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1.
Socio-cultural processes behind the differential distribution of organic farming in Denmark: a case study 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Marie-Louise Risgaard Pia Frederiksen Pernille Kaltoft 《Agriculture and Human Values》2007,24(4):445-459
Conversion to organic farming, along with its associated driving forces and barriers, has been explored intensively over the
past decade, while studies on the distribution and impacts of local socio-cultural processes in relation to conversion to
and diffusion of organic farming have been scarce. The concentration of organic farms in Denmark differs according to county
and, moreover, there appears to be large within-county variation in the density of organic farms. The present study explores
local aspects of conversion to organic farming and the factors that may help explain variation in density and concentration
of organic farms within smaller areas. The study is based on nine qualitative interviews with organic farmers from two neighboring
areas, referred to as “mainland” and “island,” respectively. Three farms were situated in the high-density area (mainland)
and the remaining six in the low-density area (island). Furthermore, five advisors with connections to the area provided information
with regard to their local experience and perceptions. Three main, and to some extent interacting, issues are discussed. The
first is the price of land related to local scarcity of land, in the context of structural development and the effects of
agricultural policies. The second is distance – both physical and social. Cooperation and exchange of experience among organic
farmers was frequent on the mainland side, while isolation and lack of interaction was more common for the island farmers.
Third, the role of the agricultural advisory service and the existence of champion farmers are important: pioneer farmers
on the mainland have been supported by committed agricultural advisors, while lack of organic champion farmers and low priority
granted to organic farming among agricultural advisors were found on the island.
Marie-Louise Risgaard
has an MSc within the field of organic agriculture. Her research interests are organic farming and rural development with
the present occupation as innovative partner at a small-scale organic enterprise. In this capacity she is responsible for
creating links between the organic enterprise, the gastronomic sector and organic markets, locally as well as nationally.
Pia Frederiksen, PhD, is a geographer and senior scientist with research skills in rural development, sustainability, landscape analysis, and
agri-environmental indicators.
Pernille Kaltoft, PhD, is an environmental sociologist and senior scientist whose work focuses on organic farming and farmers’ perceptions.
Dr. Kaltoft’s general research interests include values, perceptions, and views of nature related to agricultural and environmental
issues. 相似文献
2.
This paper contributes to the growing social science scholarship on organic agriculture in the global South. A “boundary”
framework is used to understand how negotiation among socially and geographically disparate social worlds (e.g., non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), foreign donors, agricultural researchers, and small-scale farmers) has resulted in the diffusion of
non-certified organic agriculture in Kenya. National and local NGOs dedicated to organic agriculture promotion, training,
research, and outreach are conceptualized as “boundary organizations.” Situated at the intersection of multiple social worlds,
these NGOs engage in “strategic bridge building” and “strategic boundary-work.” Strategic bridge building involves the creation
and use of “boundary objects” and “hybrid forms” that serve as meeting grounds for otherwise disconnected social worlds. Strategic
boundary-work involves efforts to “scientize,” and thereby legitimize, organic agriculture in the eyes of foreign donors,
potential research collaborators, the Kenyan state, and farmers. Examples of strategic bridge building and boundary-work are
presented in the paper. The Kenyan case illustrates that different social actors can unite around a shared objective – namely,
the promotion and legitimization of organic agriculture as an alternative to the Green Revolution (GR) technological package.
相似文献
Jessica R. GoldbergerEmail: |
3.
Valerie Imbruce 《Agriculture and Human Values》2007,24(1):41-59
Immigrant farmers from Southeast Asia have brought knowledge of tropical fruit and vegetable production from their home countries
to Homestead, Florida. They have developed a new style of farming, one that most closely resembles agricultural systems described
as “homegardens.” Although biodiverse agricultural systems are generally thought to be commercially unviable, homegarden farmers
successfully manage crop diversity as an economic strategy. By focusing on growing a mixture of specialty Southeast Asian
herbs, fruits, and vegetables, the farmers have created their own economic niche and have shielded themselves from the competition
of high-volume, single commodity producers. This paper shows that the Homestead homegardens constitute an alternative form
of agriculture that is defined by their agroecological and socioeconomic attributes. It also shows that although the homegarden
farms are a form of “alternative agriculture,” they do not operate outside of conventional, global systems of agricultural
trade; rather the homegarden farms are embedded in global agriculture. The Homestead case problematizes the tendency to delineate
between the global and local scales, and alternative and conventional sectors in agriculture today. This paper concludes that
the emergence of the Homestead homegardens can only be understood by taking a place-based approach to studying the environment
in which the homegardens are situated as well as identifying the large-scale influences on Miami-Dade County.
