Organic futures struggling for sustainability on the small farm

YALE AGRARIAN STUDIES SERIES JAMES C SCOTT, Series Editor The Agrarian Studies Series at Yale University Press seeks to publish outstanding and original interdisciplinary work on agriculture and rural society—­for any period, in any location Works of daring that question existing paradigms and fill abstract categories with the lived experience of rural ­people are especially encouraged ­J A M E S C S C O T T, S E R I E S E D I T O R James C Scott, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the H ­ uman Condition Have Failed Steve Striffler, Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of Amer­i­ca’s Favorite Food James C Scott, The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia Edwin  C Hagenstein, Sara  M Gregg, and Brian Donahue, eds., American Georgics: Writings on Farming, Culture, and the Land Timothy Pachirat, ­Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight Andrew Sluyter, Black Ranching Frontiers: African ­Cattle Herders of the Atlantic World, 1500–1900 Brian Gareau, From Precaution to Profit: Con­temporary Challenges to Environmental Protection in the Montreal Protocol Kuntala Lahiri-­Dutt and Gopa Samanta, Dancing with the River: P ­ eople and Life on the Chars of South Asia Alon Tal, All the Trees of the Forest: Israel’s Woodlands from the Bible to the Pres­ent Felix Wemheuer, Famine Politics in Maoist China and the Soviet Union Jenny Leigh Smith, Works in Pro­gress: Plans and Realities on Soviet Farms, 1930–1963 Graeme Auld, Constructing Private Governance: The Rise and Evolution of Forest, Coffee, and Fisheries Certification Jess Gilbert, Planning Democracy: Agrarian Intellectuals and the Intended New Deal Jessica Barnes and Michael  R Dove, eds., Climate Cultures: Anthropological Perspectives on Climate Change Shafqat Hussain, Remoteness and Modernity: Transformation and Continuity in Northern Pakistan Edward Dallam Melillo, Strangers on Familiar Soil: Rediscovering the Chile-­ California Connection Devra  I Jarvis, Toby Hodgkin, Anthony  H.  D Brown, John Tuxill, Isabel López Noriega, Melinda Smale, and Bhuwon Sthapit, Crop Ge­ne­tic Diversity in the Field and on the Farm: Princi­ples and Applications in Research Practices Nancy J Jacobs, Birders of Africa: History of a Network Catherine A Corson, Corridors of Power: The Politics of U.S Environmental Aid to Madagascar Kathryn M de Luna, Collecting Food, Cultivating ­People: Subsistence and Society in Central Africa Connor  J Fitzmaurice and Brian  J Gareau, Organic ­Futures: Struggling for Sustainability on the Small Farm For a complete list of titles in the Yale Agrarian Studies Series, visit yalebooks​ ­com ​/­agrarian CONNOR J FITZMAURICE AND BRIAN J GAREAU Organic ­Futures Struggling for Sustainability on the Small Farm NEW HAVEN AND LONDON Published with assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund Copyright © 2016 by Yale University All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in w ­ hole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business, or promotional use. For information, please e-­mail sales​.­press@yale​.­edu (U.S office) or sales@yaleup​.­co​.­uk (U.K office) Set in Janson type by Westchester Publishing Group Printed in the United States of Amer­i­ca Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936482 ISBN: 978-0-300-19945-1 (hardcover : alk paper) A cata­logue rec­ord for this book is available from the British Library This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.481992 (Permanence of Paper) 10 ​9 ​8 ​7 ​6 ​5 ​4 ​3 ​2 ​1 To all the New ­Eng­land farmers working hard to find sustainable organic ­futures: thank you This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Preface ix Introduction: Conventionalization, Bifurcation, and Social Relationships on the Small Organic Farm  PA R T   I | T H E M A R K E T one  Making Sense of Organics: A Brief History  27 two  Organic Hits the Mainstream  44 three  Why Supermarket Organic ­Matters  62 PA R T   I I | T H E L A N D Prelude: A Sense of Place  91 four  Amid the Chard: Cultivating the Diverse Landscapes and Practices of a New ­Eng­land Organic Farm  106 five  Who Farms?  