Reader Vijverbergsession Voedsel, Landbouw & Cultuur, Religie

Reader Vijverbergsession Voedsel, Landbouw & Cultuur, Religie Ter voorbereiding van de Vijverbergsessie op woensdag 17 april 2013 bieden wij een aantal artikelen aan die het thema nader introduceren en die van belang zijn voor de discussie die middag. Een korte leeswijzer. 1 Voedsel brengt geopolitiek terug in platte wereld (Cor van Beuningen – Financieële Dagblad van 5 februari 2011.)

Dit artikel gaat in op de rol die voedsel is gaan spelen in internationale verhoudingen – de geopolitieke framing van voedsel dus. “Om de explosieve lading van voedsel te begrijpen moeten we terug naar 2003-2004. Toen begon de vraag naar voedsel, energie en mineralen explosief te stijgen, vooral uit de opkomende economieën, met als gevolg navenant sterke prijsstijgingen. In 2008 zorgde de recessie voor een terugval in de vraag, maar die bleek tijdelijk. Het fenomeen van de nieuwe schaarste is echter allesbehalve tijdelijk. Dat heeft te maken met de bijzondere aard van deze goederen. Ze zijn niet of beperkt hernieuwbaar en de productie ervan wordt gehinderd door natuurlijke omstandigheden. Voedsel en energie zijn primaire levensbehoeften, samen goed voor 70-90% van de dagelijkse bestedingen van de helft van de wereldbevolking. Brandstof- en voedselprijzen zijn zowel aan de kosten- als aan de vraagzijde aan elkaar gekoppeld, via de biobrandstoffen. Schaarste heeft direct ernstige gevolgen voor de rest van de economie én voor de hele samenleving. “Het besef van de kwetsbaarheid van economie en samenleving voor schaarste aan energie en voedsel zorgde voor een politieke herdefinitie van deze goederen. Het fenomeen nieuwe schaarste betekent dat energie en voedsel voortaan van staatsbelang zijn en dus politieke Chefsache. De leveringszekerheid van energie en voedsel wordt een politieke prioriteit.” 2 Rechtvaardigheid en wereldvoedselvoorziening: een kleine economische ethiek (Roel Jongeneel)

In dit artikel onderzoekt Roel Jongeneel hoe een aantal theorieën van rechtvaardigheid (van John Rawls, Martha Nussbaum en Amartya Sen) in de economische ethiek en internationale verhoudingen kunnen doorwerken. “Er is in de economie (net zoals bij banken) sprake van zoiets als een “zorgplicht”. De kern van de economie is immers een doelmatige en adequate behoeftevoorziening. Een randvoorwaarde bij de economische behoeftebevrediging is niet alleen dat de markt luistert naar koopkrachtsignalen van bemiddelden en welgestelden, maar ook dat er genoeg is van het noodzakelijke voor iedereen. De conclusie die uit de smalle ethiek van Nussbaum en Sen kan worden getrokken is dat daar met prioriteit aandacht aan dient te worden gegeven. Dit wordt erkend door de grote sociaal-politieke rechtvaardigheids-theorieën, ook die van een liberale snit.”

3 The Organic Food Philosophy: A Qualitative Exploration of the Practices, Values, and Beliefs of Dutch Organic Consumers Within a Cultural–Historical Frame (Hanna Schösler, Joop de Boer, Jan J. Boersema – J Agric Environ Ethics 2012)

Dit artikel gaat over de waarden die bij consumenten van organisch voedsel een rol spelen. Cultuur-historisch hebben die hun origine in Amerikaanse en Duitse reform-bewegingen. Uit een kwalitatief onderzoek van Nederlandse consumenten blijkt dat die waarden in wijdere kring in de maatschappij gedeeld worden. “... against the background of the organic philosophy, the need for personal behavior change can more easily be acknowledged and achieved. An important part of the Reform movement was about people’s capacity for moral self-improvement as a practice of self-determination (Barlo¨sius 1997). Temperance, the consumption of pure foods, and abstinence from meat were all ways in which Reformers practiced their moral values. As the interviews illustrated, these practices are still in use today (de Boer et al. 2007). Policy makers may implicitly or explicitly support social norms that reflect the intrinsic value of temperance. This could be done, for example, by promoting the consumption of large amounts of meat as normatively unacceptable.”

4 Slow Food (Joris Lohman) Een kort artikel als kennismaking met de ‘slow food’ beweging.

5 Are There Ideological Aspects to the Modernization of Agriculture? (Egbert Hardeman & Henk Jochemsen – J Agric Environ Ethics 2012) Samenvatting: “In this paper we try to identify the roots of the persistent contemporary problems in our modernized agriculture: overproduction, loss of biodiversity and of soil fertility, the risk of large animal disease, social controversies on the lack of animal welfare and culling of animals, etc. Attention is paid to the historical development of present-day farming in Holland as an example of European agriculture. We see a blinkered quest for efficiency in the industrialization of agriculture since the Second World War. Key factor is the cultural mindset at the foundation of our modern society, originating from the ideas of the enlightenment. It makes people vulnerable to ideologies, causing them to focus on a certain goal without considering the consequences. Due to the overemphasis on efficiency, modern industrial agriculture has never been comfortably embedded in its ecological and social context, and as a result displays the characteristics of an ideology. The cause of the inability to solve today’s problems is therefore deeper than simply a failure to apply the right mix of standard remedies. Unless stakeholders in farming start to counter this very one-sided approach to efficiency, modernization will continue to cause all kinds of friction. The implications of the results for agricultural policy, farming and further research are discussed.”

1 of 3

© 2011‐2013 Food First | This page modiϐied: 22 February 2012 FoodFirst for Thought

Voedsel brengt geopolitiek terug in platte wereld De hoge voedselprijzen vormen een ernstige bedreiging voor globale groei en sociale stabiliteit, meent Wereldbankpresident Robert Zoellick (The G20 should agree to put food ϐirst - Financial Times, 5 januari 2011). Is dat niet wat overdreven? Nee, er staat wel degelijk heel wat op het spel. Alleen, het zijn niet de hoge prijzen die de bedreiging vormen; voedsel zelf is springstof onder een werkbare wereldorde. Is een ramp ophanden, of blijft het bij een dreiging? Om de explosieve lading van voedsel te begrijpen moeten we terug naar 2003‐2004. Toen begon de vraag naar voedsel, energie en mineralen explosief te stijgen, vooral uit de opkomende economieën, met als gevolg navenant sterke prijsstijgingen. In 2008 zorgde de recessie voor een terugval in de vraag, maar die bleek tijdelijk. Het fenomeen van de nieuwe schaarste is echter allesbehalve tijdelijk. Dat heeft te maken met de bijzondere aard van deze goederen. Ze zijn niet of beperkt hernieuwbaar en de productie ervan wordt gehinderd door natuurlijke omstandigheden. Voedsel en energie zijn primaire levensbehoeften, samen goed voor 70‐90% van de dagelijkse bestedingen van de helft van de wereldbevolking. Brandstof‐ en voedselprijzen zijn zowel aan de kosten‐ als aan de vraagzijde aan elkaar gekoppeld, via de biobrandstoffen. Schaarste heeft direct ernstige gevolgen voor de rest van de economie én voor de hele samenleving. Het besef van de kwetsbaarheid van economie en samenleving voor schaarste aan energie en voedsel zorgde voor een politieke herdeϐinitie van deze goederen. Het fenomeen nieuwe schaarste betekent dat energie en voedsel voortaan van staatsbelang zijn en dus politieke Chefsache. De leveringszekerheid van energie en voedsel wordt een politieke prioriteit. De wereld was plat, heel even maar De nieuwe schaarste maakt de wereld een stuk minder plat ‐ terwijl we pas net gewend zijn aan het idee van een platte wereld. Het boek van Thomas Friedman waarin de wereld plat werd verklaard dateert uit 2005. Op de globale level playing ϐield zijn de hobbels voor vrijhandel opgeruimd, hebben landsgrenzen hun betekenis verloren en is de staat teruggetreden als economische actor. Friedmans ϐlat world is een ontstatelijkte en ge‐depolitiseerde wereld waar alleen de tucht van de markt geldt. De nieuwe schaarste zet het spoor precies de andere kant uit: die van een intensieve statelijke bemoeienis met het economisch leven. Dat begint met maatregelen, zoals consumptieve subsidies en exportrestricties, om voedsel en brandstof voor de eigen burgers betaalbaar te houden en sociale onrust te temperen. Begrijpelijke maatregelen ‐ maar ze veroorzaken een heftige reactie in landen die voor hun energie of voedsel aϐhankelijk zijn van anderen. Iedereen vraagt zich af: hoe sta ik ervoor als het verkeerd gaat met de wereldhandel? Als dat scenario vervolgens het uitgangspunt van beleid wordt, wordt het vanzelf werkelijkheid. Het is: ieder voor zich. Leveringszekerheid krijgt de betekenis van zelfvoorziening. Als zelfvoorziening geen optie is, moet elders levering worden zeker gesteld. Sommige landen verliezen hun fatsoen en verlagen zich tot straatvechterij, om maar aan hun gerief te komen. Elk instrument wordt ingezet om zich toegang te verschaffen, om posities in te nemen en langjarige verplichtingen af te dwingen: van landaankopen en zachte leningen tot

2 of 3

gratis infrastructuur, fabrieksinstallaties en andere zaken. De geopolitieke herdeϐinitie van energie, mineralen en voedsel Het fenomeen van de nieuwe schaarste veroorzaakte een schokgolf in de internationale betrekkingen. Energie en voedsel blijken niet alleen staatszaken omwille van leveringszekerheid, het zijn ook machtsmiddelen, met een geopolitiek en zelfs militair belang. Olie en tarwe zijn wapens geworden, alsof een oorlog op handen is. De landen die er op dit punt goed voor staan verdienen veel geld en spreiden op het internationale toneel een imperiale zelfverzekerdheid ten toon. Het feit dat staatsbedrijven het leeuwendeel van de wereldenergie‐voorraden bezitten krijgt een andere betekenis. Deze geopolitisering van schaarste doet zich voor in een tijdsgewricht waarin de unipolaire wereldorde op zijn einde loopt. De contouren van het nieuwe wereldsysteem zijn nog vaag, maar duidelijk is dat de nieuwe wereld economisch gedomineerd wordt door China, de VS en de EU, elk goed voor 15‐20% van het Bruto Mondiale Product. De vraag is hoe deze economische conϐiguratie wordt meegenomen in het delicate proces van geopolitieke re‐accommodatie. Staat de wereld een periode van instabiliteit te wachten, met rivaliserende machtsblokken die strijden om hegemonie? Als de twee processen – de geopolitisering van schaarste en een moeizame transitie naar een andere wereldorde – elkaar versterken kan een uiterst explosieve spiraalbeweging ontstaan. Omgekeerde globalisering De nieuwe schaarste katalyseert een proces van omgekeerde globalisering. Behalve een markt waar geconcurreerd en gehandeld wordt is de wereld ook weer een arena, waar machtsposities worden betrokken en waar geloerd en gevochten wordt. Dit proces is door de ϐinanciële crisis in een stroomversnelling geraakt. De protectionistische reϐlexen van staten die in paniek hun banken en industrieën redden hebben wereldwijd de geopolitieke instincten en percepties verder aangewakkerd. Hier staan we nu, in een verwarrende, want tegenstrijdige beweging: ‐‐ aan de ene kant de globalisering, de éénwording van de wereld als globale markt, gepaard gaande met ontstatelijking en dénationalisering; ‐‐ aan de andere kant de omgekeerde globalisering, de renationalisering en repolitisering van het economisch leven en de geopolitisering van de internationale betrekkingen. Moeilijke keuzes, met vérstrekkende gevolgen Deze verwarrende situatie levert ϐlinke dilemma’s op voor beleidsmakers in Nederland en de EU. Welke beweging wordt gekozen als scenario waarop het beleid geënt wordt? Het lijkt onontkoombaar dat met beide bewegingen rekening wordt gehouden, maar trade offs lijken even onontkoombaar. Het genereren van vertrouwen (1) is moeilijk te combineren met het organiseren van wantrouwen (2). En elke stap wordt voortaan door alle betrokkenen juist in die termen gewogen. Voedsel blijft een cruciale rol spelen in het vervolg. Dat begint al met de onlangs door de EU ingezette beleidslijn betreffende de toekomst van het Gemeenschappelijke Landbouwbeleid, waarin nadrukkelijk ruimte wordt opengehouden voor het stimuleren van de eigen landbouwproductie. Daar zijn zeker goede redenen voor, maar even zeker zal deze stap door onze globale partners begrepen worden als bewijs van wantrouwen en van onwil om tot een collectief vergelijk te komen. Een volgende stap is de hervatting van de Doha‐ronde, de in 2008 gestrande onderhandelingen over de vrijmaking van de wereldhandel. Juist deze week beginnen de onderhandelaars een laatste poging om de boel vlot te trekken. Voedsel is geschilpunt nummer één. Alle partijen weten dat het

3 of 3

collectieve belang – globale economische groei – het meest gediend is met handelsliberalisering. Maar dat telt niet, als het vertrouwen ontbreekt dat nodig is opdat partijen bereid zijn om af te zien van de vrijheid om voor het ik‐hier‐nu te kiezen, ten gunste van een betere uitkomst voor allen. Zijn landen bereid om zich kwetsbaar op te stellen en zelfs een deel van hun soevereiniteit op te geven voor een werkbare internationale orde – of groeit het wantrouwen? Het mislukken van deze ronde kan grote gevolgen hebben voor de globale handel, economische groei en sociaal‐politieke stabiliteit. Een mislukking legt bovendien een zware hypotheek op elk volgend globaal overleg – en er staan nog heel wat punten op die agenda: klimaat, biodiversiteit, migratie, veiligheid en terrorisme. Voedsel is springstof in de handen van politici. Zullen zij er op verantwoorde wijze mee omgaan? Dit artikel van Cor van Beuningen, coordinator van het Food First programma, verscheen in het Financieële Dagblad van 5 februari 2011.

