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

Rosin, Christopher; Campbell, Hugh

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2008.05.002

Cited by 126 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…To be able to accurately capture conventionalisation would require an analysis differentiating between, e.g., farm types, commodities and marketing channels. Only then will it be possible to do justice to the complexity of organic production (Sylvander et al, 2006;Rosin and Campbell, 2009;Lamine and Bellon, 2009).…”

Section: Shortcomings Of the Debate Surrounding The Conventionalisatimentioning

confidence: 99%

Conventionalisation of organic farming practices: from structural criteria towards an assessment based on organic principles. A review

Darnhofer¹,

Lindenthal²,

Bartel-Kratochvil³

et al. 2010

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

270

182

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-Organic farming is widely perceived as being more environmentally friendly than conventional farming. As a form of sustainable agriculture, it receives substantial support from policy for its contribution to environmental protection as well as the provision of amenities such as biodiversity and cultural landscapes. Consumers are attracted to organic foods as they are produced without synthetic chemicals and comply with higher animal welfare standards. Although organic farming certainly has the potential to fulfil these expectations, studies have shown that some certified organic farms do not. Their practices comply with the regulations, but not with the principles of organic farming. This trend has been called 'conventionalisation' of organic farming. In this paper we review the studies that discuss the conventionalisation of organic farming, focusing on the farm level and on evidence from Europe. We argue that to strengthen organic farming's transformative potential, the debate must move beyond its focus on the bifurcation between artisanal and conventionalised organic farms, so as to capture the full range of empirical heterogeneity. Our core argument is that to adequately understand the dynamics within organic farming and their potential impact on the ability of organic farming to fulfil the expectations of consumers and policy-makers, it is not sufficient to focus on structural changes. Instead, we need to assess whether or not the observed changes comply with the principles and values that are the fundament of organic farming. organic agriculture / conventionalisation debate / Europe / plant production / animal husbandry

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Section: Shortcomings Of the Debate Surrounding The Conventionalisatimentioning

confidence: 99%

Conventionalisation of organic farming practices: from structural criteria towards an assessment based on organic principles. A review

Darnhofer¹,

Lindenthal²,

Bartel-Kratochvil³

et al. 2010

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

270

182

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…This focus on broad-leaved herbaceous weed abundance and cover in pastures forms part of wider studies undertaken by the Agriculture Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS 2010) that investigates the environmental, social and economic outcomes of different market accreditation systems as complementary pathways to more sustainable and resilient agriculture (Rosin & Campbell 2008, Fairweather et al 2009, Darnhofer et al 2010). This study of herbaceous weeds is part of a wider investigation of weed management options and techniques, pathways for invasion of woody weeds into agricultural land and assessment of future weed management research needs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abundance and diversity of herbaceous weeds in sheep/beef pastures, South Island, New Zealand

Blackwell

Lucock²,

Møller

et al. 2011

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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This study compared species diversity, abundance and size of broad-leaved herbaceous weeds on 28 South Island sheep/beef farms that employed either organic, integrated management (IM) or conventional management (CM) systems. Three or six paddocks per farm were surveyed using walked transects in November 2005, and the presence and number of individuals of each weed species encountered were recorded. 39 broad-leaved herbaceous weeds were recorded on all the farms in the study, but 76.7% of occurrences were of just three species (Californian thistle (Cirsium arvense L.), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Weber and daisy (Bellis perennis L.)). The ten next most abundant species made up 21% of records and the remaining 26 species just 1.9%. Very few significant differences were found in the geographic distribution, species richness or Shannon diversity index, abundance, cover or size of broad-leaved herbaceous weeds present on farms employing the different management techniques. However, there were significantly fewer Californian thistle per m 2 on CM than on organic or IM farms and cover of all herbaceous weeds averaged 5.0, 5.6 and 2.1 on organic, IM and CM farms, respectively. Weed infestation varied enormously by region and between individual farms, so the statistical power of the comparisons was relatively low. Until further research is reported, the authors caution against general and unquantified assertions that the sustainability of organic pastoral farming is, or is not, compromised by weed infestations.

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“…Others report a bifurcation of the organic movement, with the part that remains non-conventionalised still celebrating artisanal production, local markets and deeply-held values (Goldberger, 2011). However, the validity of these claims and the usefulness of binary thinking have been questioned (Rosin & Campbell, 2009;Schewe, 2014). Instead, Rosin & Campbell (2009) call for more complex theoretical frameworks to analyse the worlds of organic agriculture, as attempted in this study.…”

Section: Insert Figure 1 Approximately Herementioning

confidence: 85%

“…However, the validity of these claims and the usefulness of binary thinking have been questioned (Rosin & Campbell, 2009;Schewe, 2014). Instead, Rosin & Campbell (2009) call for more complex theoretical frameworks to analyse the worlds of organic agriculture, as attempted in this study.…”

Section: Insert Figure 1 Approximately Herementioning

confidence: 93%

Sustainability transformations in the balance: exploring Swedish initiatives challenging the corporate food regime

Oelreich

Milestad

2016

European Planning Studies

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This paper explores to what extent organic initiatives that go beyond mainstream organic (socalled Organic 3.0) can challenge the corporate food regime and how they can push the food system towards sustainability transformations. We depart from the assumption that individual initiatives may differ in their potential to influence the corporate food regime and that this potential can be assessed by examining traits linked to reformist, progressive or radical food regime/food movement trends that they may possess. Rather than establishing a dichotomy between niche and food regime or categorising Organic 3.0 initiatives within one of these trends, we explore the nuances in niche-regime relationships within the food system from a multi-level perspective, using the cases of two Organic 3.0 initiatives in Sweden. The results show that relations between these initiatives and the food regime share key characteristics, but also differ in important respects. While a reformist strategy facilitates niche growth, progressive and radical approaches are more likely to challenge the regime. The choice of approach in both cases involves trade-offs between growth and organic values. We conclude that one of the primary roles of Organic 3.0 initiatives may be to illustrate the viability of alternative models.

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

Cited by 126 publications

References 55 publications

Conventionalisation of organic farming practices: from structural criteria towards an assessment based on organic principles. A review

Conventionalisation of organic farming practices: from structural criteria towards an assessment based on organic principles. A review

Abundance and diversity of herbaceous weeds in sheep/beef pastures, South Island, New Zealand

Sustainability transformations in the balance: exploring Swedish initiatives challenging the corporate food regime

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