139 six  A Sea of Brown Bags and the Organic Label: Organic Marketing Strategies in Practice  164 seven  No-­Nonsense Organic: Negotiating Everyday Concerns about the Environment, Health, and the Aesthetics of Farming  200 Conclusion: An Alternative Agriculture for Our Time  229 Appendix: Method and Approach  263 References 267 Index 289 This page intentionally left blank PREFACE The organic food consumed by the majority of Americans t­oday has strikingly l­ ittle in common with the organic food envisioned by farmers resisting the advancement of industrial agriculture in the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s The countercultural activists of the 1960s and ’70s would have trou­ble recognizing the bulk of organic food we purchase ­today, as well as the bulk of farms where it is grown What most folks consider organic t­ oday might even be unrecognizable to the organic consumer movement of the 1980s, which spent much time advocating for a safer food system Since the 1990s, the very scale of the organic sector has grown to such an extent that organic produce is vis­i­ble in virtually ­every grocery store in the United States The growth of organic farming has been nothing short of remarkable Organic farming, once the ostensible stuff of Luddites, iconoclasts, tree huggers, and hippies (a ste­reo­typical image still prevalent among students in our universities, at the very least!), is now a formidable mainstream feature of Amer­i­ca’s agricultural system Such remarkable growth has also brought equally remarkable change As organic farming has transitioned from a marginalized set of alternative farming practices to a federally recognized niche market within the agricultural mainstream, scholars and food activists alike have argued that the ecological and social ideals of the movement have largely given way to economic rationality and pesticide avoidance—at least in the corporate form of organic Organic farming was originally intended to be smaller, agro-­ecological (i.e., harmonizing the agricultural landscape with its surroundings), community-­based and community building Many would argue that con­temporary organic farming is now merely an agro-­industry that is averse to using chemicals, but very often folks continue to perceive it as a “movement.” ix R eferences Velthius, O 2004 “An Interpretive Approach to the Meaning of Prices.” Review of Austrian Economics 17, no 4:371–386 Venkataraman, B 2009 “Late Blight Yields B ­ itter Harvest.” Boston Globe, July 31 http://­w ww​.­boston​.­com​/­news​/­local​/­massachusetts​/­articles​/­2009​ /­0 7​ /­31​ /­d isease ​ _­t hat ​ _ ­s pawned ​ _ ­i relands ​ _ ­p otato​ _ ­f amine ​ _ ­h its ​ _ ­n ew​ _­england ​/­​?­page​=­2 Accessed July 19, 2012 Wacquant, L 2004 Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer Oxford: Oxford University Press Walton, J 1992 “Making the Theoretical Case.” In What Is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry, ed. C Ragin and H Becker Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Walz, E 2004 “Final Results of the Fourth National Organic Farmers’ Survey: Sustaining Organic Farms in a Changing Organic Market­ place.” Santa Cruz, CA: Organic Farming Research Foundation http://­ ofrf​.­org​/­publications​/­pubs​/­4thsurvey​_ ­results​.­p df Accessed July  19, 2012 Warner, M 2005 “What Is Organic? Power­f ul Players Want a Say.” New York Times, November —­—­— 2006 “Wal-­Mart Eyes Organic Foods.” New York Times, May 12 Weber, J., and M Ahearn 2012 “Farm House­hold Well-­Being: ­Labor Al­ locations and Age.” U.S Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Ser­v ice http://­w ww​.­ers​.­usda​.­gov​/­topics​/­farm​-­economy​/­farm​-­household​ -­well​-­being​/ ­labor​-­allocations​-­age​.­aspx Accessed July 19, 2012 Weise, E 2009 “On Tiny Plots, A New Generation of Farmers Emerges.” USA ­Today, July 14 http://­w ww​.­usatoday​.­com​/­news​/­nation​/­environment​ /­2009​-­07​-­13​-­young​-­farmers​_ ­N​.