Rechtvaardigheid en wereldvoedselvoorziening: een kleine, economische ethiek

gezichtspunt van wat rechtvaardig is. Daarbij gaat het om een kleine, economische ethiek van de wereldvoedselvoorziening en de gevolgen daarvan voor het beleid. Vooraf volgt een korte situatieschets.

Situatieschets

R. Jongeneel1, jaarwisseling 2012/13

Volgens een recente FAO-studie leiden circa 925 miljoen wereldbewoners honger. Bijna twee derde daarvan (578 miljoen mensen) leeft in Azië, terwijl de rest zich vooral concentreert in Sub-Saharisch Afrika. Honger is sterk gekoppeld aan armoede: mensen die niet in staat zijn om voedsel te kopen of het zelf te verbouwen. Daarnaast is er sprake van ‘verborgen honger,; mensen die een chronisch tekort hebben aan essentiële voedingsstoffen, zoals jodium, vitamine A en ijzer. Die groep telt zo’n 2 miljard mensen. Honger maakt mensen kwetsbaar voor ziekten, verminderd hun fysieke werkkracht en leidt in geval van kinderen tot achterblijvende groei en hersenontwikkeling.

Inleiding Het kernprobleem van de economie is hoe we als samenleving op een zo doelmatige, efficiënt mogelijke manier in de behoeften en noden kunnen voorzien. Daarin zijn tal van keuzes mogelijk die meer of minder gunstig uitpakken. De economische wetenschap is primair keuzewetenschap en probeert inzicht te geven in hoe dit zo slim mogelijk te organiseren, daarbij rekening houdend met de relatieve schaarste aan middelen.

Volgens prognoses zal in de periode van 2010 tot 2050 de wereldbevolking stijgen van ongeveer 6.9 miljard mensen naar ongeveer 9 miljard mensen. Veel mensen die in de opkomende economieën leven, zullen met het stijgen van de welvaart ook hun consumptiepatroon aanpassen en bijvoorbeeld meer vlees gaan eten. Verder is de zogenaamde bio-economie in opkomst, waarbij bronnen die voor voedsel kunnen worden gebruikt ook worden ingezet voor biobrandstofproductie. Deze drie factoren leiden naar verwachting tot een enorme toename van de vraag naar landbouwproducten en grond.

Van de menselijke behoeften is de behoefte aan voldoende voedsel van goede kwaliteit er een die weinig toelichting behoeft; voedsel is een basisbehoefte en de voorziening erin is essentieel voor leven en gezondheid. Een volwassen mens heeft per dag gemiddeld 2100 kilocalorieën aan energie uit voeding nodig. Daarnaast speelt voedsel ook een belangrijke rol als bron van genot en bij tal van belangrijke gebeurtenissen, of ze nu vreugdevol of verdrietig zijn, religieus of seculier. Als het gaat om de voedselvoorziening spelen markten, koop en verkoop een belangrijke rol. Er is wel productie voor eigen gebruik (subsistentielandbouw) en binnen gezinnen en families is er een stuk herverdeling waarbij de markt buiten spel staat, maar over het geheel is de rol van markten toch ook hier dominant. Bovendien geldt dat, zoals ook met veel andere sectoren is gebeurd, de landbouwmarkten een steeds meer globaal karakter hebben gekregen. Er wordt veel met voedsel gesleept, vaak lokaal, maar in toenemende mate ook over de hele wereld.

De huidige voedselproductie wordt geschat op circa 7 gigaton aan graanequivalenten (GE)2. Om de groeiende bevolking te kunnen voeden is 12 gigaton GE nodig. Als alle mensen een Europees eiwitrijk dieet willen, komt er nog eens 6 gigaton GE bij. Als 10 procent van onze huidige energieconsumptie uit biobrandstoffen zou moeten komen, komt er nog eens 5 gigaton GE bij. Alles bij elkaar genomen betekent dat een benodigde groei van de gewasproductie tot circa 23 gigaton GE (meer dan een

In dit artikel willen we de economie van vraag en aanbod, productie en behoeftevoorziening nader onder de loep nemen vanuit het

2

Deze berekeningen hebben een ruw karakter en er liggen allerlei veronderstellingen achter. Hier is ervoor gekozen het grote plaatje neer te zetten en de nuances even weg te laten. De berekeningen gebaseerd op het werk van mijn collega Martin van Ittersum. Zie zijn inaugurele rede Future harvest; the fine line between myopia and utopia. Wageningen, Wageningen Universiteit, 2011.

1

Dr. Roel Jongeneel is werkzaam als sectiehoofd Landbouwbeleid bij LEI Wageningen-UR en als universitair docent bij de Leerstoelgroep Agrarische Economie en Plattelandsbeleid, Wageningen Universiteit.

1

komen. Die overconsumptie leidt tot gezondheidsproblemen (obesitas) en op den duur schadelijke zwaarlijvigheid.

verdrievoudiging ten opzichte van het niveau van vandaag). De geschetste groei van productie van voedsel voor humane en dierlijke consumptie is niet nieuw wanneer deze wordt vergeleken met de toename van de vraag in de laatste 50 jaar van de vorige eeuw. Toen verdubbelde de wereldbevolking van 3 tot 6 miljard en steeg de gewasproductie met circa 2 procent per jaar. Echter, de omstandigheden in 2012 verschillen nadrukkelijk van die van de vorige eeuw. Toen kon nog extra land worden ingezet, maar nu zijn er wat dat betreft meer beperkingen. De groei zal nu vooral moeten worden gerealiseerd door groei van de productie per hectare en niet zozeer door toename van het aantal hectares.

Een tweede issue is dat van de bio-energie, of nog algemener gesteld, de biobased economy. Gewassen en gewasresiduen -materiaal dat in principe geschikt is voor menselijke voeding of als veevoer- is ook bruikbaar voor de productie van biobrandstof en als grondstof voor andere producten (bijvoorbeeld biologische plastics). Een aantal landen, waaronder de EU, de VS en Brazilië, hebben mandaten afgegeven waarin wordt aangegeven dat een bepaald aandeel van de brandstof die gebruikt wordt voor transport uit bio-energie dient te bestaan. Dat creëert een heel nieuwe vraag, die in potentie bovendien van grote omvang is.

Uit agronomisch onderzoek blijkt dat de aarde wel 36 gigaton GE zou kunnen produceren, mits men er in slaagt de yield gap (het verschil tussen de werkelijke productie en de potentieel haalbare landbouwproductie per hectare) met circa 80 procent te reduceren. Technisch gezien lijkt er dus geen belemmering om de groeiende wereldbevolking ook in de toekomst te kunnen voeden, al is tegelijk duidelijk dat dit een enorme inspanning van onderzoek en beleid zal vragen.

In de VS verdwijnt op dit moment al circa de helft van de maisproductie zo in de tank. Wereldwijd gezien wordt op dit moment ca. 45% van granen, rijst, sojabonen, etc. gebruikt voor voedsel, 45% als veevoer en circa 10% voor biobrandstoffen. Sommige landen hebben al aangegeven op termijn een significant deel van de transportbrandstof via bio-energie te willen dekken. De EU opteert voor 10% bijmenging in 2020 (zit nu ongeveer op de helft). De potentiele impact van de energievraag kan groot zijn, afhankelijk van waar het beleid op wil inzetten. Zou men 10% van de energievraag uit biobrandstoffen willen halen, dan zou daarvoor de hele huidige landbouwproductie nodig zijn.

De mogelijkheden op wereldschaal zeggen nog niets over de grote uitdagingen waar nationale en regionale overheden zich mee geconfronteerd zien. De harde praktijk is dat veel mensen het slachtoffer zijn van chronische honger; ze hebben wel behoeften en er is in principe wereldwijd ook voldoende voedsel beschikbaar, maar hun koopkracht is niet toereikend. Naar schatting zijn er ruim 900 miljoen mensen met ondervoeding. Zij zitten in een permanente voedselcrisis. Dit haalt niet elke dag de krant, maar is daarom nog niet minder schrijnend. Poverty amidst of the plenty. Het aantal mensen van de wereldbevolking dat beneden de armoedegrens zit, is de laatste jaren met de crises rond voedselprijzen in 2006 en 2010 sterk toegenomen. Schattingen spreken over zo’n kleine 100 miljoen extra mensen met chronische ondervoeding.

Economische ethiek

Nieuwe issues

Bij ethiek wordt vaak gedacht aan vraagstukken van leven en dood. Zo zijn abortus en euthanasie bekende ethische dilemma’s.. De neiging om ethiek te verbinden met specifieke dilemma’s en grensverleggende ontwikkelingen in de medische wetenschap, creëert het gevaar dat de ethische aspecten van andere zaken onderbelicht blijven, of zelfs helemaal niet als ethische kwesties worden gezien. Dit geldt misschien wel extra voor het terrein van de economie, dat vaak toch al als een apart domein wordt gezien waar eigen regels en een eigen logica geldt.

Naast de toenemende vraag naar voedsel zijn er nog twee andere zaken die aandacht vragen. Allereerst is dat de overconsumptie van voedsel. Wereldwijd zijn er ongeveer evenveel mensen die met een teveel aan voedsel kampen als er mensen zijn die met te weinig rond moeten

Ook in de economie speelt ethiek een rol en het is nodig daar verder op te reflecteren. Er is zelfs sprake van een aparte vakgebied van de economische ethiek. Economische ethiek focust zich op de ethiek van het economisch handelen, de uitkomsten van het economisch proces en de 2

gebruik van die theorieën voor het politieke domein, niet de acceptatie ervan als omvattende leidraad voor het persoonlijk leven.

manier waarop deze worden gerealiseerd en de baten ervan worden verdeeld. Economische ethiek richt zich dus, het gangbare spraakgebruik volgend, op een bepaald domein, net zoals dat geldt voor de medische ethiek.

Er zijn eigenlijk drie rechtvaardigheidsconcepten, ontleend aan de sociale filosofie, die een rol spelen in de economische ethiek. De eerste en oudste is die van het klassieke utilisme. De slogan die daarbij hoort is het streven naar “the greatest happiness for the greatest number”. In economische termen betekent dat dan geluk bevorderen door mensen te laten ruilen3. Dat maakt ze individueel beter af en werkt ook gunstig uit voor de economie als geheel. De economische theorie laat zien dat die ruil-rechtvaardigheid tot een doelmatige of efficiënte marktuitkomst leidt4. Je komt dan terecht in een situatie, waarin het niet mogelijk is om er nog maar één iemand op vooruit te laten gaan, zonder dat er ook iemand op achteruit gaat. Met andere woorden: alle ruilmogelijkheden waarbij sprake is van win-win-situaties zullen worden benut. In die zin leiden ruilrechtvaardigheid en marktwerking tot een welvaartsoptimum. En gegeven de initiële endowments, dat wil zeggen de middelen die een ieder vooraf aan de ruil ter beschikking heeft, leidt ruilrechtvaardigheid ook voor elk individu tot de best mogelijke situatie.

Maar er is nog een ander aspect: economische ethiek probeert zich bij haar ethische afwegingen rekenschap te geven van de eigenheid en de eigen aard van het economische. Dat is belangrijk. Wanneer algemene ethische beginselen of redeneringen plompverloren op de economie worden losgelaten, leidt dit tot allerlei problemen. Een van de reacties op zulk moraliserend denken over economie is de leus “zaken zijn zaken”, waarmee men bepaalde handelingen weer aan de zeggenschap van de ethiek lijkt te willen onttrekken. In zekere zin zit daar iets waars in; zaken zijn ook zaken en in het economisch verkeer spelen eigen fenomenen die om een passende ethische analyse vragen. Zo is het bijvoorbeeld niet duidelijk wat de christelijke norm van de naastenliefde betekent voor onderlinge concurrentie tussen bedrijven. Is dat in strijd met de eis van de liefde? Om die vraag te kunnen beantwoorden is het nodig dat men zich terdege rekenschap geeft van wat concurrentie in de economie eigenlijk betekent en wanneer deze positief is en wanneer negatief. Zo willen we in deze bijdrage naar de voedselvoorziening kijken: als een specifieke economische activiteit, met tal van eigenaardigheden, waar de ethiek relevant is, maar dat vraagt dan wel om een goede analyse waarin economie en ethiek bij elkaar worden gebracht.

