Abstract
“Conventionalisation” hangs like the sword of Damocles over organic farming. Raised by certain agrobiologists, the threat has been examined by researchers who have attempted (with little success) to measure any shift in how organic standards are put into practice. This article takes up the issue, but instead of trying to make explicit what is meant by organic (a difficult task in light of the variety of interpretations) as earlier research has done, it attempts to enter into the controversy surrounding the development and sustainability of the movement. This investigation illustrates the opposition between two regimes of action, each based on very different visions of the acceptable use of the AB label: the first tends to reduce organics to a set of regulatory restrictions imposed by the label, while the other sees these restrictions as a reductive and insufficient framework. For this regime, organic production is more than just a set of restrictions. It is instead a “philosophy” or “spirit” guiding a broad examination of the production process and its result. Nevertheless, despite their disagreements, the two regimes are also in close and mutually-beneficial interaction. Two contradictory characteristics of organic production emerge, thus ensuring its sustainability: its capacity to spread through economic networks thanks to a more rigid framework, and its flexibility that enables it to continually redefine itself and adapt to new situations.
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Notes
- 1.
AB stands for Agriculture Biologique, or organic agriculture.
- 2.
The 1991 European regulation (R CEE n° 2092/91) that provides the framework for certified European organic production also encourages biodiversity, pluriannual crop rotations and the association between agriculture and breeding.
- 3.
The AB label is combined with the CCREPAB F, the French specifications that are stricter than the European organic label, especially with regard to livestock farming.
- 4.
In order to be completely precise, we should say three, since the SIMPLES specifications that focus on gathering medicinal plants has also endured. In France, Nature & Progrès and Déméter are the two main organisations that defend organic production at this time. They offer private specifications independent of the public French AB label that became European after the abolition of European subsidiarity for organic certification. The two organisations bring together producers, distributors and consumers, while the FNAB (France’s National Federation of Organic Farming) is exclusively a union of certified AB producers.
- 5.
Guthman’s argument is very similar to the fear of “market takeover” mentioned above.
- 6.
We should also mention that like “organic-formula”, the article reduces organic farming to indicators of practices that alarmed adepts of organic farming have accused of being the very cause of the threat of the erosion of organics.
- 7.
The ensuing problem is well known. It is impossible to predict which of the “objective” or “subjective” forces will lead to a conventionalisation of a given label and, therefore, impossible to decide on the correct preventative measures.
- 8.
INAO: Institut National de la Qualité et de l’Origine, in charge of French policies regarding designations of origin.
- 9.
This is a criticism of the AB label made by militants from organisations, especially Nature & Progrès, and organic producers who are often also militants within organisations. To avoid the text from becoming too cumbersome, we have not repeated this whenever possible.
- 10.
The subsidiarity rule allowed each EU member state to adopt specifications stricter than the common EU regulation; the new one (CE) N°834/2007 prohibits this “overruling” and forces all EU countries to adopt the same EU organic regulation.
- 11.
Figures indicate the page numbers of interviews, all transcribed in a standardised format.
- 12.
This designation includes everything that comes within the “sphere of control” with its monitoring commissions, advisory councils, etc., and which actors often call “monitoring” or “control” without further precision.
- 13.
The abolition of French specifications and their replacement by European specifications caused a similar reaction with the creation of the brand “Bio Cohérence” whose standards are stricter and attempt to incorporate socio-economic criteria to prevent the “hijacking” of the organic movement.
- 14.
For a full discussion of the objectivity of engaged or disengaged monitoring, see Teil (2001).
- 15.
In France, Nature & Progrès has around 350 producer-members, whereas 20,000 producers have the AB label certification.
- 16.
For consumers, membership usually costs between 10 and 20 euros.
- 17.
We borrow the very appropriate image here used by Callon to describe the succession of movements of pausing and questioning that guarantee the durability of action groups (Akrich et al. 2010).
- 18.
This is the case in France with the new brand, Bio-Cohérence.
- 19.
- 20.
The “label supporters” camp raises another, symmetrical line of inquiry that highlights the confinement of organics to the internal, collective critique of organisations.
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Appendix
Appendix
Detail of the distribution of the survey interviews of vintners
Type of farming unit | Type of environmental quality | Number | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
V de L | LR | Jura | ||
Cooperative | Without | 1 | ||
Cooperative | Industrial quality certification | 1 | 2 | |
Cooperative | Integrated viticulture | 1 | 3 | |
Cooperative | With part of the production certified as organic | 2 | ||
Farm | Without | 8 | 1 | |
Farm | Industrial quality certification | 4 | ||
Farm | Integrated viticulture | 7 | 5 | |
Farm | Non-certified integrated viticulture | 5 | 5 | |
Farm | Certified AB | 26 | 14 | |
Farm | Certified biodynamics | 13 | 5 | |
Farm | Uncertified biodynamics | 4 | ||
Farm | “Natural wine” or “terroir wine” | 2 | 4 | 2 |
Total | 68 | 45 | 2 |
All samples
Activity | Nb | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Producers | All | 115 | Technique and research | Technical training | 6 |
AB organic certified | 62 | Organic technical training | 3 | ||
AB “committed” | 10 | Research | 4 | ||
Retail and sales | Superstores | 9 | Agronomy teaching | 1 | |
Wine trade | 1 | Farming syndicate | Farming syndicate | 7 | |
Wine seller | 8 | Quality certification | Integrated viticulture | 4 | |
Organic coop outlet | 5 | Industrial quality certification | 1 | ||
Organic associative outlet | 1 | Organic certification | 1 | ||
Franchised organic outlet | 1 | AOC certification | 9 | ||
Wine retailer with mixed (organic and non-organic) products | 11 | Catering | Organic catering | 3 | |
Administration | Ministry of Agriculture | 6 | Media | Wine critic | 4 |
Organic agency | 2 | Regional press | 2 | ||
AOC administration | 4 | Organic critic | 1 | ||
Agro-chemical industry | Agro-chemical firm | 5 | Natural wine critic | 2 | |
Agro-chemical product retailer | 1 | Economic press | 1 | ||
Total | 231 | Consumers | Consumers | 13 |
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Teil, G. (2014). Is Organic Farming Unsustainable? Analysis of the Debate About the Conventionalisation of the Organic Label. In: Bellon, S., Penvern, S. (eds) Organic Farming, Prototype for Sustainable Agricultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7927-3_18
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