Valerie
Imbruce
holds a PhD in plant sciences from a joint program between the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the
New York Botanical Garden. She has conducted research on global agricultural systems in New York City, south Florida, and
Central Honduras. 相似文献
4.
Traditional Mexican Agricultural Systems and the Potential Impacts of Transgenic Varieties on Maize Diversity 总被引:1,自引:1,他引:1
The discovery of transgenes in maize landraces in Mexico, a center of diversity for this crop, raises questions about the
potential impact of transgene diffusion on maize diversity. The concept of diversity and farmers’ role in maintaining diversity
is quite complex. Farmers’ behavior is expected to have a significant influence on causing transgenes to diffuse, to be expressed
differently, and to accumulate within landraces. Farmers’ or consumers’ perceptions that transgenes are “contaminants” and
that landraces containing transgenes are “contaminated” could cause these landraces to be rejected and trigger a direct loss
of diversity.
Mauricio R. Bellon is a human ecologist working in the Economics Program of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in
Texcoco, Mexico. He received his MSc and PhD in ecology at the University of California, Davis. His current research includes
projects that deal with on-farm conservation of maize, gene flow in traditional farming systems, and the impact of improved
germplasm in the livelihoods of poor farmers.
Julien Berthaud is a population geneticist working for the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD). He received his PhD in plant
science at the University of Paris 11. His current research includes projects related with the dynamics of genetic diversity,
especially in traditional maize farming systems. 相似文献
5.
Douglas H. Constance 《Agriculture and Human Values》2008,25(2):151-155
I provide an historical overview of the development of the Sociology of Agriculture as a critical response to perceived inadequacies
of conservative theories of social change regarding rural society in general, and agriculture in particular. I do this by
focusing on the three questions that have dominated the discourse on agrifood studies: “The Agrarian Question,” “The Environment
Question,” and “The Food Question.” I analyze the success and constraints of selected alternative agrifood initiatives in
relation to the three questions and introduce a fourth, the Emancipatory Question. I conclude that agrifood social scientists
need to embrace a praxis orientation to agrifood studies and participate in social movements designed to create a more socially
just alternative agrifood system.
相似文献
Douglas H. ConstanceEmail: |
6.
Farmers’ markets have enjoyed a resurgence in the past two decades in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. This
increase in popularity is attributed to a host of environmental, social, and economic factors, often related to the alleged
benefits of local food, alternative farming, and producer–consumer interactions. Steeped in tradition, there are also widely
held assumptions related to the type of food and food vendors that belong at a farmers’ market in addition to the type of
experience that should take place. There remains a need to explore and analyze these fundamental aspects of the farmers’ market
and to consider how they influence their formation and function. This paper argues that discourses of authenticity are central
to the identity of the farmers’ market, and that they are constructed differently “from above” by those seeking to regulate
farmers’ markets in particular jurisdictions and “from below” by managers, producers, and consumers at individual markets.
A literature-based discussion is complemented and grounded by consideration of institutional statements regarding authenticity
and of key results from a survey of managers, food vendors, and customers at 15 farmers’ markets in Ontario, Canada. It is
demonstrated that while the general discourse about authenticity at the farmers’ market is built around strict, almost ideological
assumptions about the presence of “local food” and those who produce it, community-level responses reflect considerable diversity
in the interpretation and composition of the farmers’ market. It is suggested that a binary view of authenticity, where some
farmers’ markets are cast as “real” and others presumably not, is highly problematic as it tends to ignore a large and important
middle ground with multiple identities. 相似文献
7.
Henning Best 《Agriculture and Human Values》2008,25(1):95-106
The recent growth in organic farming has given rise to the so-called “conventionalization hypothesis,” the idea that organic
farming is becoming a slightly modified model of conventional agriculture. Using survey data collected from 973 organic farmers
in three German regions during the spring of 2004, some implications of the conventionalization hypothesis are tested. Early
and late adopters of organic farming are compared concerning farm structure, environmental concern, attitudes to organic farming,
and membership in organic-movement organizations. The results indicate that organic farming in the study regions indeed exhibits
signs of incipient conventionalization. On average, newer farms are more specialized and slightly larger than established
ones and there is a growing proportion of farmers who do not share pro-environmental attitudes. Additionally, a number, albeit
small, of very large, highly specialized farms have adopted organic agriculture in the last years. However, the vast majority
of organic farmers, new and old ones included, still show a strong pro-environmental orientation.