Hierbij moet wel worden bedacht dat als iemand in het begin een korte polsstok heeft hij ook na ruil nog niet ver zal kunnen springen. Met andere woorden, als de initiële verdeling ongelijk of ongunstig is, maakt de mogelijkheid tot ruil dit niet slechter, maar het heft de ongelijkheid uit de uitgangssituatie waarschijnlijk maar voor een beperkt deel op. Daar zit dan tegelijk het zwakke punt van de ruilrechtvaardigheid; ze adresseert de ongelijkheid en oneerlijkheid niet die er kan zijn in de uitgangssituatie. Het is in die zin een liberale rechtvaardigheidsopvatting: laat mensen vrij om hun eigen situatie te verbeteren. Natuurlijk, beter deze rechtvaardigheid dan geen rechtvaardigheid, maar tegelijkertijd blijft het een smalle rechtvaardigheid. Het mist een essentieel deel, volgens sommigen zelfs het belangrijkste deel: het vraagstuk van de eerlijke verdeling.

Rechtvaardigheid De opzet van het vervolg is bescheiden omdat slechts een ‘smalle ethiek’ wordt meegenomen. We putten vooral uit theorieën over politieke rechtvaardigheid. Het ethische moment speelt daarin een rol, maar de beschouwde theorieën beogen primair een kader te geven voor het bereiken van ‘politieke rechtvaardigheid’, rekening houdend met de diversiteit van standpunten en overtuigingen zoals die plurale samenlevingen kenmerken. Toch is er in zo’n context een bepaalde mate van overeenstemming en beleidsmatig handelen nodig. De hierna te bespreken rechtvaardigheidstheorieën beogen precies dat te bieden en hopen op brede instemming vanuit de samenleving. Die instemming geldt dan het

3

Zie voor een meer recente, door dit utilisme geïnspireerde opvatting de visie van Von Hayek en de Oostenrijkse school. 4 In termen van Aristoteles zou je dit de vereffenende rechtvaardigheid kunnen noemen. Van vereffenende rechtvaardigheid is sprake als er evenredigheid is in de wederzijdse prestaties in de ruil.

3

denken6. Daarmee zijn Rawls ideeën in zeker mate utopisch, maar als denkkader daarom niet minder waardevol.

Het tweede rechtvaardigheidsbegrip is de rechtvaardigheid zoals John Rawls dat beschrijft in zijn Theory of Justice. Je zou dat hulpbronrechtvaardigheid kunnen noemen. Anders dan het utilisme, betrekt de hulpbronrechtvaardigheid de verdeling en ongelijkheid in de uitgangssituatie wel in de afweging. Rawls hanteert daarbij het bekende voorbeeld, waarin hij mensen vraagt om vanachter een sluier der onwetendheid (veil of ignorance) een cake te verdelen (dus zonder dat men weet welk stukje men straks zelf krijgt). Hij bespeurt dan een tendens om voor een zekere gelijkheid te kiezen. Wie geen belang heeft, heeft de neiging om voor eerlijkheid (de fair share) te kiezen.

De derde vorm van rechtvaardigheid, die van Sen en Nussbaum, gaat nog een stapje verder. Nog sterker dan in de theorie van Rawls ligt daar het accent op het scheppen van mogelijkheden (capabiliteiten). Dat vraagt er om dat mensen in een aantal opzichten goed worden toegerust. Een adequate verdeling van hulpbronnen a la Rawls is daarbij een randvoorwaarde. Sen, en in nog sterkere mate Nussbaum, gaan uit van de menselijke waardigheid. Die vraagt dat mensen de mogelijkheid krijgen om mee te doen in de samenleving. Dat vergt de creatie van mogelijkheden met betrekking tot een aantal basis capabiliteiten. Anders dan bij Rawls vinden ze dat aan ieder daarvan een bepaald minimum moet worden gegarandeerd. Rawls is meer pragmatisch en staat sommige ongelijkheden toe, terwijl Nussbaum dit verwerpt7. Wat hun analyse complex maakt is dat ze niet naar uitkomsten kijken en ook niet alleen naar de beschikkingsmacht over hulpbronnen kijken. Nussbaum gaat zover om minimale waarden of drempelwaarden af te leiden voor een groep van wat zij “essentiële capabiliteiten” noemt8. Het kunnen beschikken over voedsel is daarvan één onderdeel. Waar Nussbaum ook uitgesproken in is, is dat de overheid de plicht heeft te garanderen dat de minimale drempels ook worden gehaald (dat is een recht dat ieder individu ten opzichte van de samenleving heeft).

Rawls trekt hieruit niet de conclusie dat alles gelijk moet zijn. Wel stelt hij dat er naar moet worden gestreefd om de basisgoederen of de basismiddelen van het bestaan en de vrijheden zoveel mogelijk gelijk te verdelen. Als er in de praktijk sprake is van ongelijkheid, dan stelt Rawls dat bij eventuele (beleids)veranderingen deze alleen te verdedigen of rechtvaardigen zijn als ze de ongelijkheid aan basisgoederen verminderen, ofwel de situatie van degenen die in dat opzicht het slechtst af zijn gunstiger maken. Dit wordt ook wel het difference principle, of maxi-min criterium genoemd: laat veranderingen zoveel als haalbaar is ten goede komen aan verbetering van de positie van de meest zwakken en kwetsbaren5. Rawls rechtvaardigheidsbegrip impliceert dus het gelijker maken van de verdeling van de hulpbronnen. De overheid heeft daarin een belangrijke taak om zaken aan te pakken. Wat mensen vervolgens doen en hoe ze hun situatie verder optimaliseren, dat is hun eigen verantwoordelijkheid. Marktwerking en ruil bieden een goede context om dat verder te exploreren. Wat dat betreft is Rawls ook een typisch (neo)liberale sociale filosoof. Een belangrijke veronderstelling achter Rawls theorie van de rechtvaardigheid is dat hij altijd uitgaat van redelijke mensen, met redelijke ideeën, die op een redelijke manier met elkaar tot afspraken kunnen komen. Zijn rechtvaardigheid zou je daarom ook een redelijke of billijke rechtvaardigheid kunnen noemen. De realiteit is vaak anders en weerbarstiger en weerhoudt mensen ervan om vanuit belangeloosheid en redelijkheid te

6

Het jezelf in de schoenen van de ander verplaatsen en dat mede je handelen te laten bepalen vinden we ook terug in de bekende gouden regel zoals die in de Bijbel voorkomt: “wat gij wilt dat de mensen u doen, doe gij hun evenzo”. Ook bij Adam Smith, de vader van de economie, speelde dit element al een rol, met name in het sympathy-begrip uit zijn boek The theory of moral sentiments. 7 Beide stemmen ze overeen in hun streven een politieke filosofie van de rechtvaardigheid te ontwikkelen die recht doet aan de pluraliteit die er in de samenleving is. Men formuleert criteria waarvan men hoopt dat daar in de samenleving een overlapping consensus over realiseerbaar is. Met name Nussbaum gaat een stuk verder dan Rawls (en ook Sen), als ze een pleidooi houdt om op basis van de capabiliteiten-benadering ook dierenrechten probeert te verdedigen. Over dierenwelzijn is er echter noch in de filosofie noch in de politiek sprake van consensus. 8 Zie bijvoorbeeld M. Nussbaum (2011) Mogelijkheden scheppen; Een nieuwe benadering van de menselijke ontwikkeling. Amsterdam, Ambo Anthos Uitgevers.

5

In Aristoteliaanse termen is dit de verdelende rechtvaardigheid. In de verdelende rechtvaardigheid gaat het om de verdeling van materiële en immateriële goederen.

4

ontwikkeling (R&D). De bestedingen daaraan zijn de laatste decaden sterk verminderd en dat pakt niet goed uit voor de innovatie in de landbouw. Er wordt door diverse auteurs gesproken over een productivity slowdown: een achterblijvende groei in de opbrengsten per hectare van gewassen.

Zowel de benadering van Rawls, als die van Sen en Nussbaum refereren aan mensenrechten en een zeker minimum aan rechtvaardigheid, waarbij de menselijke vrijheid (en dus ook de pluraliteit in de samenleving) zo goed mogelijk wordt gerespecteerd c.q. veilig gesteld. Je zou hun benadering kunnen zien als een vertolking van een zekere mate van medemenselijkheid, waarin aan een ieder een eigen plekje wordt gegund. Wie kijk naar de fundering zoals beide benaderingen die hebben in een vorm van een sociaal contract, kan net zo goed aan het eigenbelang refereren. In de originaire positie, zoals Rawls die schetst, waarbij je als individu niet weet waar, wanneer en hoe je geboren wordt, is het immers uiteindelijk in een ieders belang voor een eerlijke of gelijke verdeling te kiezen.

Door de sterk toegenomen vraag naar voedsel (zoals in Azië), de vraag naar veevoer (als gevolg van de toenemende vraag naar een eiwitrijk dieet) en de vraag naar biobrandstoffen, stijgt de totale vraag momenteel sneller dan de aanbodontwikkeling kan bijhouden. Dat leidt tot dalende voorraden en stijgende prijzen. Vanwege het fragiele evenwicht tussen overschot en tekort in landbouwmarkten neemt de prijsvolatiliteit toe en kunnen acute schaarste situaties ontstaan. De situatie wordt nog erger als exporteurs van landbouwproducten hun exporten dreigen te blokkeren, teneinde hun eigen binnenlandse voorziening in stand te houden. De OECD heeft er al een aantal keer op gehamerd dat exportbeperkingen slecht zijn voor de wereldwelvaart en eigenlijk net zo verstorend zijn als de oude prijssteun van weleer. Maar de landen die het aangaat, lijken daar maar slap op te reageren. Verwonderlijk is dat niet: als het erop aan komt is het hemd immers nader dan de rok.

Een belangrijk punt om op te merken is nog dat opeisbaarheid c.q. realisatie van de rechten (op basisgoederen of capabilities) alleen echt te realiseren is binnen nationale gemeenschappen (landen). Zowel Rawls als Nussbaum hebben zich met de internationale dimensie bezig gehouden, maar daar liggen de zaken veel moeilijker.

Beleid rond voedsel en landbouw De vraag dringt zich op wat het bovenstaande betekent voor het beleid met betrekking tot landbouw en voedsel. In het algemeen kan worden gezegd dat overheden zich nadrukkelijk met landbouw en voedsel bezig houden. Dat geldt zowel in welvarende alsook in ontwikkelingslanden. In welvarende landen werd de landbouwsector vaak gesteund. Dit droeg bij aan een efficiënte en moderne landbouwproductie. Voedsel werd goedkoop en uit de landbouw kwamen arbeidskrachten vrij die elders in de economie konden worden ingezet. In ontwikkelingslanden werden de consumenten ondersteund (in plaats van de producenten). Dit deed men door voedselprijzen laag te houden (en voedsel dus te subsidiëren). De keerzijde ervan was vaak dat ook de producenten lage prijzen ontvingen en de ontwikkeling van een gezonde en doelmatige eigen landbouwsector niet echt van de grond kwam.

Wat betekenen die hiervoor genoemde ethische opvattingen nu voor het landbouw- en voedselbeleid? Vier zaken dringen zich op: Allereerst is voedsel een basisgoed en ook een cruciale capabiliteit. Wie niet voldoende te eten heeft kan in allerlei opzichten niet goed functioneren. De overheid heeft dus een actieve rol te spelen daar waar de voedselvoorziening onder het drempelniveau blijft van datgene wat mensen nodig hebben. Het vraagt creativiteit en actief beleid om dit te realiseren. Naast de beschikbaarheid is het vooral de toegang tot voedsel die van belang is. Voor landen die normaal voedsel exporteren, is het vanuit de ethiek gezien volstrekt rationeel om die export te beperken als de zaak binnenlands door een voedselcrisis uit de hand dreigt te lopen en bepaalde bevolkingsgroepen in de knel komen. Het hemd is nader dan de rok, ook in de ethiek. In de tweede plaats heeft de overheid een verantwoordelijkheid voor een adequate eigen productie of zeker gestelde toegang tot voedsel (voldoende beschikbaarheid). Dat laatste kan bijvoorbeeld via vrij internationaal verkeer. Echter, we hebben gezien dat er snel een kink in

Inmiddels zijn beide vormen van support sterk afgebouwd. De overheid heeft zich teruggetrokken. Dat geldt niet alleen haar bemoeienis met markten en prijzen, maar ook haar rol met betrekking tot onderzoek en

5

de kabel kan komen als er sprake is van calamiteiten. Exporteurs kunnen ineens stoppen met leveren en prijzen schieten omhoog. Gezien het belang dat vanuit de ethiek wordt gehecht aan een voorziening in de basisbehoefte aan voedsel en dit recht op de overheid geclaimd wordt, moeten overheden zorg dragen voor een ontwikkeling van de eigen landbouw en, meer algemeen, van de ontwikkeling van het platteland en de rurale gebieden.

met betrekking tot de aanwending van landbouwproducten voor non-food bestemmingen, bijdrage aan voorraadvorming en beheer en de handelspolitiek.