­htm Accessed July 19, 2012 Weiss, Brad 2011 “Making Pigs Local: Discerning the Sensory Character of Place.” Cultural Anthropology 26, no 3:438–461 Wherry, F. F 2012 “Per­for­mance Cir­cuits in the Marketplace.” Politics and Society 40, no 2:203–221 Winders, B 2009 The Politics of Food Supply: U.S Agricultural Policy in the World Economy New Haven: Yale University Press Wood, Spencer D., and Jess Gilbert 2000 “Returning African American Farmers to the Land: Recent Trends and a Policy Rationale.” Review of Black Po­liti­cal Economy 27, no 4:43–64 Young, K 2015 “Sales from U.S Organic Farms Up 72 ­Percent, USDA Re­ ports.” U.S Department of Agriculture, Census of Agriculture, Septem­ ber 17 http://­w ww​.­agcensus​.­usda​.­gov​/ ­Newsroom​/­2015​/­09​_­17​_­2015​.­php Accessed January 4, 2016 287 R eferences Youngberg, G., and S. P DeMuth 2013 “Organic Agriculture in the United States: A 30 Year Retrospective.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 28, no 4:294–328 Zelizer, V. A 1988 “Beyond the Polemics on the Market: Establishing a Theoretical and Empirical Agenda.” So­cio­log­i­cal Forum 3, no 4:614–634 —­—­— 2005 The Purchase of Intimacy Prince­ton, NJ: Prince­ton University Press —­—­— 2006 “Money, Power, and Sex.” Yale Journal of Law and Feminism 18:303–315 —­—­— 2007 “Pasts and F ­ utures of Economic Sociology.” American Behavioral Scientist 50, no 8:1056–1069 —­—­— 2010 Economic Lives: How Culture Shapes the Economy Prince­ton, NJ: Prince­ton University Press —­—­— 2012 “How I Became a Relational Economic Sociologist and What Does That Mean?” Politics and Society 40, no 2:145–174 288 INDEX Numbers in italics indicate figures relational works of exchange and, 23; social consumption and, 238–241 Amish farmers, 181 antibiotics, fed to livestock, 41 aphids, 191, 211 Applegate Farms, 71 Armour, Polly and Jay, 123 Asian farmers, 96–97 Atkinson, Paul, 169–170 A&P supermarket chain, 66 Ag Con­sul­tant magazine, 49 agrarianism, 139–140, 152, 202, 208 agribusiness, 34, 39, 44, 68, 139; mainstream organic accommodations to, 56; organic farming as challenge to, 60; organic similarity to, 74; responses to alternative food system, 252; supermarket organic and, 70 Agricultural Justice Proj­ect, 257 Agricultural Testament, An (Howard), 31 agroecol­ogy, 74, 77, 83, 88, ­ 05 agro-­industrial farming, 8, 22, 50, 97, 168 Alar (daminozide), 41–42, 43 Alkon, Alison Hope, 266 Allen, Patricia, 235, 266 Allen, W ­ ill, 260 alternative agriculture, 11, 29, 160, 198, 221, 230; definition of, 63; ethnographic case studies and, 92; ­f uture of, 242–246; lack of state investment in, 214; local expression of, 66; neoliberalism and, 5, 233, 236; organic as moving target, 252–262; phenomenological approach to, 147, 152; politics of identity and, 152; reflexive localism and, 246–252; Balfour, Lady Evelyn, 32–33, 116 Barber, Dan, 261 Bear Naked brand, 74 Beavan, Collin, 175 Bell, Michael, 18, 21, 75, 140, 206, 266; Farming for Us All, 151–152; on garden as image of alternative agriculture, 253; on knowledge of farmers, 177; on New E ­ ng­land agriculture, 95; phenomenological approach to alternative farming, 147, 152; on sustainable agriculture, 252–253; on uncertainties of farming, 186 Berger, P. L., 205 Bergland, Bob, 46, 48 Berry, Wendell, 131–132, 139 “beyond organic” practices, 175, 176–177, 179–181, 182, 190, 195; as reaction to bureaucratic 289 INDEX capitalism, 35, 36, 75, 80, 220; enclosure movement and, 29; “rational” market of, 92 Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, 50 Carson, Rachel, 34 Cascadian Farms, 71, 73 Census Bureau, 146 Census of Agriculture, USDA, 96, 97, 98, 103, 106; on average age of farmers, 143–144; on increase in number of American farms, 136; on prevalence of CSAs, 107 Center for an Agricultural Economy (Vermont), 155 Charles, Dan, 155–156 chemical inputs, 5, 17, 29; avoidance of, 142; chemical input substitution, 126; exclusion of, 52; food scares and, 42 class background and values, 85, 221, 223; denial of class in­equality, 237; privilege and, 19, 81, 82, 264 climate change, 246 Closing Circle, The (Commoner), 34 commensurability, 46, 62, 65, 83 Commoner, Barry, 34 community, 226, 232, 262; community building, 83; CSAs and community building, 171, 172, 183, 247, 248, 253–254; fragmentation of, 140; ­i magined communities, 247–248; justice and, 258; “permanent” community-­based agriculture, 131 “beyond organic” practices (continued) regulation, 176, 177; sustainability and, 182 bifurcation, 8, 9, 13, 18, 162, 227; direct marketing and, 101, 102; of food system, 99; good matches and, 