Henning
Best
holds a MA in Sociology, History, and Ethnology from the University of Cologne, Germany in 2002. He acquired a PhD in Economics
and Social Sciences from the University of Cologne in 2006. From 2002 to 2004 he was research associate at the Research Institute
for Sociology, University of Cologne. Since 2004 he is researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Applied Social Research,
University of Cologne. His research interests include environmental sociology, social inequality, and quantitative methods
of social research. 相似文献
8.
As concerns over the negative social and environmental impacts of industrial agriculture become more widespread, efforts to
define and regulate sustainable agriculture have proliferated in the US. Whereas the USDA spearheaded previous efforts, today
such efforts have largely shifted to Tripartite Standards Regimes (TSRs). Using a case study of the Leonardo Academy’s initiative
to develop a US sustainable agriculture standard, this paper examines the standards-development process and efforts by agribusiness
to influence the process. Specifically, we analyze how politics operate in seemingly “depoliticized” TSRs, and how agribusiness
and the USDA use “framing practices” and procedural complaints to influence the standard-development process. We contend that
although governance mechanisms are a potentially powerful tool for advocates of alternative agrifood, their efficacy may be
constrained by science-based requirements, an agribusiness countermovement, and a captured state. 相似文献
9.
Losing ground: Farmland preservation,economic utilitarianism,and the erosion of the agrarian ideal 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
The trajectory of the public discourse on agriculture in the twentieth century presents an interesting pattern:shortly after World War II, the manner in which farming and farmers were discussed underwent a profound shift. This rhetorical change is revealed by comparing the current debate on farmland preservation with a tradition of agricultural discourse that came before, known as agrarianism. While agrarian writers conceived of farming as a rewarding life, a public good, and a source of moral virtue, current writers on farmland preservation speak of farming almost entirely in utilitarian terms describing its productive capacity and its economic returns. Proponents of farmland preservation use essentially the same underlying framework as critics of preservation:n economic utilitarian paradigm that purports to eschew normative values and evaluate land use decisions based on economic criteria only. I argue that, despite their good intentions, farmland preservationists are doomed to piecemeal victories at best, because their arguments, which rely on a utilitarian justification and disregard the agrarian ethic, are inadequate. Without expanding its focus beyond farmland to encompass farming and farmers, the movement risks losing both integrity and effectiveness.Matthew J. Mariola recently received his Masters degree in the Land Resources program at the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on agrarian philosophy and farmer identity among conventional and organic farmers.The errors of politicians ignorant of agriculture can only rob it of its pleasures, and consign it to contempt and misery.– John Taylor, 1813 相似文献
10.
Michael S. Carolan 《Agriculture and Human Values》2006,23(3):325-339
This paper examines sustainable agriculture’s steady rise as a legitimate farm management system. In doing this, it offers an account of social change that centers on trust and its intersection with networks of knowledge. The argument to follow is informed by the works of Foucault and Latour but moves beyond this literature in important ways. Guided by and building upon earlier conceptual framework first forwarded by Carolan and Bell (2003, Environmental Values 12: 225–245), sustainable agriculture is examined through the lens of a “phenomenological challenge.” In doing this, analytic emphasis centers on the interpretative resources of everyday life and the artful act of practice – in other words, on “the local.” Research data involving Iowa farmers and agriculture professionals are examined to understand how social relations of trust and knowledge are contested and shaped within and between agricultural social networks and organizational configurations. All of this is meant to further our understanding of what “sustainable agriculture” is and is not, who it is, and how these boundaries change over time.
Michael
S. Carolan
is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Colorado State University. His areas of specialization included environmental sociology, sociology of science and knowledge, sociology of food systems and agriculture, and the sociology of risk. Some of his recent writings have focused on the theorizing of nature–society relations, epistemological issues related to agriculture (and sustainable agriculture in particular), and the processes by which knowledge claims are constructed and contested in response to environmental threats. 相似文献
11.