Conclusie Er is in de economie (net zoals bij banken) sprake van zoiets als een “zorgplicht”. De kern van de economie is immers een doelmatige en adequate behoeftevoorziening. Een randvoorwaarde bij de economische behoeftebevrediging is niet alleen dat de markt luistert naar koopkrachtsignalen van bemiddelden en welgestelden, maar ook dat er genoeg is van het noodzakelijke voor iedereen. De conclusie die uit economische ethiek van Nussbaum en Sen kan worden getrokken is dat daar met prioriteit aandacht aan dient te worden gegeven. Dit wordt erkend door de grote sociaal-politieke rechtvaardigheidstheorieën, ook die van een liberale snit.

Een derde aspect is het gebruik van voedsel voor industriële, non-food aanwendingen, inclusief voor de productie van bio-energie. In termen van prioriteiten is het bijmengen van bio-energie voor de transportsector duidelijk iets dat op het tweede plan komt nadat de voorziening van voedsel voor een ieder die dat nodig heeft is veilig gesteld. Bovendien is de vraag naar biobrandstoffen erg kunstmatig en beleidsafhankelijk. Onder de vigerende prijsverhoudingen is de opname van bio-energie slechts van beperkte betekenis; het is het overheidsbeleid dat de doorslag geeft. Dit beleid moet zodanig zijn dat het belang van een adequate voedselvoorziening tegen redelijke prijzen ten alle tijde voorrang krijgt. De vraag naar biobrandstof moet een variabele functie worden gemaakt van de voedselsituatie.

Praktisch gezien vraagt dit om zorg voor landbouwsystemen en de basisfunctie die ze hebben: voldoende voedsel, tegen redelijke prijs, faire beloning voor hen die erin werken. Dit alles met inachtneming van heldere randvoorwaarden met betrekking tot de belasting van het milieu en behoud van biodiversiteit. De liberalisatie van het landbouwbeleid en het zich terugtrekken van overheden uit R&D past daarin niet. Er is dringend correctie van het beleid nodig, zowel in arme als in rijke landen. Dat omvat meer aandacht voor de aanbodkant (investeringen in productiviteitsverhogingen en innovatie) en meer aandacht voor de vraagkant (allocatie en verdeling).

Een vierde factor die in de steeds meer globaliserende wereld adressering verdient, is de internationale dimensie. De ethiek van de ruilrechtvaardigheid benadrukt het belang van vrij internationaal economisch verkeer om zo optimaal te profiteren van internationale arbeidsdeling. De rechtvaardigheidstheorieën van Rawls en Nussbaum erkennen dat ook op het niveau van de wereldorde de rechtvaardigheidsvraag dient te worden gesteld, maar zien dat het dan wel een moeizaam verhaal wordt. Niettemin zijn er aanknopingspunten om op basis van hun werk ook van een (beperkte) internationale verantwoordelijkheid met betrekking tot het landbouwbeleid te spreken. Met name van grote producenten en/of exporteurs mag worden gevraagd dat ze zich bewust zijn van wat hun rol en opstelling betekent voor de beschikbaarheid en toegang tot voedsel wereldwijd. Als het gaat om de ontwikkeling en de beheersing van productie en productiecapaciteit hebben zij een constructieve rol te spelen9. Dat geldt dan ook voor hun beleid

Het goede nieuws is dat sinds de voedselprijzencrisis (2006-2008) de politieke en maatschappelijke aandacht voor het thema voedselzekerheid enorm is gestegen. Het thema is daarmee tegelijkertijd ook enorm gepolitiseerd en dat is, zoals de voortgang met betrekking tot het behalen van de Millenniumdoelen treffend laat zien, geen garantie dat het echte probleem ook daadwerkelijk en op een effectieve manier wordt aangepakt. Zelfs voor mensen met een minimum aan rechtvaardigheidsgevoel is dat onverteerbaar.

9

Sen heeft met zijn bekende analyse van hongersnoden soms de suggestie gewekt dat voedseltekorten alleen een kwestie van verdeling zijn en niet van absolute tekorten. Maar, zoals we in de inleiding al lieten zien, is er zeker met het

oog op de toekomst voldoende reden om ook zorg te hebben voor een adequate stijging van de productie (zie mededeling Niek Koning).

6

J Agric Environ Ethics DOI 10.1007/s10806-012-9392-0 ARTICLES

The Organic Food Philosophy: A Qualitative Exploration of the Practices, Values, and Beliefs of Dutch Organic Consumers Within a Cultural–Historical Frame Hanna Scho¨sler • Joop de Boer • Jan J. Boersema

Accepted: 22 March 2012  The Author(s) 2012. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Abstract Food consumption has been identified as a realm of key importance for progressing the world towards more sustainable consumption overall. Consumers have the option to choose organic food as a visible product of more ecologically integrated farming methods and, in general, more carefully produced food. This study aims to investigate the choice for organic from a cultural–historical perspective and aims to reveal the food philosophy of current organic consumers in The Netherlands. A concise history of the organic food movement is provided going back to the German Lebensreform and the American Natural Foods Movement. We discuss themes such as the wish to return to a more natural lifestyle, distancing from materialistic lifestyles, and reverting to a more meaningful moral life. Based on a number of in-depth interviews, the study illustrates that these themes are still of influence among current organic consumers who additionally raised the importance of connectedness to nature, awareness, and purity. We argue that their values are shared by a much larger part of Dutch society than those currently shopping for organic food. Strengthening these cultural values in the context of more sustainable food choices may help to expand the amount of organic consumers and hereby aid a transition towards more sustainable consumption. Keywords Organic consumption
Food culture
Sustainable development
Sustainable food choice
Human values
Worldview

H. Scho¨sler (&)
J. de Boer
J. J. Boersema Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] J. de Boer e-mail: [email protected] J. J. Boersema e-mail: [email protected]

123

H. Scho¨sler et al.

Introduction Food consumption has been identified as an area of key importance if the world wants to progress towards more sustainable consumption (Carlsson-Kanyama and Gonza´lez 2009; Stehfest et al. 2009). In Western societies, such as The Netherlands, this implies a transition towards less animal-derived proteins (Aiking 2011; Reijnders and Soret 2003) and, in general, more carefully produced food. This transition will not be easy, however, because the relationships between food producers and consumers are bounded by many economic, cultural, and geographic constraints, and all food seems to be embedded in a contested discourse of knowledge claims (Goodman and DuPuis 2002). Moreover, to consumers, changes towards more sustainable food patterns seem only worthwhile when the changes not only enable their pursuit of lifestyles with a lighter environmental burden but are also perceived as rewarding (de Vries and Petersen 2009). Organic food has the potential to meet these demands because it is more sustainable (Badgley et al. 2007; Thøgersen 2010) and because it has become increasingly popular with consumers all over the world (IFOAM 2011). In order to fully utilize this potential, it may be necessary to better understand the cultural context of the choice for organic food, because the cultural changes that will be needed to shift towards a more sustainable society and associated food choices are profound (Aiking 2011). In the past, several marketing studies have been done to identify consumer segments where market share can be increased (Aertsens et al. 2009; Hughner et al. 2007). Within this line of research, however, it tends to be forgotten that the emergence of organic food is associated with reflexive consumption (Goodman and DuPuis 2002) and cultural changes in Western societies (Campbell 2007). Also, and of particular interest, organic consumers seem to refuse a passive role in the food system. Taking an active role may enable them to resolve the alleged contradiction between environmentally responsible behavior and a satisfying life (Brown and Kasser 2005), for example, by understanding themselves as part of a natural order (Taylor 1989). Hence, in the present paper we have chosen to put the cultural dimension of organic consumption central, because it may help to explain more in-depth what makes alternative food choices so valuable to these consumers. As Crompton (2011) argues, particular cultural values motivate people to express concern about a range of environmental and social problems, and such values are associated with action to tackle these problems. Our ultimate objective is therefore to derive insights that can facilitate the much needed transition towards more sustainable consumption patterns (Crompton 2011; Jackson 2005). The approach on which our work is based can be characterized as an extended case study, which analyses the practices of particular individuals (i.e., the cases) in light of cultural patterns that have developed over several centuries. The purpose of this approach is to understand the case and its theoretical significance (Small 2009; Yin 2003). For theory development, a cross-case analysis involving about ten individuals may provide a good basis. A key theoretical concept in our understanding of the individual is the personal ‘‘food philosophy’’ that he or she might hold. A food philosophy refers to a cluster of practices, values and beliefs that evolves over a long period of time within a particular cultural context and is shared

123

The Organic Food Philosophy

on a collective level. The notion of a food philosophy is inspired by the concept of a worldview (Naugle 2002) or an inescapable framework (Taylor 1989). These concepts refer to the cultural backdrop against which people orientate themselves on questions of what is good, valuable, admirable, and worthwhile (Hedlund-de Witt 2011). This backdrop, however, is largely implicit and unarticulated, and people may be unaware of its influence or even resist it (Taylor 1989). However, through the interpretation of empirical interview data, one can uncover an underlying coherence or sense that can generate a better understanding of important dimensions of human life (Taylor 1971). Based on the literature, we will explore the food philosophy of the organic movement by providing a concise historical and cultural background. To analyze the personal food philosophies of current organic consumers, we will present findings from qualitative interviews conducted with individuals in The Netherlands. The interviews were conducted in 2010 as part of a bigger project that investigated food practices, values, and beliefs among the Dutch population. The case selection was based on the sampling for range approach, in which the researcher identifies subcategories within the study’s population and interviews a given number of people in each subcategory (Weiss 1994). The subcategories were delineated according to the different food-related orientations identified in previous survey research (de Boer et al. 2007). The representative survey among Dutch citizens indicated four distinct value-orientations towards food based on the degree of involvement with food and a motivational focus on promotion versus prevention.1 For our research, we focused on the ‘‘reflective’’ orientation, which entails a careful and mindful use of food and a preference for responsible products (i.e. high involvement combined with a prevention focus). The organic consumers were selected to represent this orientation towards food. According to the survey results, the ‘‘reflective’’ orientation can be found among roughly 14 % of the Dutch population (de Boer et al. 2009). As mentioned before, however, the present study does not search for statistical significance, but for theoretical significance. A more qualitative, interpretive approach is needed in order to reveal greater depth and meaning of consumer practices (Hughner et al. 2007). By combining insights into the cultural dimensions of the organic movement with insights into the individual’s motivation for using organic products, we will try to facilitate a more complete understanding of these consumers’ practices, values and beliefs and the potential influence thereof on a more sustainable diet—more precisely, a diet less reliant on meat. In sum, the present paper is organized into three sections. First, it provides a concise cultural background of organic food. Next, it presents the results of a qualitative interview study with consumers of organic food in The Netherlands.

1

Promotion and prevention are key concepts of Higgins’s psychological motivation theory (Higgins 1997), generally, a promotion orientation makes the person sensitive to gains, accomplishments, and advancement needs. In contrast, a prevention orientation makes the person sensitive to safety, responsibility, and security needs.

123

H. Scho¨sler et al.

Finally, the paper discusses the overall relevance of our findings in the context of the transition towards a more sustainable food system. However, before moving on, we briefly reflect upon the assumption made above that organic food consumption is indeed part of a more sustainable diet that benefits social and environmental systems as well as human health (Lang and Heasman 2004). Organic farming is defined as a holistic production management, which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health and avoids the use of synthetic materials to fulfill any specific function within the system (Codex Alimentarius 1999). Furthermore it adheres to the principle of health as a state of holism, self-regulation, regeneration, and balance and is exemplified by Lady Eve Balfour’s quote ‘‘healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy people’’ (IFOAM 2011). Despite these desirable goals, there has been some controversy about the degree to which organic production can contribute to sustainability, given the increased amount of land that organic production requires at the cost of nature reserves (Tilman et al. 2001) and the arguable benefits in terms of biodiversity (Hodgson et al. 2010). On the other hand, it has also been shown that organic agriculture is capable of feeding the world sustainably (Badgley et al. 2007), especially if farming practices that mitigate climate change are also sufficiently employed (Badgley and Perfecto 2007; Scherr and Sthapit 2009). In considering the market of organic food, however, fundamental contradictions have been identified between mainstream agro-industrial and alternative movement conventions, because increases in scale and standardization lead to the bifurcation of the organic sector and the watering down of its original values (Buck et al. 1997; Constance et al. 2008). Thus, a globalizing organic agro-food sector risks susceptibility to similar ills it aimed to cure in the first place (Raynolds 2004). For instance, although it is debatable whether organic agriculture as a whole is becoming conventional, there is a growing influence of conventional agro-food commodity chains in certain sub-sectors of organic agriculture in The Netherlands (de Wit and Verhoog 2007). While acknowledging that trends towards conventionalization in the sector and the development of an organic industry add another set of problems to the sustainability debate, it is crucial to also note the sector’s role in society. At the very least the trend towards organic can be seen as a valuable driving force that stimulates conventional agriculture to adopt more ecologically integrated methods and inspires consumers to adopt new values and ideals that can give direction to more sustainable food practices (Lang and Heasman 2004). The consumption of organic food has also been discussed in the context of a shift in worldviews that is taking place in the West (Campbell 2007). According to Campbell, healthy and environmentally-friendly food consumption is something that is perceived as deeply satisfying and meaningful. The choice for organic food may have an underestimated religious undertone, providing people with purpose in life and a means to reconnect with nature (Campbell 2007; Pilgrim and Pretty 2010). Such orientations towards food may be understood in the context of contemporary spirituality and can have an important role in facilitating the transition towards a more sustainable society (Hedlund-de Witt 2011). It is the food philosophy associated with the trend towards organic that we are particularly interested in.

