Differentiating Organics: Performing Multiple Objects to Organize Singular Markets for Organic Tea and Biscuits in the UK - Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World - page 58

Chapter 4
Differentiating Organics: Performing Multiple
Objects to Organize Singular Markets for
Organic Tea and Biscuits in the UK

Allison Loconto and Maarten Van der Kamp

4.1 Introduction

When shopping for 'sustainable' products for their national habit of tea and biscuits,
consumers in the United Kingdom (UK) can choose from a range of differently
certified items and brands. This choice illustrates a conceptual and material
separation between 'conventional' products and 'sustainable' products and has been
qualified as a political choice (DuPuis 2000 ). Organic is one such certification of
products that is built on the principles of health, ecology, fairness, and care (IFOAM
2009a ). Yet as an organizing concept, organic encompasses a multitude of different
sanctioned organic practices. For example, the International Federation of Organic
Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) norm serves to coordinate cross-recognition of
the 71 national regulations currently existing around the world (IFOAM 2009b ;
Willer and Kilcher 2011 ). This large number of regulations reflects the multiplicity
of organic practices since these practices were first brought together formally within

This chapter is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant # SES-
0924202) and by an Institute of International Education Fulbright Fellowship, funded by the US
Department of State. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in
this material are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.