This paper focuses on the environmental and ethical attributes of food products and their production processes. These two aspects have been recently recognized and are becoming increasingly important in terms of signaling and of consumer perception. There are two relevant thematic domains: environmental and social. Within each domain there are two movements. Hence the paper first presents the four movements that have brought to the fore new aspects of food product quality, to wit: (1) aspects of environmental ethics (organic agriculture and integrated agriculture), and (2) social ethics (fair trade and ethical trade). Next, it describes how the actors in the movements (producers, retailers, NGOs, and governments) are organized and how consumers perceive each of the movements. From the perspective of the actors in the movements themselves, the movements are grouped into two “actors’ philosophies.” The first is a “radical” philosophy (the organic production and fair trade movements that arose in radical opposition to conventional agriculture or unfair trade relations), and the second is a “reformist” philosophy (the integrated agriculture and ethical trade movements that arose as efforts to modify but not radically change conventional agriculture). From the point of view of consumers, the classification of the movements is based on perceptions of the “domain” of the movements. That is, consumers tend to perceive the organic production movement and the integrated agricultural movement as a single group because they both deal with the environment. By contrast, consumers tend to group the fair trade movement and the ethical trade movement together because they both deal essentially with social ethics. Recently, key players such as large retailers and agribusinesses have adopted as part of their overall quality assurance programs both environmental and ethical attributes. Their involvement in and adoption of the goals of the movements have, however, generated tensions and conflicts. This is particularly true within the radical movements, because of concerns of cooptation. Finally, the paper identifies challenges faced by those promoting food products with environmental and social/ethical attributes as they attempt to communicate coherent signals to consumers at this crucial moment in the emergence of a mass market for these products.
Jean
-Marie Codron
is a Senior Researcher at INRA and co-director of MOISA, a public joint research laboratory involved in the social sciences. His research interests focus on three main lines of research: economics of contracts, economics of the firm, and economics of market institutions, with applications to “complex” food sectors, where product quality is difficult to measure and/or to signal to the consumer.
Lucie Sirieix
is Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at SupAgro Montpellier, France, a national higher education establishment under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Within the MOISA research unit, her main research topics are variety seeking, risk and trust, environmental and ethical consumer concerns, and sustainable consumption. Her specific research areas include organic products, fair trade, and regional products.
Thomas Reardon
is Professor of Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University. His work focuses on globalization, consolidation in the retail and processing sectors, and their effects on agrifood systems and trade as well as on the economics of private quality and safety standards. 相似文献
12.
Culturing community development,neighborhood open space,and civic agriculture: The case of Latino community gardens in New York City 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
To determine the role Latino community gardens play in community development, open space, and civic agriculture, we conducted interviews with 32 community gardeners from 20 gardens, and with staff from 11 community gardening support non-profit organizations and government agencies. We also conducted observations in the gardens, and reviewed documents written by the gardeners and staff from 13 support organizations and agencies. In addition to being sites for production of conventional and ethnic vegetables and herbs, the gardens host numerous social, educational, and cultural events, including neighborhood and church gatherings, holiday parties, childrens activities, school tours, concerts, health fairs, and voter registration drives. In some cases, the gardens also serve to promote community activism. The primary concern of gardeners is to secure land tenure in the face of pressures to develop the garden sites for housing. The support organizations and agencies provide help with land tenure, as well as with advocacy, organization, and horticultural practices. Although the role of the Latino gardens in community development appears to be more important than their role in open space or agricultural production, the gardens can also be viewed as unique participatory landscapes that combine aspects of all three movements, as well as provide a connection between immigrants and their cultural heritage. 相似文献
13.
Consumers are bombarded with labels and claims that are intended to address their concerns about how food products are produced,
processed, and regulated. Among those are the natural or all-natural claims and the certified organic label. In this study,
two focus groups were conducted to explore consumers’ attitudes toward all-natural and organic pork and to gather their reactions
to the USDA organic standards for meat, and the policy for natural claims. Results indicated that participants had positive
associations with the terms “organic” and “all-natural” with exceptions regarding the trustworthiness of all-natural claims.
Participants perceived the “no” labeling theme (no antibiotics, no hormones, no chemicals, etc.) often coupled with the all-natural
label on pork products as identifying potential health and animal welfare risks. In response to the USDA standards and policies
for labeling pork products as organic or all-natural, participants expressed confusion and had many unanswered questions. 相似文献
14.
Land use changes threaten agricultural land. If agricultural land is going to be preserved, the social and economic causes
of conversion must be understood. However, analyzing the causes of agricultural conversion is complex because trends need
to be documented before analyzing the causes. One of the leading uses of agricultural land is for residential purposes. This
paper projects residential development in a Hudson River Valley watershed within Dutchess County in New York State using an
integrated modeling framework consisting of an econometric model, a geographic information system (GIS), and Monte Carlo simulation.
