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A tripartite standards regime analysis of the contested development of a sustainable agriculture standard

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  • Maki Hatanaka
  • Jason Konefal
  • Douglas Constance

Abstract

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. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Maki Hatanaka & Jason Konefal & Douglas Constance, 2012. "A tripartite standards regime analysis of the contested development of a sustainable agriculture standard," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(1), pages 65-78, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:29:y:2012:i:1:p:65-78
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-011-9329-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniel Jaffee & Philip Howard, 2010. "Corporate cooptation of organic and fair trade standards," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 27(4), pages 387-399, December.
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    4. Aimee Shreck, 2005. "Resistance, redistribution, and power in the Fair Trade banana initiative," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 22(1), pages 17-29, March.
    5. Taylor, Peter Leigh, 2005. "In the Market But Not of It: Fair Trade Coffee and Forest Stewardship Council Certification as Market-Based Social Change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 129-147, January.
    6. Jason Konefal & Michael Mascarenhas & Maki Hatanaka, 2005. "Governance in the Global Agro-food System: Backlighting the Role of Transnational Supermarket Chains," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 22(3), pages 291-302, September.
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    2. Gustafsson, Ingrid & Tamm Hallström, Kristina, 2018. "Hyper-organized eco-labels – An organization studies perspective on the implications of Tripartite Standards Regimes," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 124-133.
    3. Philip H. Howard & Daniel Jaffee, 2013. "Tensions Between Firm Size and Sustainability Goals: Fair Trade Coffee in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Maki Hatanaka, 2014. "McSustainability and McJustice: Certification, Alternative Food and Agriculture, and Social Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-21, November.
    5. Hatanaka, Maki, 2014. "Standardized food governance? Reflections on the potential and limitations of chemical-free shrimp," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 138-145.
    6. Dietz, Thomas & Biber-Freudenberger, Lisa & Deal, Laura & Börner, Jan, 2022. "Is private sustainability governance a myth? Evaluating major sustainability certifications in primary production: A mixed methods meta-study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    7. Allison Marie Loconto, 2017. "Models of Assurance," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 670(1), pages 112-132, March.
    8. Daniel Jaffee & Philip H. Howard, 2016. "Who’s the fairest of them all? The fractured landscape of U.S. fair trade certification," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 813-826, December.
    9. Douglas H. Constance, 2023. "The doctors of agrifood studies," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 31-43, March.
    10. Patrick Baur, 2020. "When farmers are pulled in too many directions: comparing institutional drivers of food safety and environmental sustainability in California agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1175-1194, December.
    11. Benjamin Bürbaumer, 2021. "The Limits of Traditional Bargaining under Deep Integration: TTIP Stumbling over Technical Barriers to Trade," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(5), pages 1069-1085, September.
    12. Sjauw-Koen-Fa, August R. & Omta, S.W.F. (Onno) & Blok, Vincent, 2018. "Constructing a Multinationals’ Inclusive Sourcing Indicator for Impacting Farmer Business Models: Application in Cocoa Cases," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 9(3), June.

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