104–105; “lifestyle farming” and, 118; market relations and, 10; organic certification and, 167, 179–180; spaces for alternatives in bifurcated market, 83–88, 86, 94 biodiversity, 111, 128, 129 “biodynamic farming,” 30 black farmers, 19, 96–97 Black Panther Party (BPP), 35–36 Blank, Stephen, 79 Block, John, 48, 49 Blunt, Abigail, 60 botulism, 40 Bourdieu, Pierre, 206 brand loyalty, 71 Britain (United Kingdom), 29, 30, 33 Brooks, Job and Anna, 134 Brown, Elaine, 35–36 Brown, Rep George, 49 B. S F ­ actor, The, 38 Buck, Daniel, Bush (George W.) administration, 108 Butz, Earl, 38–39, 77, 108, 127 California, 75–76, 85, 136, 142, 196; agricultural economy of, 7; farmers’ markets, 85; organic certification in, 148 290 INDEX copper sulfate (pesticide), 55–56, 121, 126, 189, ­203 Coskuner-­Balli, G., 24, 164, 192, 247 Costco, 65 countercuisine, 35 counterculture, 33–37, 40, 43, 51, 71 crops, 3, 47, 63, 99, 127; cover crops, 17; diversity of, 116, 118, 128–129, 169, 188; genet­ically engineered, 6; grown on large scale as commodities, 39; harvesting of, 81; integrated into landscape, 111; orchard crops and organic certification, 178; “pesticide ­f ree,” 181; rejected for cosmetic defects, 161; rotation of, 47, 50, 142, 202, 219; spring, 29; stable markets for, 101; threat of catastrophe to, 169; unprofitable, 117–120; variety of, 102, 106; wild, 52 CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs, 22, 111, 112, 114, 118, 161; as alternative market arrangement, 132; community and, 171, 172, 183, 247, 248, 253–254; crop diversity and, 128; degraded into novel form of consumption, 23; history of, 101; local networks and, 240; as main form of sales, 119; pricing for shares in, 193; “proactive” farming outlook and, 146; reliance on oil economy, 251; sacrifices involved in, 197–198; Community Supported Community Agriculture, 253, 254, 258 Connecticut, 98, 156 conservatism, 33, 43, 46, 143, 145 consumers, 2, 23, 83, 231; access to organic foods, 7; consumer citizenship, 255; “consumer sovereignty,” 50; consumption patterns, 221, 238–243; CSA farmers and, 164; direct marketing to, 8, 100–103, 162, 171; farmers’ markets and, 182; farming practices and desires of, 261; justice and, 256; organic consumers disparaged by mainstream critics, 38; protection of, 5; redefinition of organic agriculture and, 68; regulatory agenda and, 6; re­sis­tance to conventional foods, 42–43; sustainability and, 257; transformation into farmers, 159–160; USDA proposed standards and, 54 conventionalization, 4–8, 9, 13, 71, 73, 162; California as epicenter of, 85, 87; conventionalization thesis, 5, 8, 10, 95, 220; economic rationality and, 231; neoliberalism and, 262; skepticism about organic farming, 91; small farmers’ re­sis­tance to, 241; spurred by fragmentation and homogenization, 82–83 conventions theory, 11, 13 Cooperative Extension System, 51 291 INDEX Duram, Leslie, 18, 142, 145, 214, 266 Dust Bowl (1930s), 31 CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs (continued) sharing networks and, 192; survival of small farms and, 249, 253, 256; sustainability and, 247, 250, 259–260; unprofitable crops and, 119–120 See also Scenic View Farm, CSA operation of cucumber beetles, 127, 185, 191 cultural capital, 19, 264 cutworms, 117–118, 191 Earthbound Farm, 68–69, 76 “Eating Better than Organic” (Time Magazine article), 66 E coli, 41 economic sociology, 12, 13, 87, 94, 163; small-­scale farmers and, 230–231; on status versus short-­term earnings, 166 economies of scale, EDB (ethylene dibromide), 40–41, 43 enclosure movement, 29 environmental degradation, 59, 216 environmental ethics, 199, 200, 201, 204, 209 environmentalism, 6, 39, 160, 202 EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), 40, 42 Equitable Food Initiative, 257 eugenics, 33 Evolutionary Organics, 188 Daschle, Rep Tom, 49 Davy, Sir Humphry, 30 DDT (pesticide), 34 Dean Foods, 68, 72 Deikis, Luke, 156 DeLind, Laura, 51–52, 132, 197, 248 deregulation, Diggers, 35, 36 direct marketing, 8, 100–103, 104, 162, 171, 182 distributors, ­196 do-­it-­yourself ethos, 23–24 Dole, 71 Domestic Fair Trade Association, 257 Donahue, Brian, 84, 96, 100, 111, 266; on ecol­ogy as primary value, 125–126; Land’s Sake Farm and, 225–226 Dorr, Thomas, 108, 109 Duffy, Mike, 103–104 