123

The Organic Food Philosophy

A Concise Background on the Organic Movement To gain insights into the cultural dimensions of the organic movement, a two-step research approach was used. In the first step, we identify long-term trends in Western culture that have shaped the origins and the development of the organic and natural foods movement. It should be emphasized, however, that it is not possible within the scope of this paper to give a complete and historically accurate description of these topics. In this exploration, we had to limit ourselves to highlighting some major themes. Food has always been an important symbol that can reveal what conceptions of nature our culture affords and how people might derive identity from it (Douglas 1966; Fischler 1988; Montanari 2006). Specifically, we used philosopher Charles Taylor’s acclaimed Sources of the self: The making of the modern identity (1989), because it provides a solid background on the development of Western culture and addresses in depth how changing patterns of thinking affected our conceptions of nature and the natural. The second step of our approach summarizes the history of organic food since the nineteenth century. In bringing together these particular works on culture and food, we tried to identify those cultural ideas that distinguish organic consumers and characterize their lifestyles. In Sources of the Self. The making of the Modern Identity, Taylor suggests that modern Western culture, even though it is now characterized as fragmented and pluralistic, builds essentially on two divergent cultural orientations. These orientations are highly relevant to understanding alternative food philosophies. They can be loosely tied to the period of Enlightenment in Western history and the Romantic era. The Enlightenment inspired patterns of thought that emphasize a rational understanding and scientific reasoning about reality, which implies abstraction and objectification of the world and the natural phenomena one can observe. In this sense, it broke away from the mystical understanding of nature that used to be dominant prior to the Enlightenment (Glacken 1967). Nature, which includes the human body, is understood by constructing a correct representation of it in one’s mind, thus making it a neutral object to observe and study (Taylor 1989). This implies that nature has no meaning beyond its function and a value that is only dependent on utility. Reason empowers people to study and observe the natural world, which in turn can lead to ideas that nature can be controlled and manipulated. Taylor (1989) argues that this objectification and instrumentalization of nature leads to a separation from nature and our moral independence from it. Partly as a reaction to the instrumentalization of nature, Taylor (1989) argues that Western culture turned to creativity, intuition, and expressivity as a means to re-unify with nature. Mankind is then seen as an integral part of a larger order of living things that nourishes human life and creates bonds of solidarity within a mutually sustaining web of life. Even though Romantic religions of nature have died away, Taylor (1989: 384) argues that ‘‘the idea of being open to nature within us and without is still a very powerful one that is grounded in the understanding that mankind is part of a larger order of living beings, in the sense that their life springs from there and is sustained from there.’’ This more embodied orientation towards nature inspires thinking that people should be careful and try to do no harm to

123

H. Scho¨sler et al.

nature. In this perspective, or even ‘‘way of being,’’ nature is included in people’s representations of self (Schultz et al. 2004), and forms a part of their identities. As a result, modern culture is characterized by the tension between the two big constellations of ideas (i.e., Enlightenment and Romantic views), and this tension becomes particularly manifest in the form of controversies about sustainability issues (Taylor 1989). The divergent cultural ideas are also directly reflected in the history of organic food. While nowadays there is a more prominent link between the organic movement and environmental activism forming in the late 1960s (Foss and Larkin 1976), the roots of the organic movement actually run deeper. Ideas around organic farming developed almost independently in German and English speaking countries about a century ago. In Germany it was part of an influential movement that became known as the Lebensreform and consisted of various Reform movements resisting increasing industrialization, use of technology, materialism, and urbanization that were shaping a new way of life. The Reform movement promoted the return to a more natural way of living that consisted of vegetarian diets, physical training, natural medicine and going back to the land (Vogt 2007). Food was important due to its direct link with the natural environment, the agriculture’s dramatic mechanization and industrialization, the loss of rural lifestyles and the associated selfsufficiency and independence (Vogt 2007). Countries undergoing similar changes in the food system, such as Germany, The Netherlands, England and the United States, all exhibited cultural responses similar to the Lebensreform (van Otterloo 1983). The Dutch Reform movement was directly triggered by the developments taking place in Germany (ibid). Many people perceived the dramatic societal changes and the loss of traditional rural lifestyles as a threat to their moral independence. A self-regimented way of living and control over one’s body were symbolic in averting this danger (Barlo¨sius 1997). The Reform movement was therefore associated with a moderate, sometimes ascetic lifestyle. It enabled the individual to feel self-determined and to live according to one’s own moral and ethical principles, independent from behavioral prescriptions of government and industry. For example, the use of processed food products was avoided on these grounds. Due to its visibility and daily practice, food consumption was an exceptionally suitable domain for individuals to express their commitment to an ethical and self-determined lifestyle purely founded on one’s ideals (ibid). Vegetarianism was an important part of the lifestyle promoted by the Reform movement (Barlo¨sius 1997), as the consumption of meat is traditionally a morally contested practice (Fiddes 1991). Followers also turned against products of the upcoming food industry and banned instant or canned products. Also, natural stimulants, such as tobacco, coffee, alcohol, sugar, and strong spices, were rejected. Instead, raw vegetables and whole-wheat products were preferred (Barlo¨sius 1997). The essential question raised by the reformers was how human needs in general should be satisfied, which explains why the movement was equally concerned, for example, with housing, clothing, and sexuality. The human body was conceived as a nexus of the individual’s needs and the constraints of the societal system.

123

The Organic Food Philosophy

Gusfield (1992) describes cultural changes very similar to the Lebensreform associated with the American ‘‘Natural Foods Movement.’’ The movement had its origins in the 1830s, a period of intense religious reawakening and deep concern over the immorality and crime associated with increasing urbanization and the loss of traditional bodies of authority. One of the key reform thinkers was Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister. He opposed modern food technology and considered the unrefined, the coarse, the pure, and the raw to be healthy qualities while the refined, the smooth, the processed, and the cooked, respectively, were objectionable (ibid). He dismissed refined white bread, the icon of the upcoming food industry, because it had less fiber than the common whole-grain breads and was baked outside the home. Stimulating foods, such as meat, coffee, sugar, or alcohol, were equally abject because they were believed to excite the body in an unhealthy manner, just like sexual desires would. What characterized the philosophy was the capital importance of self-discipline and self-control against the temptations surrounding the individual. The various organic and natural foods movements were not very successful until the 1960s. It was the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962) that became a turning point for both the modern organic and environmental movement (Kristiansen and Merfield 2006). Silent Spring brought a whole new set of arguments against industrial farming, in addition to those that the organic movement had been pushing for many decades. Several new movements took up the moral stance towards food and continue to promote a more vegetarian diet and consumption of organic food. Hamilton et al. (1995) suggest that this food ‘‘alternativism’’ is often associated with New Age philosophy and a spiritual worldview (see also: Hedlund-de Witt 2011). In fact, various studies claim that natural and health foods can be viewed in a spiritual context (Campbell 2007; van Otterloo 1983, 1999) and can be linked to spiritual practice, such as mindfulness meditation (Jacob et al. 2009). From the very beginning, spirituality was also incorporated in the Lebensreform by reformers like Rudolf Steiner, who laid the spiritual foundations of organic farming (Kirchmann et al. 2008). The steady popularity of his esoteric philosophy, Anthroposophy, illustrates that the movement is still influential today. Nevertheless, people can also identify with ‘‘eating green’’ for more secular reasons (Jamison 2003). The same is true for the feeling of connectedness to nature (Hyland et al. 2010). In summary, the insights provided above highlight a number of themes that may explain why organic consumption has been characterized as part of a distinctive way of life (Schifferstein and Oude Kamphuis 1998). These themes include a strong resistance towards food industry and technology, because they were perceived to impose consumption patterns that conflict with particular moral norms. Instead, people tried to conserve their independence and self-determination by orienting towards nature within as a source of morality. The inward orientation of their philosophy often led to spiritual associations and a belief that human needs are not only satisfied by material needs. Self-determination was associated with the practice of a moderate lifestyle—the (partial) abstinence from meat and other ‘‘unnatural’’ foods. In the following section, we compare these insights with the food philosophies of contemporary organic consumers by discussing a cluster of themes that emerged from the interviews we conducted with consumers in The Netherlands.

123

H. Scho¨sler et al.

Food Philosophies of Current Organic Consumers In this section we move on to the findings from the interviews. Using the sampling for range approach (Weiss 1994), we contacted 33 people via different avenues. 13 of them were assigned to the subcategory of organic consumers. Organic consumption in The Netherlands is growing steadily, but is still rather low, compared with other European countries (Bakker 2011). The total market share in The Netherlands in 2009 was 2.3 % (ibid). Roughly one-third of organic food is sold at specialized organic stores.2 As we were interested in consumers who are relatively highly involved with food, we secured interviews with ten people we approached in organic stores in two Dutch cities, Amsterdam and Groningen, the former a more metropolitan, big city and the latter a more rural, small city. Other subcategories of participants were acquired from a hobby-cooking club, the Slow Food organization and at regular supermarkets. The data used in this paper come from the participants approached in the organic shops; other participants that mentioned they regularly use organic food were also included. Altogether 9 women and 4 men participated, varying in age from 18 to 76. Given that women shop more often in organic shops (Hughner et al. 2007), this distribution is acceptable; even so, women were also somewhat more willing to participate. The participants’ level of education was relatively high (ten had graduated from university), but they were not particularly wealthy. About half of them were self-employed and had an artistic or creative background. It seemed that their daily routines were comparatively flexible, enabling them to visit farmers’ markets during the day or prepare a midday meal at home. The interviews were introduced as a study on food practices in The Netherlands. There was no prior mentioning of themes relevant to the objectives of this study, such as environmental sustainability or organic food consumption. The researchers engaged participants in conversations aided by some simple questions asking them to describe what they had eaten the day prior to the interview, how they had prepared their meals, and how they shopped for food. These questions were only meant to start the conversation, and participants were allowed to develop their own stories from there, introducing topics that were relevant to them. The interviewers limited their interference to posing questions, inviting participants to further engage in topics that they had brought up. The conversations lasted roughly an hour and were held, if possible, in participants’ homes or, otherwise, in a public space. They were taped and transcribed verbatim. The real names of respondents are not provided to ensure their anonymity. The interviews were analyzed according to the grounded theory approach (Charmaz 2006). This approach encourages the researcher to learn what participants’ lives are like and to be sensitive to how they explain their statements and actions. Subsequently, she constructs a theory that is ‘‘grounded’’ in the data, instead of using preconceived, logically-deduced hypotheses (Glaser and Strauss 2009). The analytical process involved coding the interview material and constructing 2 We refer here to stores that sell the majority of their goods with organic, fair-trade or bio-dynamic certification. They typically also store Japanese foods and health food supplements.

