Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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organic methods. Results were not favorable. Large-scale production and
organic production on “mixed” conventional and organic farms were fur-
thest fromorganic ideals in terms of integrated fertility, diversified cropping,
and biological pest management. Some of these growers are just reaching
the minimum acceptable standard, and of course that is a far cry from what
most people consider the inherent philosophical underpinnings of organic
farming: local marketing, on-farm cycling, crop diversity, and small-scale
direct sales. Other researchers go so far as to claim that two groups have
formed: the organic food industry (and most organic growers) versus a
small group of organic movement farmers (Goodman 2000). The former
is completely removed from the broader goals of the sustainable agricul-
ture movement. Instead, they focus on the organic market share and lists
of regulated materials that are allowed or prohibited in certified organic
production.
But these “conventionalization” studies were all based on analyses of
organic production in California; clearly regional variation exists within
the United States and elsewhere. Organic farmers in other parts of the
United States (and even some in California) are motivated by broad goals of
sustainability, both ecological and economic. I have found organic farmers
in Colorado and Illinois to be motivated by strong pro-active attitudes and
the determination to operate outside the conventional agribusiness mode
of agriculture (Duram 1997, 2000). The farmers you'll meet later in this text
seem to defy the “conventionalization” argument, but we can see how it is a
slippery slope that we must dig in our heels to avoid.
The idea of “conventionalization” was also rejected in a Canadian study
of organic farmers (Hall and Mogyorody 2001). Their methods involved a
telephone survey of 259 farmers, 18 case study farms, and interviews with
members of key organic groups. They found that in Ontario there was
little evidence of organic farming evolving into conventional. “Government
and conventional agribusiness capital remain reluctant to fully embrace and
promote organic field crop farming” (418). This is partially due to the strong
alternative orientation of a “critical mass” of producers and consumers
who have an ideological opposition to conventional agriculture. Specifically,
organic farmers feel that their quality of life is of prime importance, and
they value the independence and diversity of their work.
Investigating the issue of “conventionalization” in organic farming in
New Zealand, research drew from case studies and found that the industrial
agricultural system leaves“profitable and sizeable niches for small-scale pro-
ducers” (Coombes and Campbell 1998, 141). Because of inherent biological
conditions and the alternative social movements behind organic farming,
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