice chapter of the organic 'standards for
standards', the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) Basic
Standards (IBS), was renegotiated and rewritten (see
A
framework
for
approaching
social
responsibility
in
organic
agriculture
for details).
Institutionalisation of 'organic' alues
Since the 1920s in Europe, a distillation of organic values, ideology and principles of the social
movement have developed into standards, rules, regulations and eventually national legisla-
tions (Rundgren 2002). The development of the sector from locally entrenched fringe move-
ments to a more widely accepted alternative to conventional agriculture is a triumph, but not
without compromises. The translation of organic movement values (Campbell and Liepens
2001) into measurable indicators for standard verification and legal requirements has allowed
industrial agriculture to enter into organic production. As a result, some argue, value-laden
private sector standards are becoming input-based recipes and prescriptions. There has been
much debate and controversy over what has been termed the 'institutionalisation'(Kaltoft
1999, 2001), 'conventionalisation' (Hall and Mogyorody 2001), 'commoditisation' (Buck
et
al
.
1997, Tovey 1997), 'scaling up' (Goodman 2000) or mainstreaming (Klonsky 2000) of organic
agriculture. Concerns abound (Tovey 1997, Kaltoft 1999, Goewie 2002) that the widespread
institutionalisation of organic agriculture is leading to an erosion and even loss of the move-
ment's core values.
Figure 14.1 illustrates the relationship of organic agriculture within the agricultural sector
and to society at large. Concepts of organic agriculture are socially constructed and 'circulated
in a dynamic way that continually mirrors and reshapes the contexts in which the production
and consumption of organic produce occurs' (Campbell and Liepens 2001, p. 26). This is also
true of the social aspects of organic agriculture. The triangle housed within the organic sector
(Figure 14.1) represents the social responsibility aspects of the movement, the three sides
denote the three approaches we put forward as complementary (see
A
framework
for
approach-
ing
social
responsibility
in
organic
agriculture
): learning, collaboration and regulation. The rela-
tionship to broader society and the agricultural sector is relevant as different perspectives of
social responsibility within the organic agriculture movement are explored.
Despite the inception of organic agriculture as a counter movement to the modernising
processes of agriculture in general, recent concerns have been expressed in Europe and the
USA about organic agriculture beginning to resemble and being incorporated into conven-
tional agriculture (Buck
et
al
. 1997, Tovey 1997, Guthman 2004). In a more global context, par-
ticularly that of poorer farmers in developing countries, Alrøe and Kristensen (2004) raise the
question as to whether it was important for organic agriculture to be retained as an opposition
to modernising processes. Or can organic agriculture continue to modernise in its own way
without compromising its original values and ideals, and its now more clearly articulated
social responsibilities to citizens in poor and rich countries? Indeed, are there ways for organic