123

The Organic Food Philosophy

conceptual categories from the emerging codes. The analysis of the interview data gave rise to three analytical themes that shed light on the food philosophies of organic consumers in The Netherlands. First, we discuss participants’ feeling of connectedness with nature. Second, we discuss the notion of awareness. Third, we explain the value of purity. Connectedness with Nature Participants expressed a philosophy of ‘‘doing what feels natural.’’ Their concern for the naturalness of food made the choice of organic and seasonal foods attractive. They described feeling connected with nature, which triggered feelings of care and responsibility for animals and the natural environment. Nature, however, was not perceived as a separate entity. Rather, participants felt an integral part of nature. Care for nature, therefore, also meant to care for one’s physical and mental health, as well as striving for vitality and overall well-being. For example, participants expressed their sense of connection by expressing how season changes and other natural processes correspond to changes in their physical and mental constitution, such as the following participant. At the farmers’ market, there’s a clear offer of the season […] I find it interesting to do something with the cabbage the moment it’s there in wintertime, because I find it fits with the moment, because I have different needs and, then, I like to eat differently. (Mary) Through their connectedness with nature, participants explained their discovery of the various interdependencies of food and nature. They also became aware of the farmers that farm their vegetables, and they became more sensitive to the issues of familiarity, trust and geographical vicinity. Vegetables I buy organic. I have a veggie box. […] To me it’s important that it’s farmed with care and that it has travelled as little as possible. And that it’s as seasonal as possible, that it comes from a familiar environment […] I try to think about the consequences of my consumption for the rest, for the environment […] I think, first came the environment and gradually I’ve created a connection with the farmers, because it’s nice that he knows about us, and you see him every week, and now there is a strong social tie. (John) One participant, who was also a practitioner of Japanese yoga, explained that it is part of her food philosophy to eat food that is native to her home region and seasonal. She explained that the natural environment influences her inner constitution, and the consumption of food is a vital mediator in this. As various foods have different effects on the body, her goal is always to achieve a balanced constitution by matching the food she selects to the needs of her body. The participant described how she uses her feeling and intuition to access this source of knowledge. Your constitution is also partly a result of the weather or the water that you drink. The vegetables that grow here in wintertime, like root celery, are typically warming vegetables. So, that’s perfect, because that’s exactly what

123

H. Scho¨sler et al.

we need then. So, it’s natural to eat what’s in season here and now […] I grow physically and mentally stronger, simply because I eat the food that’s compatible with my momentary constitution. […] I eat based on my perception of my own body […] It is very intuitive, actually. (Katie) Another participant, who felt inspired by ideas from the macrobiotic and Chinese food philosophies, described a similar connection and a longing for a more intuitive relationship with nature. She argued that people have lost part of their connectedness to nature and, thus, also their intuition about what is the right way to eat. The philosophy is that you’re one with the cosmos, with the environment. So your food should be seasonal […] and you try to eat the food that belongs with the climate you live in. I’m not so strict. When asked why this philosophy appeals to her, she replied: I like its intangible character. Centuries back, humans had to live with nature; they were dependent on it and adapted to it completely: with the seasons, with the moon. And all this knowledge has been lost. […] In China it’s still more alive, but Europeans also had it. […] It’s a certain feeling about how things need to be done that you cannot explain. But, in our society, this feeling with nature and your environment has weakened. I find it really interesting to try and get [this feeling] back. (Sally) The connectedness with nature was also evident in people’s concern for animals. All participants watched their meat consumption closely and had considerable concern about animal welfare and the inhumane treatment of animals in the agricultural industry. Most of them were or had for periods in their lives been vegetarians. All reported cooking vegetarian food regularly, as well as frequently buying organic meat–meat that is produced in a more responsible manner. If they find buying organic meat too expensive or if it is unavailable, they prepare vegetarian meals. Participants felt that they should eat meat in moderation, and they often doubted the healthiness of regular meat consumption. On top of this, animals were generally seen as sentient fellow creatures with a right to live under natural circumstances, such as those organic farms try to provide. Therefore, the consumption of organic meat was an acceptable alternative for participants. They strongly opposed intensive livestock farming systems, because, to them, the animals are treated like a commodity. I don’t like the fact that animals are seen as products. Maybe that’s not the worst…but I think you have to treat animals differently from a bag of cookies. It’s hard to explain, but it just feels wrong to me. (Lauren) We do eat meat, but not regularly. And if we do, it’s always organic. […] What I find really important is the care for the animal. (Mary) Awareness Cooking and eating, especially with family and friends, were often described as a crucial moment of tranquillity and awareness in a busy life. Participants associated

123

The Organic Food Philosophy

the moments that they can engage with food with a sense of well-being and happiness. They described their enjoyment in focusing on activities such as the food preparation, setting the table, making the plates look attractive, and eating the food. To them, these moments are in contrast to other daily activities, in which they often feel rushed and superficially engaged. Participants described a heightened awareness of their surroundings, as well as an awareness of their feelings and emotions. I feel happy when I cook, when I have the time to do that […] Enjoying is not only related to food, though, it’s more about what happens here around me. In the evening I have the sun here and then, in combination with being outside, the tranquillity. Sitting here at the table and simply eating something tasty, that’s what makes me happy. […] To me, that’s the ultimate pleasure: to find the peace and time to have awareness for that. (Mary) It has a lot to do with attention and love. […] I try to really make contact with food. (Emmy) It can be really nice to enjoy food together, but I can also do it alone: when I’m really in the moment and enjoy what I eat or what I do in that moment, without really thinking about it. I mean, my head’s always occupied, so I really enjoy when there are no thoughts, when I’m fully engaged in the moment. Of course, it should be a pleasant moment. Yes, that gives me peace and relaxation. (Lauren) As these participants describe, their moments of awareness and attention to food were often qualified by the absence of thought and a feeling of being immersed in the activity of cooking or eating. This engagement and intense experience of the moment was something that fulfilled them with joy and peace. As the participant describes in the second quote, she establishes a sense of connection with her food by giving it attention. Participants’ awareness of the present moment made the entire context of a meal more salient. They experienced the sensual qualities of a meal: what the food looks like, what it smells and feels like, and what are the particular circumstances of the moment. All these factors contributed to the satisfaction they could derive from a meal. Likewise, they reported that their enjoyment of food was hampered when there was no time to pay attention. What I really hate is rush. If there’s rush, then all enjoyment is gone. That’s really important. Then you don’t see things anymore and you don’t taste them anymore. (Thomas) Engaging with food is the ultimate enjoyment for me, to find the tranquillity to have awareness for it. And stress or unhappiness I associate with having to eat an instant pizza, when I have no other choice. (Mary) A heightened sensitivity to how one’s body responds to food was also a dimension of participants’ awareness. They frequently stated they rely on their senses to tell them what food they should eat. They listened to their bodies, when they wanted to find out how they should eat to feel good.

123

H. Scho¨sler et al.

For a few years I didn’t eat meat. I didn’t react well to it, so I changed my food pattern. I felt better […] I noticed that my body responds in a certain way to everything I eat. So, if you eat something and it gives you stomach ache, you don’t want to eat that anymore. (Mary) You adjust what you eat to your constitution […] you judge your constitution by sensing what food does to you. So, if you take the energy from food, if you feel that something warms you up, you get a warm tummy, or often I notice my hands getting warm. (Katie) This heightened awareness also included sensitivity towards one’s emotional responses. Participants described how particular food-related experiences—either pleasant or disturbing—made such a profound impression on them that they had a sustained influence on their food practices. I visited a slaughterhouse a few times when I was 16. I have two uncles who are butchers. I saw how the cows got a pin shot in the head and the pigs were electrocuted so quickly and immediately hung on the hook while all is still moving. That gave such an impact that shortly after I stopped eating meat. (Thomas) I used to have a Scottish boyfriend. He made a lot of things himself, baked his own bread, all very idyllic. He was a fisherman by profession and through him I saw and learned about the fish, about the sea, about the salmon, the fish farms and the consequences […] and I guess because of him, for me now the only alternative is to choose organic meat and sustainable fish. It’s got to do with being engaged with your personal environment, what happens around you. (Mary) There seemed to be a link between awareness and the intensity of memories that people described in relation with food. All participants had vibrant memories of formative experiences related to food, which they described in colorful details. Obviously, food consumption was often intimately tied to their emotional experiences and, therefore, left a deep mark on their memories. Purity Participants had developed particular strategies to decide how to eat and what is good to eat. Central to these strategies was the participants’ self-determination and the idea that they behave according to their personal values and their individual intuition. They tended to have the opinion that ‘‘we’’ don’t know what we are eating because food producers mix substances together and thereby obscure people’s choices. Since it has become extremely difficult for consumers to judge the quality and composition of the food they buy, participants categorized food according to their understanding of purity (and related concepts, such as simple, basic, whole, and raw). In what follows, we scrutinize in more detail what participants meant by these qualifications and how they enacted them in their practices. Purity was associated with food in a material sense, but also in an immaterial sense, as it referred to the moral purity of a particular food choice.

123

The Organic Food Philosophy

I like my food to be pure. I cook with few spices, so that the original taste of the product is preserved. The product remains itself, and you can really taste it. (Thomas) I used to put too many things together, and then you don’t taste the pure flavour. So, I went back to cooking pure food. I never buy instant stuff. If I prepare a sauce, I simply start from scratch– that’s more pure […] As soon as I lose myself in all kinds of ingredients that I don’t understand, the more processed things are, the further estranged from the original product, the less attractive I find them to be. (Mary) Participants associated purity with making sure that the essence of the food is preserved. Thus, authenticity and originality were important, in terms of sensual food qualities like taste, appearance, smell, and feel. To preserve this essence, participants kept meals simple and ingredients few. Excessive use of spices, for example, was believed to obscure the true identity of the food. As the second citation illustrates, preparation from scratch was also important, as it helped participants to be aware of all ingredients. Therefore, when shopping, participants searched for raw foods, and they avoided processed foods, which were associated with artificial preservatives, chemical residues, E-numbers and added sugars. Also, the number of ingredients in a product served as an indicator of its purity. For example I don’t like instant yoghurts with readily added fruit and whatever ingredients there might be. I simply buy plain yoghurt, and then I add whatever I want to add. So, I know what I add. Pure… I prefer to buy the basics and then I’m in charge of mixing things. (Mary) Another participant described the difference between the food that simply fills up the body and the food that really has the ability to nourish. He preferred foods that he considered whole and complete in terms of nourishment. For instance, I hardly go for Chinese take-away. You’re stuffed with feed rather than food. You get lots of rice, a tiny bit of vegetables and proportionally lots of meat. When asked what distinguishes ‘‘food,’’ he replied: Well, food is the things that take some time to eat and digest, so whole wheat products, rye bread, vegetables, meat, not the things that disappear quickly. (Peter) To him, the quality of food was expressed in the amount of time that was needed to eat something, as well as the length of time that he felt satisfied afterwards. Another strategy to preserve the purity of a food is to try and preserve its natural appearance and form. I like to serve all ingredients of the meal separately, so that they are visible […] you see what you eat, nothing is hidden […] no ornaments or additions that have nothing to do with the original product. (Thomas) Also, when I have visitors, I don’t serve everything hustled in a big pan, but I put things separate. So you can take what you like. Straightforward,

123

H. Scho¨sler et al.

elementary, and the food recognizable. I prefer that nothing is hidden! (Helena) When I say fresh, I don’t just mean the due date, but also that it’s not in cans. I want to pick the food myself; I have to see it for myself. […] I think it’s really important to touch the food […] that’s why I don’t buy canned food; you just can’t see it properly. (Sarah) Participants contrasted ‘‘pure,’’ ‘‘fresh,’’ ‘‘simple,’’ ‘‘basic,’’ ‘‘plain,’’ ‘‘original,’’ or ‘‘organic’’ foods with ‘‘estranged,’’ ‘‘processed,’’ ‘‘instant,’’ ‘‘complex,’’ or ‘‘canned’’ foods. One participant explained that these categories of food reflect not only material qualities of food, but are also associated with her moral beliefs regarding what is a good way to live: When I talk about unsprayed and organic, I mean something more archetypal, more natural. I feel that we are pushed into more and more artificial circumstances in our society. We’re on the wrong track. I think these values that I talked about, just now, awareness, understanding what you need. Of course, one person can need something more than another person, even with food. I mean, some people have the need to travel around the world and then they should do that. But let’s be honest, many people don’t have that ‘need’ they only do it because everybody’s doing it. I like when people really work out for themselves, thinking independently, what they actually need. (Emmy) Thus, the immaterial quality of purity was associated with living a reflective life in which one would try to be modest and sensitive to one’s own needs. This idea was also expressed repeatedly in the importance that participants attributed to temperance. Temperance was perceived as a means to be self-determined and to make choices according to one’s personal values. For example, participants wanted to express gratitude and respect for food, especially when consuming foods originating from animals. People have so many desires they want to satisfy immediately, but tasting is important. I mean, a fish has also been an animal; you don’t just wolf it down. You have to have some respect for it. That’s the kind of temperance we search for. […] My daughter has a different attitude. […] She wants instant satisfaction. And if she’s hungry, something needs to be done about it, immediately. She’s not engaged with taste. (Thomas) Underlying this temperance was the wish to transcend the bodily desire to eat and to appreciate food on an immaterial level. Part of the enjoyment of food was, therefore, contemplating the meal more fully. This partial shift from the material to the immaterial dimension of food was also represented in the shift of attention from quantity to quality. To eat organic meat reflects also my conscious choice to consume less, but better quality. It’s expensive and that’s why I don’t eat meat two days a week. That’s all connected. So I think you can’t view it separately […] and at the end of the week, I’ve spent the same amount as I would otherwise. (Michael)