The econometric model is used to project residential development, providing parcel-specific probabilities of residential development.
The GIS is employed to extract socio-economic and county-level tax parcel data to be used in conjunction with bio-geophysical
attributes, such as slope, soil, and location, to calculate and project growth trends on a residential level for undeveloped
land parcels. Monte Carlo simulation is used to distribute these projections into the GIS to display outcomes of scenario
analyses to provide policy-makers a demonstration of how policies would likely affect the agricultural landscape of the watershed.
John M. Polimeni is an Assistant Professor of Economics in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Albany College of Pharmacy
in Albany, New York. Dr. Polimeni received a PhD in Ecological Economics and a BS in Mathematics at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute. His professional interests include: quantitative economics, spatial and regional economics, land use change, economic
development, and graduate education in Ecological Economics. He is currently working on linking ecological economics with
the laws of thermodynamics and neuroeconomics into one unified model. 相似文献
15.
Hanne Kirstine Adriansen 《Agriculture and Human Values》2006,23(2):215-229
Based on fieldwork in northern Senegal, this paper shows how some pastoralists in Ferlo have managed to use market opportunities
as a means to maintain their “pastoral way of life” Increased market involvement has enlarged the field of opportunities for
pastoral activities as well as the vulnerability of these activities. This has given rise to a dialectic process of diversification
and specialization. The paper is concerned with the portfolio of livelihood activities pastoralists use in order to respond
to adverse socio-economic and environmental conditions. Depending on the possibilities and values of a household, a certain
combination of activities is chosen and this may change from one year to another. Hence, the activities are used in a dynamic
way within households. On the basis of pastoral livelihood activities, four ideal types of pastoral livelihood strategies
can be constructed: “agro-pastoralism,” “Tabaski pastoralism,” “commercial pastoralism,” and “non-herding pastoralism.” These
four types illustrate how pastoralists re-invent their livelihoods in order to continue a pastoral way of life.
Hanne Kirstine Adriansen is a post doctoral fellow of development studies at the Danish Institute for International Studies. Her training is in human
geography and she has fieldwork experience from West Africa and the Middle East. Her research interests include pastoral populations,
dryland management, community development, and the philosophy of science and the role of values in research. 相似文献
16.
Data on farming systems in Petén, Guatemala, were used to develop an agricultural intensity index. The index can be used to
assign an intensity “score” to a given farming system based on the array of practices used by the farmer, each practice’s
contribution to production intensity, and the scale at which these practices are used. The scores assigned to 118 farmers
in three study areas in Petén were analyzed through analysis of variance (ANOVA) to identify the factors that account for
the variation in intensity levels, as measured through the index. The analyses reveal that the factors influencing agricultural
intensity in Petén vary greatly from one study area to the next. This is due to differences in livelihood opportunities and
strategies that, in turn, affect how agriculture fits into the local economy and how and why intensification is pursued. Variation
in intensity levels can best be understood by considering the factors at the household and sub-regional scales that influence
(a) whether farmers feel a need to intensify, (b) whether they see some benefit in doing so, and (c) whether they have the
resources required to intensify production through particular strategies. Close attention must be paid to these factors by
conservation and development organizations seeking to influence land use patterns and conserve forest in Petén.
Avrum J. Shriar is an Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University where he specializes in Environmental Geography, Rural Development
and Land Use, Farming Systems, and Latin America and the Caribbean. He holds a BA in Geography from Bishop’s University in
Lennoxville, Quebec, a Master of Environmental Studies (MES) from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and a PhD
in Geography from the University of Florida in Gainesville. Some of his recent articles have appeared in Food Policy, Geoforum, Human Ecology, Agroforestry Systems, and the Delaware Review of Latin American Studies. 相似文献
17.
Agricultural landscapes are the product of the interaction of the natural environment of an area and the practices of its
farmers. In this paper, farmers’ practices are examined in order to describe and understand processes of landscape change
in terraced fields on the island of Lesvos, Greece. We examine the changes of the terraced fields of each farmer and the reasons
for these changes, practices concerning the maintenance of terraces and how farmers view this landscape change. The concept
of farming systems is used to link farmers’ practices at the farm level with changes at the landscape level. Data come from
research via questionnaires to farmers in order to record their practices, to explore changes in land use and the landscape
elements and the reasons behind these changes, and finally to record their opinions on the landscape change that result. Findings
indicate that although farm households in the case study areas depend on farming incomes by very different degrees, they employ
similar cultivation and landscape management practices. At the same time, “hobby” farm households may be more prone to abandonment
of fields and negligence of landscape elements (here terraces). 相似文献
18.