DuPuis, M., 12, 58 fair trade labeling, 237, 257–258 fallow periods, 29, 202–203, 221 Farm Bill (2008), 157, 233 farmers, small-­scale, 8, 22, 23, 62, 131, 198, 254; average age of, 143–144; contradictory pressures on, 239; economic sociology and, 230–231; education level of, 146, 147; good matches and, 87, 104–105; industrialized practices challenged by, 28; issues faced by, 21; “the local” and, 91; 292 INDEX Gerber, 65, 71 Getz, Christina, Gillon, S., 12, 58 Good Growing (Duram), 142 good matches, economic/ emotional, 13, 14–17, 87, 88, 117, 222; bifurcated organic market and, 104–105; direct marketing and, 103; farmer identity and, 146–163; ­middle-­class income stability and, 138; organic certification and, 125; “plentitude prac­t i­t ion­ ers” and, 24; renegotiation necessary for, 225, 226; sacrifices involved in, 197–198; sustainability and, 93, 138, 204, 232; as type of relational work, 14 Gowan, T., 92 Granovetter, Mark, 11 Grateful Harvest Farm, 112–113, 150, 174, 229 Gray, Margaret, 256–257, 258 ­Great Depression, 243 Growing Power, 260 guest­house rentals, 133, 135, 137, 149 Guthman, Julie, 5, 7, 74; on “organic-­lite,” 77; on price competition, 196; on regulatory structure in California, 75 po­liti­cal beliefs of, 144–145; relational work of, 85; scarcity of, 188; supplemental income for, 133–138, 222, 223 farmers’ markets, 1, 9, 85, 112, 113, 172, 259; counterculture and, 33; growth of, 100; organic certification and, 175, 181; participant observation at, 264–265; prices at, 195; transport of food to, 250 Farming for Us All (Bell), 151–152 farm-­to-­table movement, 261 farmworkers, 64, 81, 83, 94, 113; hidden presence of mi­g rant workers, 97; high-­skill jobs, 142; high turnover rate of, 137; at Scenic View Farm, 110, 165 fertilizers, synthetic (chemical), 29, 30, 31, 50, 173, 259; counterculture opposition to, 34; industrial organic agriculture and, 76 Fitzmaurice, Connor, 191, 263–264 food coops, 9, 35, 39, 158, 237 food poisoning scares, 40 fossil fuels, farm equipment and, 200 fragmentation, 76, 77, 78, 83, 104, 140 France, 92 Freyfogle, Eric, 140 fungicides, 29, 56, 121, 122, 126, 186 habitus, 206 Happy Hen Pastures, 112–113, 142 Harkin, Sen Tom, 59 Harrison, Jill, 236 Harvey, Arthur, 57–58, 60 Haughley Experiments, 32 gardens and gardening, 3, 39, 150, 253–254 General Mills, 71, 72, 73 genet­ically engineered crops, 293 INDEX Japan, 101 Johnson F ­ amily Farm, 112–113, 124, 177, 187 Heinz (H. J.) Com­pany, 38, 65, 71, 72 Heinz, Henry J., II, 38 heirloom (traditional, non-­ hybridized) tomatoes, 1, 2, 129 Hepworth, Amy, 123 herbicides, 29, 37, 76, 226 Heritage Harvest Farm, 112–113, 129, 132, 142, 154, 179 Hirschberg, Gary, 194 Hispanic/Latino farmers, 19, 96–97 hog farming, 93–94 homogenization, 76, 77, 78, 83 Horizon Organic Dairy, 60, 69 Hormel, 71 hornworms, 185, 211 Howard, Philip, 71, 73, 74–75 Howard, Sir Albert, 31, 32, 47, 59 Kautsky, Karl, 30 Kellogg, 70, 71, 72, 81 Kinney, Kira, 188 Kinney, Terry, 49 komatsuna, 127, 261 Kosek, J., 211–212 Kraft, 27, 60, 72 ­Labor and the Locavore (Gray), 256–257 ­labor markets, 13, 97, 245–246 land, cost of, 224 Land’s Sake Farm, 84, 96, 125–126, 225–226 Latino/Hispanic farmers, 19, 96–97 Laughing Brook Farm, 112–113, 173, 174 Laughing Stock Farm, 170 Lawrence, G., 147 leaf miners, 185, 191, 211 Leahy, Sen Patrick, 55 Leibig, Justus von, 30 liberalism, 46, 143, 144–145 “lifestyle” farming, 103–104, 119, 148 Lindentree Farm, 122–123 Linebaugh, Peter, 29 livestock, 32, 52, 63, 130–131, 208; antibiotics fed to, 41; heritage-­ breed, 93 Living Soil, The (Balfour), 32 “local” foods, 101, 195 Local Harvest, 101 localism, criticisms of, 234–238 Ikerd, John, 63, 116, 211 industrialization, 30, 33; decline of farming communities and, 79; food supply chains, 84, 100; re­sis­tance to, 40, 59 industrial organic agriculture, input substitution, insects, 22, 47 Integrated Pest Management, 112, 124, 177, 187, 205 intercropping, 183 International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), 265 irradiation, 54 Jaffee, D., 74–75 Jager, Ronald, 96, 103 294 INDEX organic certification, 218; redefinition of organic food and, 65 National Organic Standards Board, 54, 190 National Young Farmers Co­ali­ tion, 155, 157 Natu­ral Resource Defense