Food, Farms, and Solidarity by Chaia Heller pptx

Chaia heller Food, Farms, & Solidarity French Farmers Challenge Industrial Agriculture and Genetically Modified Crops Food, Farms, & Solidarity Chaia heller Food, Farms & Solidarity New ecologies for the tweNty- first ceNtury Series Editors: Arturo Escobar, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Dianne Rocheleau, Clark University Food, Farms & Solidarity French Farmers Challenge Industrial Agriculture and Genetically Modied Crops   Duke uNiversity Press Durham & London 2013 © 2013 Duke University Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper  Designed by Jennifer Hill Typeset in Fournier by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book. Dedicated to Alan Goodman & Ruby Heller- Goodman coNteNts About the seriesix AckNowleDgmeNtsxi 1 Introduction: Creating a New Rationality of Agriculture in a Postindustrial World 1   oward a ew ationality of griculture 2 The New Paysan Movements: French Industrialized Agriculture and the Rise of the Postindustrial Paysan 39 3 The Confédération Paysanne: Philosophy, Structure, and Constituency 69   he onfédération aysanne’s arly nti-  ampaign, from isk to lobalization 4 Union Activism and Programs: Early Campaigns and Paysan Agriculture 89 5 We Have Always Been Modern: Toward a Progressive Anti-  Campaign 112 6 The Trial of the s: Deploying Discourses from Risk to Globalization 137   ow rance rew ts wn lter-globalization ovement 7 Caravans, s, and McDo: The Campaign Continues 163 8 Operation Roquefort, Part I: Traveling to Washington, D.C. 198 9 Operation Roquefort, Part II: The Battle of Seattle 221 10 Postindustrial Paysans in a Post- Seattle World: New Movements, New Possibilities 248 11 Conclusion: French Lessons; What’s to Be Learned? 291 Notes307 works citeD311 iNDex323 This series addresses two trends: critical conversations in academic elds about nature, sustainability, globalization, and culture, includ- ing constructive engagements between researchers within the natu- ral, social, and human sciences; and intellectual and political con- versations among those in social movements and other nonacademic knowledge producers about alternative practices and socionatural worlds. The objective of the series is to establish a synergy between these theoretical and political developments in both academic and nonacademic arenas. This synergy is a sine qua non for new think- ing about the real promise of emergent ecologies. The series includes works that envision more lasting and just ways of being- in- place and being- in- networks with a diversity of humans and other living and nonliving beings. New Ecologies for the Twenty- First Century aims to promote a dialogue between those who are transforming the understanding of the relationship between nature and culture. The series revisits exist- ing elds such as environmental history, historical ecology, envi- About the series x About the Series ronmental anthropology, ecological economics, and cultural and political ecology. It addresses emerging tendencies, such as the use of complexity theory to rethink a range of questions on the nature-culture axis. It also deals with epistemological and ontological concerns, in order to build bridges be- tween the various forms of knowing and ways of being that are embedded in the multiplicity of practices of social actors, worldwide. This series hopes to foster convergences among dierently located actors and to provide a forum for authors and readers to widen the elds of theoretical inquiry, profes- sional practice, and social struggles that characterize the current environ- mental arena. I especially want to thank members of the Confédération Paysanne for opening their meeting rooms and barn doors to me during the rst years of researching this book. The generosity of spirit I experienced there will forever be unparalleled. I want to thank Bruno Latour and Michele Callon for allowing me to play thesard as a research fellow at their Centre de Société de l’Innovation at L’École des Mines. The intellectual rigor and my aliation with this uniquely French presti- gious institution provided me the golden key to the city and through- out outre Paris (anyplace in France that’s not Paris) as well. I also ex- press gratitude to Claire Marris and Les Levidow for keen insight and encouragement. I thank the National Science Foundation and the University of Massachusetts for making the research a nancial possibility. Jackie Urla and Rich Fantasia, members of my disserta- tion committee, you are shining stars. I will always be indebted to the vision, mentorship, and friendship of the father of “green ecology,” the political theorist Murray Bookchin. May his soul rest in the uto- pian light he emanated while alive. Back in the 1980s, he helped me AckNowleDgmeNts [...]