123

The Organic Food Philosophy

Participants related temperance in their personal food consumption to the boundlessness and overconsumption that they perceived to be the current cultural norm, from which they wanted to distance themselves. The practice of temperance represented to them a shift away from desires and wants and towards their basic needs. It feels best to me to use just what I need. All this excess and overkill that is the norm now doesn’t appeal to me […] What we often do, when we have leftovers, we eat it one day, skip one and then eat it again […] I find it a sign of no respect to throw out food. (Emmy) I think we [Dutch society] have an enormous overconsumption. We use much more than we actually need. (Lauren) I buy what I need and try not to be manipulated by all the advertisements and special offers […] this is what I see many people do: ‘it’s on sale, so I buy it.’ But then at the end of the week, things are past the expiry date and are thrown out. That’s a shame. (Peter) This massive animal industry, I think it’s appalling […] Raising production is an end in itself! People have to buy different clothes every year, because of fashion, because of the economy. It’s insane. (Helena) These quotes illustrate that participants’ particular food choices were associated with a rather critical view of society. They objected to the orientation towards consumerism, and they wanted to resist the manipulative influence of advertising and fashion. The practice of temperance was associated with an orientation inward, towards one’s personal needs, that helped participants maintain an intuitive balance. They referred to the importance of being aware of one’s body in order to assess the boundaries of what is enough and what is good to eat. This is also tied to the awareness that we described in the previous section. I believe you have to eat moderately and healthy […] I think when you are moderate then you don’t fluctuate in weight and in how you feel physically. There is a kind of stability in it. (Theresa)

The Organic Food Philosophy and its Relevance to Sustainability Based on the history of the organic movement and personal stories of current organic consumers, we can highlight some key elements of the organic food philosophy. A central element of the stories was an intuitively felt connectedness with nature that goes beyond their care for plants and trees. It concerns a reflexive relationship with one’s inner nature that is not separate from the ‘‘outer’’ environment and could therefore be described as transcendent (Hyland et al. 2010). In accordance with our findings, Hyland et al. (2010) point out that people usually experience this sense of connection in an all-encompassing way: with regards to nature, places, other people and even the entire universe. This reminds us of Taylor’s (1989) description of the wish to re-unify with nature and to feel an

123

H. Scho¨sler et al.

integral part of a larger order of living things. As the participants described it, experiencing this special connection requires a subtler language of feeling and awareness, which Taylor (1989) refers to as people’s powers of expressivity and creative imagination. Tuning into a special connection with inner/outer nature provides people with purpose in life and a means to reconnect with nature (Pilgrim and Pretty 2010). In terms of Taylor (1989), therefore, the organic philosophy fits in with the Romantic worldview. Campbell (2007) has argued that the popularity of this view is connected with an important shift in the Western worldview, where the belief in a distant, personalized god is slowly being replaced by a belief in an undefined immanent divine force that unites humankind, nature, and the cosmos as one. As a consequence, nature becomes sacred and animals are regarded with reverence, while human superiority and dominion of animal life are discarded (Campbell 2007; Verdonk 2009). Naturally, this shift has profound consequences regarding people’s views of food, because their food practices are imbued with meaning and the moral dimension of food choice becomes more salient (Campbell 2007). This interpretation seems to fit with the Dutch context. The Netherlands has been characterized as one of the most secularized countries in Europe (Knippenberg 1998), but at the same time, strong trends towards contemporary spirituality and religious seekership outside the traditional church have been observed (van Otterloo 1999; Versteeg 2007). Food consumption plays an important role in these trends to maintain a healthy body and mind and to improve oneself spiritually (van Otterloo 1999). This orientation may also explain why participants are not very oriented towards asceticism that played an important role in the Lebensreform and the American Natural Foods Movement but is not mentioned in the literature on contemporary spirituality (Hedlund-de Witt 2011). Nevertheless, while some participants emphasized the religious undertone of their practices, more secular interpretations are also possible and may give rise to the same practices (Hyland et al. 2010). Participants could, for example, equally emphasize the importance of care for animals and nature and the solidarity they feel with other people. In general, it seems that a more value-laden approach to food is in line with the times. Another key element is that the participants shared their self-determined, moral outlook on life. As Hamilton et al. (1995) put it, food practices of people with this orientation are pervaded by ‘‘a concern which goes beyond the material, a desire for a meaningful life, a moral life, one which is in harmony and balance, a desire for mental peace, even perhaps simply contentment and happiness.’’ Gusfield (1992) and van Otterloo (1983) add that this orientation can be understood in the context of the individual that wants to protect her (moral) values against the pressures of civilization. A healthy, natural lifestyle and the discipline to abstain from desires that are constantly aroused by a consumption-oriented environment are experienced as part of the good life. Within this context, the relevance of moral themes, such as purity and temperance with regards to food (Kass 1994; Rozin et al. 1997), is evident, and it also emphasizes the timeliness of the ideas associated with the Reform movements. A limitation of our study is that our description of organic and natural foods movements in Western countries was supplemented with an analysis of the food philosophy of organic consumers from only one of these countries, The Netherlands.

123

The Organic Food Philosophy

This does not enable us to shed more light on the food philosophy of consumers in other Western countries that show similar, but not identical trends of changes in the food system, such as the United States, England and Germany. Although we expect the same basic tension between Enlightenment and Romantic views in these countries, there are many contextual variables that could be important to organic consumers. In particular, differences in transparency between organic and conventional agriculture can be reinforced by contextual factors, such as marketing strategies. In the United States, for instance, organic is framed as a ‘‘marketing label,’’ and there seems to be more polarization between the organic and the conventional food chain than in Western Europe (Klintman and Bostro¨m 2004). This means that organic consumers may have divergent opinions on the distinctive advantage of organic foods, dependent on the type of market or the maturity of the market in their country (Wier et al. 2008). Future work should examine whether such differences in opinion are also associated with basic differences in food philosophy. The question now is what is the relevance of the organic food philosophy for a transition towards a more sustainable food system? This question can be addressed at the level of individual behavior, in terms of being an example for conventional consumers, and at the level of social forces, in terms of having an effect on the organization of food systems. As Goodman and Dupuis (2002) note, although organic food consumption is not based on a formal social movement, the philosophies of these consumers appear to constitute a vital force in society. Therefore, the food philosophies can help to interpret societal trends and contextualize ongoing developments. Most importantly, the food philosophies were associated in a theoretically meaningful way with a number of practices that are considered more sustainable than conventional ones, namely the moderate consumption of meat, the choice for seasonal and organic ingredients and the use of less processed and fresh products (Carlsson-Kanyama and Gonza´lez 2009; Thøgersen 2010). This linkage may provide significant cultural leverages—that is, values that motivate people to express concern about environmental and social problems and invite them to adopt more environmentally friendly lifestyles (Crompton 2011). More specifically, there are at least four leverages that should be mentioned in the Dutch context. The first is cultivating the value of connectedness with nature. The second is cultivating the relationship between awareness and wellness. The third refers to increasing the transparency of moral aspects that are hidden in many food choices. And the fourth is shaping and supporting social norms that reflect the intrinsic value of temperance. In what follows, we discuss some examples of how these leverages could be applied. Feeling connected with nature contributes to a feeling of responsibility and care for other creatures and the natural environment (Taylor 1989). In the context of making more sustainable food choices, connectedness with nature is a value that needs strengthening, for example, in the context of urban development. Examples of how this can be done are the development of urban agriculture to enable cities to feed themselves from within or from its neighboring communities (Dixon et al. 2009; Morgan and Sonnino 2010). Various big cities, such as New York and London, are already working on food strategies for the future. Trying to localize food production, wherever feasible, is an important component of these strategies

123

H. Scho¨sler et al.

(Morgan and Sonnino 2010). Also, new supermarket concepts that experiment with growing their products on site are interesting in this regard. More generally, initiatives that strengthen people’s knowledge about the multiple links between food and nature, planting, harvesting, and preparation may serve to increase a feeling of connectedness and they are also in line with the wish for a more natural, selfdetermined way of living that was expressed in the Reform movements. Second, we discussed the value of awareness. As the interviews illustrated, participants experienced independence and self-sufficiency, because they felt they could rely on their personal judgment regarding what is good to eat. This autonomy and the feeling of awareness itself were perceived as satisfying, also because participants felt that they were making choices in line with their personal values. By relying on their intuition and personal values, they felt less prone to external sources of influence, such as advertising. In terms of Taylor’s framework, awareness is a crucial part of the expressive worldview, because it is a means to connect with inner/outer nature as a source of morality. Policy makers should acknowledge that this expressivity is a fundamental characteristic of Western culture that also pervades people’s relationship with food (Delind 2006). They may profit from this fact by communicating about often implicit underlying values associated with more sustainable food consumption. Third, we discussed purity as a way of living a more meaningful, moral life (Campbell 2007; Hamilton et al. 1995). The critical, idealistic approach of organic consumers has stimulated the development of environmentally relevant certification and labeling systems, which exerts continuous pressure on producers to raise sustainability standards of their production and supply chains (de Boer 2003; Lewis et al. 2010). Labeling efforts have also served to delineate between conventional and organic standards, providing a visual prompt to facilitate the purchase of more responsible products among a larger group of consumers (Morris and Winter 1999). These labels demonstrate the salience of appealing to moral motives held by a core group in society, increasing the number of people that can make more responsible choices with less effort on their part. Fourthly, against the background of the organic philosophy, the need for personal behavior change can more easily be acknowledged and achieved. An important part of the Reform movement was about people’s capacity for moral self-improvement as a practice of self-determination (Barlo¨sius 1997). Temperance, the consumption of pure foods, and abstinence from meat were all ways in which Reformers practiced their moral values. As the interviews illustrated, these practices are still in use today (de Boer et al. 2007). Policy makers may implicitly or explicitly support social norms that reflect the intrinsic value of temperance. This could be done, for example, by promoting the consumption of large amounts of meat as normatively unacceptable.

Conclusion In this study, we have made an exploratory effort to contribute to a better understanding of the cultural context of organic consumption. We have done this by

123

The Organic Food Philosophy

trying to combine two levels of analysis: on the one hand, a top-down perspective on long-term developments in Western culture; on the other, a bottom-up perspective on contemporary organic consumers’ practices, values, and beliefs. We have identified some important themes relevant to organic consumers today, and we have shown how these are rooted in a typically Western cultural background. Organic consumption is interesting from the perspective of more sustainable food choices. Despite controversies regarding the expansion of organic production, the organic movement as a whole can be seen as a valuable driving force that stimulates the continuous improvement of food quality and inspires consumers to adopt new values and ideals that can give direction to more sustainable food practices. The feeling of connectedness with nature, awareness and purity are values that can be strengthened culturally in relation to food. Acknowledgments We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of an earlier version of this paper for their helpful comments. The lead author also thanks the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich for hosting her as a visiting fellow and providing support for the finalization of this manuscript. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.

References Aertsens, J., Verbeke, W., Mondelaers, K., & van Huylenbroeck, G. (2009). Personal determinants of organic food consumption: A review. British Food Journal, 111(10), 1140–1167. Aiking, H. (2011). Future protein supply. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 22, 112–120. Alimentarius, Codex. (1999). Guidelines for the production, processing, labelling and marketing of organically produced foods. Rome: FAO. Badgley, C., Moghtader, J., Quintero, E., Zakem, E., Chappell, M. J., Avile´s-Va´zquez, K., et al. (2007). Organic agriculture and the global food supply. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 22(02), 86–108. Badgley, C., & Perfecto, I. (2007). Can organic agriculture feed the world? Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 22(02), 80–86. Bakker, J. (2011). Monitor Duurzaam Voedsel 2010. Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, The Hague [in Dutch]. Barlo¨sius, E. (1997). Naturgemäße Lebensführung: Zur Geschichte der Lebensreform um die Jahrhundertwende. Frankfurt/Main: Campus Verlag GmbH. Brown, K., & Kasser, T. (2005). Are psychological and ecological well-being compatible? The role of values, mindfulness, and lifestyle. Social Indicators Research, 74(2), 349–368. Buck, D., Getz, C., & Guthman, J. (1997). From farm to table: The organic vegetable commodity chain of Northern California. Sociologia Ruralis, 37(1), 3–20. Campbell, C. (2007). The easternization of the West. A thematic account of cultural change in the Modern era: Paradigm Publishers. Carlsson-Kanyama, A., & Gonza´lez, A. D. (2009). Potential contributions of food consumption patterns to climate change. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 89(5), 1704S–1709S. Carson, R. (1962). Silent spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Constance, D. H., Choi, J. Y., & Lyke-Ho-Gland, H. (2008). Conventionalization, bifurcation, and quality of life: A look at certified and non-certified organic farmers in Texas. Southern Rural Sociology, 23, 208–234.

