Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 30
The Rise of the Organic
Foods Movement as
a Transnational
Phenomenon
Tomas Larsson
Introduction
Once largely considered the preserve of eccentrics and ideologues on the fringes of both
rightandlet,theestablishmentofanorganicgardenattheWhiteHousebytheFirst
LadyoftheUnitedStates,MichelleObama,shortlyaterherhusband'sinauguration,sig-
nalled the arrival of the organic foods movement into the social and political mainstream
(Beam2009).Tellingly,thecomedynewsprogram he Daily Show with Jon Stewart pro-
ceeded to make fun not of the organic-gardener-in-chief but rather of the critic from the
American Council on Science and Health who claimed that the presidential patch should
come with a warning label, as the promotion of organic foods would cause starvation,
obesity, and cancer.1hetableshaveturned,andit'snowthosewhodenythehealthand
environmental benefits of organic foods who are considered “kooks.”
Inanotherpartoftheworld,inasocietybesetwithproblemsratherdiferentfrom
thoseoftheUnitedStates,organicfarmingisalsoenjoyingaminiboom.Inhailand's
Isaanregion,Buddhistmonksarepromotingorganiccultivationmethodsamongfarm-
ers because these are regarded as being in tune with the Dhamma (Parnwell and Seeger
2008,p. 114).Inadditiontothereligioussanctionof kaset insii , the organic message was
furtherampliiedbytheenigmatichaimonarch'sBuddhism-inspired“self-suiciency”
doctrineofeconomicdevelopmentandnongovernmentalorganizations(NGOs)such
as the Earth Net Foundation ( Muunithi Saaiyai Phaendin ),aswellasbyforeignaidpro-
gramssupportingthedevelopmentofthecountry'sorganicfoodssector(Delegationof
theEuropeanCommissiontohailand2006;GTZ2009;UNDP2008;Elliset al.2006).
These two brief examples are highlighted to illustrate how the rise of the organic foods
movement as a global phenomenon has come to involve a wide range of actors with a
 
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