Council, 42 neoliberalism, 5–6, 233, 234–235, 239, 241, 262; critiques of, 239–240; individual consumption and, 242; niche markets and, 238 networks, 192, 213–218, 233, 240; economic exchange and, 10; markets and, 12; micro-­politics of, 11–12 New Age spirituality, 32 New Deal reforms, 244 New E ­ ng­land, 21, 80, 223; absence of minorities in agriculture, 96–97; agricultural land values in, 156; alternative spaces in bifurcated market, 84, 85, 86, 87; CSA programs in, 119, 170–171; history of agriculture in, 95–96; market gardening in, 100; organic farming in, 13–20; Plentitude model and, 246; Whole Foods Market in, New Hampshire, 96, 98 New York, upstate, 156 NGOs (nongovernmental organ­izations), 20, 44, 50, 52, 54 niche markets, 8, 50, 52, 232, 261; in bifurcated market, 14; neoliberalism and, 238 Lockeretz, William, 145 Long Days Farm, 112–113, 129–130, 187 Luckmann, T., 205 Lyons, K., 147 Mackay, David, 70 Magna Carta Manifesto, The (Linebaugh), 29 Maine, 98 Major, William, 159 M&M Mars, 71, 72 manures, 30, 31, 37, 47, 52 Marchese, John, 187 Marcuse, Herbert, 67–68, 251 Mariola, Matthew, 250 market gardening, 100 Marx, Karl, 30 Mas­sa­chu­setts, 97, 98, 134; average farm size in, 106; CSA programs in, 101, 107; farm real estate values in, 156 McDonald’s, 27 McKibben, Bill, 146 McQuarrie, Don, 157 Mendies, Lawrence, 120, 169 mentors, 167, 213–215, 229 Merrigan, Kathleen, 54–55, 157 Mesrobian, John, 136 Mills, C Wright, 105 monoculture, 146 Moore, D., 211–212 Muir Glen brand, 71, 72, 73 National Organic Program (NOP), USDA, 5, 27, 60, 189, 219; copper sulfate (pesticide) and, 56; legislative debates around creation of, 67; on 295 INDEX 205, 263; decision to obtain, 167; economic rents and, 205; local practices and, 179–183; maintaining of, 219; sustainability and, 229 Organic Farming Act (1982), 48–49 Organic Farming and Gardening (magazine), 32, 37 organic farms and farming: choice to grow unprofitable crops, 117; conventionalization versus bifurcation, 4–8; daily lived realities of, 21; everyday economic practices on, 9–13; health concerns as motivation for, 209; income from, 123, 133; lived experience of, 202–208; networks for, 213–218; operating expenses of, 141, 224; organic certification status, 112; profitability as challenge, 221; rec­ord keeping for, 148; ste­reo­t ypes about, 143, 155; tomato blight and plight of, 120–126 organic foods, 7, 45, 69, 77; agro-­industrial, 17; brand acquisitions by corporations, 72; conventional marketplace and, 20–21; in conventional supermarkets, 62; corporate agribusiness and, 71, 74, 80; food ser­v ice industry and, 157; input-­based approach to defining, 52; as marker of class status, 82; market for, 51; price premiums for, 195; redefinition of, 65; social privilege and, 81, Nixon administration, 38–39, 127 No Impact Man (Beavan), 175 North Carolina, 93–94 Northeast Organic Farming Association, 195 Oakley, Emily, 156–157 Obama, Barack, 55, 143, 144 OFPA (Organic Foods Production Act) (1990), 44–46, 51, 57, 60; amendment of, 59; drafting of, 53, 54–55; “Organic Plan” section, 52–53 Old Times Farm, 112–113, 114, 128–129, 132, 160; CSA operation of, 161, 170, 171, 176; organic values and, 189; restaurant sales, 162 Omnivore’s Dilemma, The (Pollan), 174 organic agriculture/farming, 4, 10, 16; bifurcation of, 8; federal standards and, 52; history of, 28–33; industrial, 9; mainstream, 53–61; mainstream po­l iti­c al backlash against, 38–43; markets and, 11; redefinition of, 68; regulation of, 20, 46–48; social movement roots of, 8; social prob­lems and USDA organic, 80–83 organic certification, 79, 122, 125, 192; bureaucracy of, 167, 177; competition among farmers and, 215; conditions for, 224; contestation of, 173–179; conventionalization and, 190; decision to forgo or discontinue, 148, 174, 176–177, 179, 296 INDEX responsible use of, 228 See also Integrated Pest Management Peterson, Bruce, 59, 70 Petrucci, Dino, 136–137 Phytophthora infestans, 122 Pioneer Farm, 111, 112–113, 137, 193; CSA operation of, 162, 171; employment conditions at, 142; health concerns at, 209; organic certification of, 173–174, 178–179 plant diseases, 22, 121 Plentitude model, 245–246, 255 “plentitude prac­t i­t ion­ers,” 24 Polanyi, Karl, po­liti­cal economy, 11, 19, 87, 95, 