Toward a Civic Agriculture - Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food, and Community - page 49

Production versus Development Frameworks
The free-market model is at heart a “production” model of agricultural development. For
farmers and food processors the path to success is clearly spelled out. To be successful, one
must focus exclusively on economic efficiency and productivity. Low-cost production be-
comes not only the “guiding” principle for the economically rational producer; it becomes
the “only” principle. 33
The business strategy for the “production-oriented” commodity farmer focuses on growth
and increasing profit margins. Taken to its logical conclusion, globally organized mass pro-
duction will articulate hand in glove with globally organized mass markets. Consumers in
Southeast Asia, Africa, or South America will be confronted with an array of products and
services not unlike the array of products presented to consumers in Europe, North America,
or Japan. Indeed, in the global marketplace, consumers will demand the same “choices.” 34
The civic agriculture perspective can best be described as representing a “development”
model of agriculture and food production. Economic efficiency is but one yardstick by which
to measure success or failure. Equity and environmental issues within the community are giv-
en weight that is equal to or greater than efficiency and productivity. Decisions are not based
solely on what is best for the bottom line. Instead, a broad array of environmental and social
factors are brought into the decision-making calculus. The emphasis for producers working
out of a civic agriculture framework is on household and community welfare. A keystone of
civic agriculture is that a modern and technologically advanced form of agriculture will be
tightly woven into markets that serve local consumers. 35
Experimental Biology versus Ecological Biology
Conventional agriculture is anchored to a scientific paradigm that is rooted in experimental
biology. It embodies an approach to farming that focuses on creating and enhancing “favor-
able” traits of crop varieties and animal species. Further, in a capitalist economic system,
the traits (products) developed by genetic engineers are turned into commodities that can be
bought, sold, and traded on the world market. As such, the reductionist nature of experiment-
al biology, which identifies/creates “traits,” dovetails nicely with the reductionism of neo-
classical economics, which provides the framework for turning these traits into “property.”
Civic agriculture rests on a biological paradigm best described as “ecological.” As such,
civic agriculture is not readily amenable to incorporating the techniques/technologies of re-
ductionist science. Ecological approaches to agriculture seek not so much to increase output/
yield but to identify and moderate production processes that are “optimal.”