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Back to the Land: The Paradox of Organic Food Standards

Author

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  • Julie Guthman

    (Department of Community Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA)

Abstract

This paper examines how the rent-creating conventions that regulate organic food production undermine growers' abilities to farm in a less intensive manner. The paper builds on a growing literature on food governance which points to the unintended consequences of standardization and their verification. The argument is based in theories of rent, with specific attention to how the constructed scarcity of organic food creates rents that are competed away or appropriated. The author also discusses how organic regulations may manifest in monopoly ground rents, especially given the attention paid to land in organic certification. Insofar as these rents pass through to land values, they contribute to a broader pattern of land valuation that pushes farmers to grow the most valuable crops in the most productive ways—an imperative that is not necessarily conducive to organic farming as it is generally envisioned.

Suggested Citation

  • Julie Guthman, 2004. "Back to the Land: The Paradox of Organic Food Standards," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(3), pages 511-528, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:36:y:2004:i:3:p:511-528
    DOI: 10.1068/a36104
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tad Mutersbaugh, 2002. "The Number is the Beast: A Political Economy of Organic-Coffee Certification and Producer Unionism," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(7), pages 1165-1184, July.
    2. R. Kaplinsky, 2000. "Globalisation and Unequalisation: What Can Be Learned from Value Chain Analysis?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 117-146.
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