152, 172; conventionalization thesis and, 220; relational forces and, 230 Pollan, Michael, 73, 127, 174–175, 177, 179 Polyface Farm (­Virginia), 174–175 potato beetles, 124, 185, 186, 191, 201 potato blight, 183–186 poverty, rural, 78, 216 power asymmetries, 13 prices, 39, 257; depressed by large-­scale farms, 7, 8; enclosure movement and, 29; erosion of price premiums, 75; as social relations, 190–199 pro­cessors, 196 property rights, 82; sustainability of small farms and, 102; USDA regulations and, 28, 65, 189; as “yuppie” movement, 27 organic label, 2, 4, 79, 181, 200, 218; alternatives to, 257; conventionalization of, 20; meaning of, 57; price premium and, 193; rejection of, 178 organic market, 9, 11; bifurcated, 45; bifurcation of, 91; competitive pressures in, 11; expansion of, 60; good matches and, 15; as “unsettled” market, 46 Organic Trade Association (OTA), 58, 59, 265 OTA Rider, 58–60 Oudemans, Peter, 188 Pandian, A., 211–212 Parnassus Farm, 112–113, 173, 174 Peaceful Valley Orchards, 112–113, 124, 126, 162, 177, 187, 189 ­People’s Park (Berkeley, Calif.), 35 pesticides, 29, 37, 50, 173; carcinogenic, 40–41; chemical, 3, 139; conventional farmers’ use of, 210; decision how and ­whether to use, 124–125; EPA classification of, 55–56; industrial organic agriculture and, 76; natu­ral pest control, 121, 184, 191, 200–202; no spray/low-­spray practices, 187, 200, 226; pollinating insects at risk from, 183–186, 189–190, 201; reduction in use of, 77; Quincy Farm, 156 race, 19, 33, 223, 264 Reagan administration, 48, 49, 50 297 INDEX and, 104; beginning of, 27; “beyond organic” practices of, 190; daily lived realities at, 202–208; direct marketing by, 100; ethnography of, 94; farming as lifestyle choice, 148, 156; industrial organic food chain and, 97–98; ­labor at, 113, 157–158; organic certification of, 148, 174, 178–179, 180, 218–219, 228; organic values tested at, 183–190; o ­ wners of, 108, 110–111; restaurant sales, 162, 171, 229, 233; study method at, 263–266; tomato blight and, 121–122, 125; unprofitable crops grown on, 117, 118, 120; as USDA-­ certified organic farm, 106; wildlife at, 109–110, 114–115, 200, 201 Scenic View Farm, CSA operation of, 100–101, 106–107, 112, 129, 132, 226; community and, 183; daily lived realities of farming and, 207; membership size, 203, 215, 233; opportunities for productive work and, 255; organic certification and, 167–168, 188; preparation of weekly o ­ rders, 164–166; seasonal economic cycle and, 168–173 Schor, Juliet, 23, 221, 245 scientific rationality, 30 seasonality, 83 senposai, 127 separate spheres, 8, 10, 18, 231 “sharing economy,” 245 recycling, 63, 82 reflexive localism, 246–252 regulations, 5, 20, 45; expansion of organic farming and, 83; federal standards and organic farming community, 44–45; focus on chemical inputs, 62–63; incentive-­based, 74; inputs and, 7; organic certification and regulatory paperwork, 148; permissive, 11; pressure on small-­scale farmers from, 6–7; regulatory reform, 236 relational work, 13–14, 20, 85, 88, 266 restaurants, sales to, 107, 113, 130, 149, 171, 233; packaging and transportation required by, 162; regional food and, 229; sustainability and, 94 retail stores, 118, 162 retirement, 133–134 Rhine, Mark, 175 Rhode Island, 98, 106, 156 Rissman, Joel, 204–205 Robin Hood’s Park Commission, 35 Rodale, J. J., 32, 33, 36–37, 38 Salatin, Joel, 174–175, 177, 179, 180 salmonella, 41 “Salt, The” (NPR food blog), 155–156 Sayre, Laura, 144 Scenic View Farm, 3, 17, 21–22, 95, 219, 261–262; agricultural landscape of, 109; alternative vision of organic agriculture 298 INDEX supply and demand cycle, 169 sustainability, 17, 20, 63, 82, 91, 220; “beyond organic” practices and, 177–178; big-­box organic and, 68; consumer choice and, 237; daily lived realities of farming and, 206; diversity and, 116; “food miles” and, 250; ­labor relations and, 142; organic certification and, 229; “partial and uneven,” 234; “phenomenology of farming” and, 18; Plentitude approach to, 245–246; “sharing economy” and, 245; supermarket organic and, 76 Sustainable Harvest Farm, 112–113, 115, 129; husk cherries at, 153; ­labor force of, 137; organic certification of, 173, 174 Switzerland, 101 ­Silent Spring (Carson), 34 Slocum, R., 92 Slow Food, 93, 122 