... determining that this story should and would indeed be told Valerie Millholland and her wonderful staff have been hard at work to bring this book out into the world Finally, my heart is a pomegranate, brimming with jeweled seeds, when I think of Alan Goodman and Ruby Heller- Goodman Alan, you have helped me truly understand the meaning of a biocultural synthesis To Ruby, as one of the more palpable products... Subsidies and loans: Granted by government farm policies and private banks, most often to farmers who embrace the industrial features listed above Production of “modern foods” (fast foods, pre-prepared foods, frozen foods, and processed foods): Often seen by many consumers as affordable, convenient, and safe Modern ideal of bigger farms with fewer farmers in rural areas: Often perceived by state bodies and. .. anthropology land Thanks to Deborah Heath, with that warm wily smile and that passion for sts, food theory, and cool ideas generally This project is scented with the utopian aroma of the Institute for Social Ecology (ise) Some people say that one simply writes the same book over and over And I guess I am guilty of writing variations on a theme: looking for sparkling chips of what is utopian and solidarity. .. hopeful feet What a commendable burden and display of good sense On the family front, this project has been touched, held, read, and reread by so many wonderful people How to count them? My parents, Audrey and Bill Heller, forever stand at the sidelines of book road, cheering me on, hoping my labors might eventually bear fruit I suppose I won’t make it to Carnegie Hall, and I won’t ever write, as my father... efficiency, profitability, and productivity pervades discourses and practices related to the industrial model Industrial agriculture has implications for the kind of agricultural product it yields, the amount of land an individual farmer will use, and the environmental and health effects of farming and food production It also promotes a reliance on a petroleum-based economy for producing and circulating agricultural... long-lasting effects of land practices associated with Un-generated development schemes, including the Green Revolution As a result, southern smallholders struggle with problems such as lack of access to tillable lands and waterways for subsistence farming (Kasaba and Tabak 1995) Those fortunate enough to have access to land for small market-oriented ventures face soil erosion and resistant weeds and pests The... alliances between heterogeneous sets of actors challenging industrial agriculture and the social and ecological effects of the postindustrial condition Since the 1970s we have seen a rise of both international and local grassroots organizations resisting gmos, free trade, and a neoliberal system that exploits land, food, and natural resources as commodities These groups do more than reject a system deemed... organizations composed of peasants, women, the landless, indigenous peoples, the unemployed, and youth The focus is on food sovereignty, rather than food security Rather than frame the problem of landlessness and hunger in terms of overpopulation, alter-globalization groups emphasize problems of political underrepresentation in nondemocratic state and private bodies A solidarity- based rationality informs many... sisters, Carol and Laura; Sandra and Dick Smith; and Allen and Judy Kronick for being the kind of family one would not just acquire, but would actively choose without hesitation xii Acknowledgments Too many friends to list, but I will try! Some friends worked directly on pieces of this book, others floated ideas, yet others crossed their fingers: Lizzie Donahue, Jessie Weiner, Ilana and Neil Markowitz... chance to farm, eat, and enjoy a dignified way of life Postindustriality and the Appropriation of Industrial Alternatives The ubiquity of mass-produced factory-made food catalyzes a popular and romantic desire for niche markets in haute cuisine and artisanal, local, and organic foods It also generates a desire for nonedible agricultural products such as “natural” cleaning products and clothing made of . Chaia heller Food, Farms, & Solidarity French Farmers Challenge Industrial Agriculture and Genetically Modified Crops Food, Farms, & Solidarity Chaia heller Food, Farms & Solidarity New. book over and over. And I guess I am guilty of writing variations on a theme: looking for sparkling chips of what is utopian and solidarity based within a neoliberal world. My friends and colleagues. burden and display of good sense. On the family front, this project has been touched, held, read, and reread by so many wonderful people. How to count them? My parents, Audrey and Bill Heller,