针对北方村镇生态景观中农田生态景观和居住区生态景观中存在的一系列问题,以及北方村镇中废物再回收利用率不高,生态景观评价指标不确定、管理者意识不强、组织管理不到位等多方面问题,提出了相应的规划建议,阐述了科学种田,发展生态农业,完善生态化廊道系统对农田生态景观的重要意义;论述了合理生态建构,充分利用可再生能源,统一规划,提高土地利用率,突出生态景观地方特色对于居住区建设的重要意义。强调发展观光农业,加强生态景观理论研究,完善管理机构,开展合理生态评价,尊重生态学原则,充分挖掘地方特色,加强政府引导,考虑村民意愿,以期建立人与自然和谐相处的社会。 相似文献
19.
Scaling up: Bringing public institutions and food service corporations
into the project for a local,sustainable food system in Ontario 总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2
Harriet Friedmann 《Agriculture and Human Values》2007,24(3):389-398
This paper reports on a relationship between the University of Toronto and a non-profit, non-governmental (“third party”)
certifying organization called Local Flavour Plus (LFP). The University as of August 2006 requires its corporate caterers
to use local and sustainable farm products for a small but increasing portion of meals for most of its 60,000 students. LFP
is the certifying body, whose officers and consultants have strong relations of trust with sustainable farmers. It redefines
standards and verification to create ladders for farmers, Aramark and Chartwells (the corporations that won the bid), and
the University, to continuously raise standards of sustainability. After years of frustrated efforts, other Ontario institutions
are expressing interest, opening the possibility that a virtuous circle could lead to rapid growth in local, sustainable supply
chains. The paper examines the specificities of the LFP approach and of the Toronto and Canadian context. Individuals in LFP
acquired crucial skills, insights, experience, resources, and relationships of trust over 20 years within the Toronto “community
of food practice,” located in a supportive municipal, NGO and social movement context.
Harriet Friedman
PhD, is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga and at the Centre for International Studies University
of Toronto. Her research is in international and local politics of food and agriculture, focusing on contested transitions
between food regimes. Her current research is on politics of standards and certification.
Thanks to Lori Stahlbrand, Mike Schreiner, and Rod MacRae of LFP and Debbie Field and Zahra Parvinian of FoodShare for sharing
time and insights at length, and to Wayne Roberts of TFPC, David Clandfield of New College, Josee Johnston, and Amber McNair
for helpful conversations about our “community of practice.” Thanks to Yossi Cadam for the ladder metaphor. 相似文献
20.
Stefano Ponte 《Agriculture and Human Values》2007,24(2):179-193
Contemporary regulation of food safety incorporates principles of quality management and systemic performance objectives that
used to characterize private standards. Conversely, private standards are covering ground that used to be the realm of regulation.
The nature of the two is becoming increasingly indistinguishable. The case study of the Ugandan fish export industry highlights
how management methods borrowed from private standards can be applied to public regulation to achieve seemingly conflicting
objectives. In the late 1990s, the EU imposed repeated bans on fish imported from Uganda on the basis of food safety concerns.
However, the EU did not provide scientific proof that the fish were actually “unsafe.” Rather, the poor performance of Uganda’s
regulatory and monitoring system was used as justification. Only by fixing “the system” (of regulations and inspections) and
performing the ritual of laboratory testing for all consignments for export to the EU did the Ugandan industry regain its
status as a “safe” source of fish. Yet, gaps and inconsistencies abound in the current Ugandan fish safety management system.
Some operations are by necessity carried out as “rituals of verification.” Given the importance of microbiological tests and
laboratories in the compliance system, “alchemic rituals” provide an appropriate metaphor. These rituals are part and parcel
of a model that reassures the EU fish-eating public that all is under control in Uganda from boat to point of export. As a
consequence, actual non-compliance from boat to landing site allows the fishery to survive as an artisanal operation.
Stefano Ponte
is Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen. His research focuses on the role of standards,
regulation and quality conventions in the governance of agro-food value chains, with particular focus on Africa. He is co-author
of Trading Down: Africa, Value Chains and the Global Economy and The Coffee Paradox: Global Markets, Commodity Trade and the
Elusive Promise of Development. 相似文献