Engaging the Organic Conventionalization Debate - Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World - page 162

such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Similarly, substitutionism refers to the
practice whereby agribusiness firms expand post-production activities to capture a
higher proportion of the total value of the commodity. Through appropriation and
substitutionism, agribusiness penetrates organic agriculture through the production
of inputs and the processing of outputs. As a result, organic agriculture becomes
more conventional.
Bifurcation is an outcome of conventionalization. As agribusiness enters
organics, a bi-polar production system emerges made up of larger conventional
operations that mix input substitution strategies with monoculture production
of high value crops targeted to indirect markets while smaller farms employ
artisanal practices to grow a variety of crops using more sustainable agronomic
practices targeted to direct markets. The categories describing the bifurcation of
organics have been referred to as “pragmatic” versus “pure” (Clunies-Ross 1990 ;
Clunies-Ross and Cox 1994 ); “conventional” versus “artisanal” (Buck et al. 1997 );
“agribusiness” versus “lifestyle” (Guthman 1998 ); “lifestyle” and “conventional”;
(“interdependent lifestyle/domestic/small-scale” versus “export/commercialized”)
(Coombes and Campbell 1998 ); “chemical-lite” versus “movement” (Goodman
2000 ); “philosophical” versus “pragmatic/instrumental” (Lockie et al. 2000 );
“productivist/reductionist” versus “holistic” (Vos 2000 ); “lifestyle” and “con-
ventional” (Campbell and Liepins 2001 ); “lifestyle/domestic/small-scale” versus
“export/commercialized” (Coombes and Campbell 1998 ); “organic lite/shallow”
versus “deep organic” (Guthman 2004a ); “lifestyle/domestic/small-scale” versus
“export/commercialized” (Coombes and Campbell 1998 ); and “old guard” versus
“new entrants” (Guthman 2004b ).
Although Buck et al. ( 1997 ) were not the first to question the transformative abil-
ity of organics(see Clunies-Ross 1990 ; Lampkin 1990 ; Friedmann 1993 ; MacRae
et al. 1993 ; Clunies-Ross and Cox 1994 ; Rosset and Altieri 1997 ; Tovey 1997 ),
their research in California was the first to systematically document the structural
trends taking place in organics. As organics moved beyond its niche status in
California, agribusiness entered the market to capture the monopoly rents associated
with the price premium (Buck et al. 1997 ). The formal organic standards that
emphasized inputs over processes allowed agribusiness to employ input substitution
practices that met the minimum organic standards but avoided the costly agronomic
practices associated with ecological sustainability. By focusing on allowable inputs,
organic regulation preempted broader agronomic processes and encouraged entry by
institutions with “questionable commitment” to sustainable agriculture (Guthman
1998 , p. 147). The end result was a form of agriculture that differs from conventional
systems only by the use of organic inputs (Buck et al. 1997 ; Guthman 1998 ). As
part of conventionalization, the organic label was coopted by large firms, thereby
blunting its transformative potential as it was appropriated and subsumed (see
Goodman et al. 1987 ; Goodman 1999 ) by corporate actors (Buck et al. 1997 ;
Guthman 1998 ).
Buck et al. ( 1997 ) also found a “bifurcation” of organic producers in California
characterized by large operations specializing in the mass production of a few high
profit crops and smaller farms that employ artisanal methods to grow a variety of