Auditing sustainability: the impact of EurepGAP in New Zealand.

Abstract

This chapter traces the transition of New Zealand's food sector from two-tier greening (organic plus integrated production systems) to a predominant focus on integrated systems. This transition is then explained by linking it to shifts in agro-food governance in Europe and the emergence of food audit cultures, as exemplified by EurepGAP driven by European retailers. Preliminary insights are presented on the impact of EurepGAP on the kiwifruit industry. Two effects are observed with consequences for the broader politics of 'greening' foods: (1) organic food exports have slowed and are falling outside the powerful new audit cultures like EurepGAP; and (2) new food audit cultures are potentially going to dominate how sustainable management practices are both described and measured.

Beyond bifurcation: Examining the conventions of organic agriculture in New Zealand

“…Furthermore, the insistence on the higher quality of organic relative to other food products elicits frequent 'tests' in which consumers are asked to differentiate between foods produced using the alternative practices. Among producers, by contrast, organic has become strongly associated with a particular social type (often referred to as 'hippie' or 'greenie') with negative connotations thereby inhibiting its adoption more generally (Campbell et al, 2006b). Finally, negotiations of conventions justified from a renown order can become difficult for participants who handle products with distinct designations while competing for similar consumers.…”

“…In light of such inconsistencies, processors and retailers may claim that it is not cost effective to develop marketing and promotional lines around organic products. Subsequently, many European retailers have championed residue-free production from strictly audited systems based in integrated pest management as a 'green' alternative to organic foods -thus creating a much larger (and thus 'reliable') group of standardised suppliers (Campbell et al, 2006b). Proponents of organic agriculture challenge the assertions of poor efficiency with evidence of greater financial returns per area and lower costs for purchased inputs, often identifying lower costs of production as a primary benefit of organic production.…”

After the ‘Organic Industrial Complex’: An ontological expedition through commercial organic agriculture in New Zealand

“…Following the kiwifruit model, other exporters also moved the majority of their product into market categories that emphasised 'sustainability', or 'environmental qualities' in their products. At the same time, large entities like the kiwifruit monopoly exporter e Zespri International Ltd e positioned themselves at the forefront of the emergence of new global food governance systems like EurepGAP/GlobalGAP (Campbell et al, 2006a(Campbell et al, , 2006bRosin et al, 2007).…”

Federal regulation of local and sustainable food claims in Canada: a case study of Local Food Plus

“…org/Languages/English/about.html). Unfortunately, EurepGAP tends to benefit retailers and passes liability down the supply chain to farmers (Campbell 2005;Campbell et al 2006). Nonprofit, thirdparty organizations, such as LFP, attempt to promote sustainable agricultural systems that benefit all stakeholders more or less equally (see http://www.localfoodplus.ca/why_local_sustainable_food.htm ).…”