Post-national Organic: Globalization and the Field of Organic Food in Israel - Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World - page 141

Fig. 8.1 Evaluation axis of the new configurations contained in the Israeli field of organic food

(Bourdieu 1993 , 2005 ), or a space in which actors and agents struggle over the
allocation of material resources, prestige and appreciation. This perspective suggests
a typology of several cases (categories) representing the constant institutional
actors operating in this field. These categories are organized according to different
perceptions of the idea of organic inherent in their operation (and therefore they
may be differentiated on the basis of degree of “organicness” attributed to them [i.e.
organic cultural capital]). In addition, these categories are distinct from each other
due to the economic capital and global orientation which they hold (see Fig. 8.1 ).
Finally, in the discussion of these observations, I will claim that the global socio-
economic conditions are the ones responsible for the fragmentation of this field
and that the new organic configurations reflect major social changes occurring in
contemporary Israeli society and culture.

8.3 The Genesis of Israeli Organic Agriculture

It is well known that agriculture was central in the Jewish settlement of land of
Israel since the late nineteenth century. Agriculture was incorporated into the official
national ideology of Israel - Zionism. This ethos led to widespread social support
in resource allocation for agriculture, making agricultural production efficient
(Weitz 1969 , p. 165) and encouraging surplus produce for export (Weitz 1969 ,
p. 169). Since 1967, agriculture was also incorporated into the colonial project of
Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories (Svirsky 2004 ). In those