Smucker Com­pany, 60 Snyder, Gary, 35 social justice, 36, 237, 249–250 social movements, 36, 92; “biodynamic farming,” 30; roots of organic agriculture in, 4, 8, 11, 20 soil, 31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 103; biological pest control and, 47; copper accumulation in, 56, 121; health and fertility of, 64; maintenance of soil fertility, 52; sewage sludge and, 54; spring preparation of, 117; wildlife and, 110 Soil Association, 33, 47 solar energy, 63 specialization, 76 specialty producers, 91 Starbucks, 27 Steiner, Rudolf, 30–31, 32, 59 Stock, Paul, 159 Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture (New York), 155 Stonyfield Farm, 69, 194 suburbanization, 95 “Supermarket Pastoral” literary genre, 73 supermarkets and “supermarket organic,” 2, 61, 62, 84, 251; CSAs and, 259, 260; new social relations and, 87; private label organic lines, 69–70; prob­lems with supermarket organic, 76–80 Super Stop and Shop, 65 Thirsk, Joan, 29 Thompson, Craig, 23, 24, 164, 192, 247 tomato blight, 120–126, 176, 182, 183, 211 totsoi, 127 tourism, 223 trichinosis, 41 True Friends Farm, 112–113, 151, 154, 177, 194, 209 U.N Food and Agriculture Or­ga­n i­za­t ion, 128 United States, 18, 21, 37, 87, 260; agribusiness era in, 127; decline in number of farm operators, 299 INDEX Vilsack, Tom, 143, 157 Viridian Farm, 112–113, 119, 120, 133; CSA program of, 171; organic certification discontinued by, 174, 176, 205 volunteer ­labor, 114, 132–133, 149, 154; for CSA programs, 165–166, 168, 172; perks for volunteers, 197 United States (continued) 99, 144, 146; farmers’ markets in, 100; farm policy, 38; organic standards in, 7; “supermarket organic” as new norm in, 62; white privilege and food system in, 81–82 Uriostegi, Juan, 181 USDA (U.S Department of Agriculture), 3, 42, 65, 180, 214; Agricultural Marketing Ser­v ice, 55, 266; Agricultural Research Ser­v ice, 49; crop va­r i­e­t ies listed by, 128; definition of organic agriculture, 29, 162; Economic Research Ser­v ice, 135; Food and Nutrition Ser­v ice, 194; Harvey lawsuit against, 57–58; National Agricultural Statistics Ser­vice, 266; National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, 53, 55, 121, 182, 203; organic certification and, 2, 167, 174, 176, 177, 178; Organic Study Team, 48; Organic Survey (2014), 75; promotion of farming as v­ iable ­c areer, 157; redefinition of organic agriculture, 68; “Report and Recommendation on Organic Farming” (1980), 46, 47, 48, 49–50, 51, 63 See also Census of Agriculture; National Organic Program (NOP) Waller, Helen, 78 Walmart, 27, 59, 61, 70, 81, 252; corporate organic products at, 179; entry into organic market, 67, 69, 71; Heritage Agriculture program, 251; marketing strategy for organic foods, 71; organic produce provided by, 65, 66 Walt Disney Com­pany, 65 weather, 22, 150, 198 Wechsler, Debbie, 50–51 weeds, 47, 116, 117, 118, 158, 166; habits of managing, 207; refusal to use herbicides against, 225–226 Weiss, Brad, 266 Westerhoff, Vicki, 175 white farmers, 19, 81, 96–97 white privilege, 85 WhiteWave Foods, 68, 71 Whole Earth Cata­log, 37 Whole Foods Market, 1, 2, 61, 65, 157, 237; avoidance of, 160–161; corporate organic products at, 179; grocery lit­er­a­t ure at, 73; point system for treatment of animals, Verdant Acres Orchards, 112–113, 151, 181–182, 205, 210 Vermont, 96, 98, 106, 155 300 INDEX ­ omen, 82, 143, 243 w World War II, 34, 243 258; products from local farmers highlighted by, 251; responses to alternative food system, 252; social privilege and, 85 ­wholesalers, 214 Wilson, Colin, 30 woad, 29 yersiniosis, 40 Youngberg, Garth, 48 yukina savoy, 127 Zelizer, Viviana, 10, 15 301 ... than organic since the USDA regulations are concerned only with what farmers put on their fields and not the care with which they farm them It is easy to see in the observations above that the farmers’... con­ ventionalization (Constance, Choi, and Lyke-­Ho-­Gland 2008) I ntroduction A Theory of Everyday Economic Practices on the Organic Farm While the conventionalization-­ versus-­ bifurcation... regulations and market conditions of the organic sector find expression in everyday farm tasks Understanding the Organic Farm: Conventionalization versus Bifurcation Academic theories of organic agriculture