The Rise of the Organic Foods Movement as a Transnational Phenomenon - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 743

services. Such nonmovement producers and consumers of organic foods may be con-
sideredproductsofthemovement'ssuccessfulinstitutionalization.
The theoretical significance of this is that, although the market for organic foods ulti-
matelyrestsonaninterpretiveframe,itsrecentexpansion—bothintermsofareaunder
cultivationandfoodconsumption—istoalargeextentdrivenbymaterialincentives.
But these, in turn, are to a considerable extent dependent on government policies that
directly or indirectly provide financial support for the production and consumption of
organicfoods.Assuch,theorganicfoodsmarket—andbyextensionthemovementas
such—isvulnerabletoshitsinpublicpolicy.11 But as long as the frame itself remains
secure, disconfirming evidence about the economic and developmental benefits of
organicfarming—suchasstudiesshowingthatorganiccofeefarmersinNicaragua
have lost ground, in terms of poverty, relative to conventional farmers (Beuchelt and
Zeller2011)orthatNorwegianfarmers“dropout”fromorganiccertiicationschemes
because of unsatisfactory economic returns and the burdens associated with “red tape”
(Flatenet al.2010)—arelikelytobemetbydemandsforincreasedandbettertargeted
publicsubsidizationratherthanawithdrawalofpublicsupport.12
The “organic” frame as such is mainly vulnerable to evidence that undermines belief
in the positive externalities, in terms of the environment and public health, on which its
public policy appeal rests. There is still doubt whether organic foods are really better for
ourhealth(Dangouret al.2009).hereisalsodoubtwhetherorganicfoodsproduction,
on a larger scale, would be compatible with the environmental ideals embraced by the
movementitself(Paarlberg2010).Asthephenomenonoforganicfoodsproductionhas
become more widespread, it has also become the object of more critical attention. Can
the movement live up to all its promises, whether explicit or implicit?
Institutional Opportunities
The rise of the organic foods movement as a transnational phenomenon has been made
possible, to no small degree, by a proliferation of institutional opportunities over the
pastfewdecades(Tarrow2002,pp. 241-242).
First,aseriesofinternationalenvironmentaleventshaveprovidedimportantmobilizing
opportunitiesfortheorganicfoodsmovement.heUnitedNations(UN)Conferenceon
the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972; the UN Conference on Environment
and Development, in Rio de Janeiro in 1992; and the World Summit on Sustainable
Development,inJohannesburgin2002aremajoreventsthathavedevelopedtheconcept
of “sustainability” and turned “sustainable agriculture” into an explicit political commit-
mentoftheinternationalcommunity.ItisnocoincidencethatIFOAMwasformedwithin
months of the Stockholm conference. International organizations also sponsor annual
events such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s “World Food Day” (16
October)andtheUNEnvironmentProgram(UNEP)'s“WorldEnvironmentDay”(5June),
whichproviderecurringmobilizationalfocalpointsfortheorganicfoodsmovement.