123

H. Scho¨sler et al. Crompton, T. (2011). Finding cultural values that can transform the climate change debate. Solutions Journal, 2(4), 56–63. de Boer, J. (2003). Sustainability labelling schemes: The logic of their claims and their functions for stakeholders. Business Strategy and the Environment, 12(4), 254–264. de Boer, J., Boersema, J. J., & Aiking, H. (2009). Consumers’ motivational associations favoring freerange meat or less meat. Ecological Economics, 68(3), 850–860. de Boer, J., Hoogland, C. T., & Boersema, J. J. (2007). Towards more sustainable food choices: Value priorities and motivational orientations. Food Quality and Preference, 18(7), 985–996. de Vries, B. J. M., & Petersen, A. C. (2009). Conceptualizing sustainable development: An assessment methodology connecting values, knowledge, worldviews and scenarios. Ecological Economics, 68(4), 1006–1019. de Wit, J., & Verhoog, H. (2007). Organic values and the conventionalization of organic agriculture. NJAS-Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, 54, 449–462. Delind, L. (2006). Of bodies, place, and culture: Re-situating local food. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 19(2), 121–146. Dixon, J. M., Donati, K. J., Pike, L. L., & Hattersley, L. (2009). Functional foods and urban agriculture: Two responses to climate change-related food insecurity. New South Wales Public Health Bulletin, 20(2), 14–18. Douglas, M. (1966). Purity and danger; an analysis of the concepts of pollution and taboo. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Fiddes, N. (1991). Meat. A natural symbol. London: Routledge. Fischler, C. (1988). Food, self and identity. Social Science Information, 27, 275–292. Foss, D. A., & Larkin, R. W. (1976). From ‘‘The gates of Eden’’ to ‘‘Day of the locust’’. Theory and Society, 3(1), 45–64. Glacken, C. J. (1967). Traces on the Rhodian shore; nature and culture in western thought from ancient times to the end of the 18th century. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (2009). The discovery of grounded theory (Vol. 4). New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. Goodman, D., & DuPuis, E. M. (2002). Knowing food and growing food: Beyond the production– consumption debate in the sociology of agriculture. Sociologia Ruralis, 42(1), 5–22. Gusfield, J. R. (1992). Nature’s body and the metaphors of food. In M. Lamont & M. Fournier (Eds.), Cultivating differences: Symbolic boundaries and the making of inequality (pp. 75–103). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Hamilton, M., Waddington, P. A. J., Gregory, S., & Walker, A. (1995). Eat, drink and be saved: The spiritual significance of alternative diets. Social Compass, 42(4), 497–511. Hedlund-de Witt, A. (2011). The rising culture and worldview of contemporary spirituality: A sociological study of potentials and pitfalls for sustainable development. Ecological Economics, 70(6), 1057–1065. Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 20. Hodgson, J. A., Kunin, W. E., Thomas, C. D., Benton, T. G., & Gabriel, D. (2010). Comparing organic farming and land sparing: Optimizing yield and butterfly populations at a landscape scale. Ecology Letters, 13(11), 1358–1367. Hughner, R. S., McDonagh, P., Prothero, A., Shultz, C. J., & Stanton, J. (2007). Who are organic food consumers? A compilation and review of why people purchase organic food. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 6(2–3), 94–110. Hyland, M. E., Wheeler, P., Kamble, S., & Masters, K. S. (2010). A sense of special connection, selftranscendent values and a common factor for religious and non-religious spirituality. Archive for the Psychology of Religion/Archiv für Religionspsychologie, 32, 293–326. IFOAM. (2011). The world of organic agriculture -statistics and emerging trends 2011. Bonn, Frick: IFOAM, FiBL. Jackson, T. (2005). Live better by consuming less?: Is there a ‘‘Double Dividend’’ in sustainable consumption? Journal of Industrial Ecology, 9(1–2), 19–36. Jacob, J., Jovic, E., & Brinkerhoff, M. (2009). Personal and planetary well-being: Mindfulness meditation, pro-environmental behavior and personal quality of life in a survey from the social justice and ecological sustainability movement. Social Indicators Research, 93(2), 275–294. Jamison, A. (2003). The making of green knowledge: The contribution from activism. Futures, 35(7), 703–716. Kass, L. R. (1994). The hungry soul: Eating and the perfecting of our nature. New York: The Free Press.

123

The Organic Food Philosophy Kirchmann, H., Thorvaldsson, G., Bergstro¨m, L., Gerzabek, M., Andre´n, O., Eriksson, L. O. (2008). Fundamentals of organic agriculture—past and present. In H. Kirchmann & L. Bergstro¨m (Eds.), Organic crop production—ambitions and limitations (pp. 13–37). The Netherlands: Springer. Klintman, M., & Bostro¨m, M. (2004). Framings of science and ideology: Organic food labelling in the US and Sweden. Environmental Politics, 13(3), 612–634. Knippenberg, H. (1998). Secularization in The Netherlands in its historical and geographical dimensions. GeoJournal, 45(3), 209–220. Kristiansen, P., & Merfield, C. (2006). Overview of organic agriculture. In P. Kristiansen, A. Taji, & J. Reganold (Eds.), Organic agriculture: A global perspective (pp. 1–23). Collingwood, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. Lang, T., & Heasman, M. (2004). Food wars. London: Earthscan. Lewis, K. A., Tzilivakis, J., Warner, D., Green, A., McGeevor, K., & MacMillan, T. (2010). Effective approaches to environmental labelling of food products. Appendix A: Literature review report. London: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Montanari, M. (2006). Food is culture. New York: Columbia University Press. Morgan, K., & Sonnino, R. (2010). The urban foodscape: World cities and the new food equation. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 3(2), 209–224. Morris, C., & Winter, M. (1999). Integrated farming systems: The third way for European agriculture? Land Use Policy, 16, 193–205. Naugle, D. K. (2002). Worldview: The history of a concept. Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pilgrim, S., & Pretty, J. N. (2010). Nature and culture: An introduction. In S. Pilgrim & J. N. Pretty (Eds.), Nature and culture. Rebuilding lost connections. London: Earthscan. Raynolds, L. T. (2004). The globalization of organic agro-food networks. World Development, 32(5), 725–743. Reijnders, L., & Soret, S. (2003). Quantification of the environmental impact of different dietary protein choices. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 78(3), 664–668. Rozin, P., Markwith, M., & Stoess, C. (1997). Moralization and becoming a vegetarian: The transformation of preferences into values and the recruitment of disgust. Psychological Science, 8(2), 67–73. Scherr, S. J., & Sthapit, S. (2009). Mitigating climate change through food and land use. Washington: Worldwatch Institute. Schifferstein, H. N. J., & Oude Kamphuis, P. A. M. (1998). Health-related determinants of organic food consumption in The Netherlands. Food Quality and Preference, 9, 119–133. Schultz, P. W., Shriver, C., Tabanico, J. J., & Khazian, A. M. (2004). Implicit connections with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24(1), 31–42. Small, M. L. (2009). How many cases do I need? Ethnography, 10(1), 5–38. Stehfest, E., Bouwman, L., van Vuuren, D., den Elzen, M., Eickhout, B., & Kabat, P. (2009). Climate benefits of changing diet. Climatic Change, 95(1), 83–102. Taylor, C. (1971). Interpretation and the sciences of man. The Review of Metaphysics, 25(1), 3–51. Taylor, C. (1989). Sources of the self: The making of the modern identity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Thøgersen, J. (2010). Country differences in sustainable consumption: The case of organic food. Journal of Macromarketing, 30(2), 171–185. Tilman, D., Fargione, J., Wolff, B., D’Antonio, C., Dobson, A., Howarth, R., et al. (2001). Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change. Science, 292(5515), 281–284. van Otterloo, A. H. (1983). De herleving van de beweging voor natuurlijk en gezond voedsel. Sociologisch Tijdschrift, 10, 507–545. van Otterloo, A. H. (1999). Selfspirituality and the body: New age centres in The Netherlands since the 1960s. Social Compass, 46(2), 191–202. Verdonk, D. J. (2009). Het dierloze gerecht: Een vegetarische geschiedenis van Nederland. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Boom. Versteeg, P. (2007). Spirituality on the margin of the church: Christian spiritual centres in The Netherlands. In K. Flanagan & P. C. Jupp (Eds.), A sociology of spirituality. Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Vogt, G. (2007). The origins of organic farming. In W. Lockeretz (Ed.), Organic farming: An international history. Oxfordshire: CAB International.

123

H. Scho¨sler et al. Weiss, R. (1994). Learning from strangers. The art and method of qualitative interview studies. New York: The Free Press. Wier, M., O’Doherty Jensen, K., Andersen, L. M., & Millock, K. (2008). The character of demand in mature organic food markets: Great Britain and Denmark compared. Food Policy, 33(5), 406–421. Yin, R. K. (2003). Applications of case study research. California: Sage.

123

Carlo Petrini

Joris Lohman: Slow Food Slow Food is een opkomende trend in Nederland. Met Slow Food wordt voedsel bedoeld wat eerlijk en zo duurzaam mogelijk geproduceerd is, en goed bereid. Maar er zit meer achter. Slow Food is een internationale organisatie, met zo’n 100.000 leden in meer dan 150 landen. Slow Food oprichter en president Carlo Petrini, die al bijna vijfentwintig jaar strijdt voor lekker, puur en eerlijk eten, is deze week in Nederland. Petrini uitte zich gisteravond op een conferentie georganiseerd door het Slow Food jongerennetwerk (SFYN) teleurgesteld over de beslissingen omtrent het nieuwe Gemeenschappelijke Landbouwbeleid (GLB), waar de EU afgelopen week een besluit over nam. Volgens Petrini heeft Europa de strijd verloren en gaan we, als de landbouw aan de hand van dit nieuwe beleid gaat werken, een nare tijd tegemoet waarin we de agrarische sector en groene aarde tekort doen en ons leven ondermijnen. Politieke criminaliteit, stelt hij. Door steeds te focussen op produceren van méér voedsel creëren we een ongezond systeem waarin multinationals steeds groter worden en kleine producenten de pineut zijn, waarin antibiotica en GMO's de wereld dienen en waarin we uiteindelijk met lege handen overblijven. Dit terwijl de productie van voedsel niet het probleem is: voedsel wordt verkeerd verdeeld en er wordt onzorgvuldig mee omgegaan, maar er is genoeg voor de monden die gevoed moeten worden. Goed voedsel wordt weggegooid omdat het niet aan de esthetische eisen voldoet; voedsel wat anderen kan voeden. Voedsel heeft zijn waarde verloren. Volgens Petrini heeft iedereen de taak om deze disbalans te erkennen, en belangrijker nog, te strijden voor een gezonder voedsellandschap. Een speciale boodschap had hij voor zijn jonge publiek:

'Wees visionair, droom, en ben gek. Maar ben ook pragmatisch en sta met beide benen op de wereld. Strijd voor een betere wereld.' Slow Food is opgericht in 1986, toen MacDonalds zich vestigde in hartje Rome. Als antwoord op het fast food in het leven van de Italianen, besloot Petrini samen met enkelen anderen een beweging op gang te brengen die zich inzet voor een toekomst met een gezonder voedsellandschap: Slow Food. Petrini richt zich daarbij niet alleen op het promoten van 'goed, lekker eten', maar ook op de verspilling van eten, het belang van de agrarische sector en het gemeenschappelijke landbouwbeleid.

J Agric Environ Ethics (2012) 25:657–674 DOI 10.1007/s10806-011-9331-5 ARTICLES

Are There Ideological Aspects to the Modernization of Agriculture? Egbert Hardeman • Henk Jochemsen

Accepted: 30 July 2011 / Published online: 19 August 2011  The Author(s) 2011. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Abstract In this paper we try to identify the roots of the persistent contemporary problems in our modernized agriculture: overproduction, loss of biodiversity and of soil fertility, the risk of large animal disease, social controversies on the lack of animal welfare and culling of animals, etc. Attention is paid to the historical development of present-day farming in Holland as an example of European agriculture. We see a blinkered quest for efficiency in the industrialization of agriculture since the Second World War. Key factor is the cultural mindset at the foundation of our modern society, originating from the ideas of the enlightenment. It makes people vulnerable to ideologies, causing them to focus on a certain goal without considering the consequences. Due to the overemphasis on efficiency, modern industrial agriculture has never been comfortably embedded in its ecological and social context, and as a result displays the characteristics of an ideology. The cause of the inability to solve today’s problems is therefore deeper than simply a failure to apply the right mix of standard remedies. Unless stakeholders in farming start to counter this very one-sided approach to efficiency, modernization will continue to cause all kinds of friction. The implications of the results for agricultural policy, farming and further research are discussed. Keywords

Agriculture
Culture
Modernization
Ideology
Enlightenment

Introduction After lying quiet for many decades, foot and mouth disease (FMD) hit Europe with vengeance in 2001. With the transportation of animals, the virus again spread E. Hardeman
H. Jochemsen (&) Wageningen University and Research Centre, Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN Wageningen, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected]

123

658

E. Hardeman, H. Jochemsen

through Western European countries, including the Netherlands. In that country, the culling of 260,000 biungulates that followed was a traumatic event for many Dutch farmers as well as for many other people: why did the Government act so harshly towards these animals and their owners? Why had these animals not been vaccinated? and at a more general level: why were these animals simply treated as production machines without intrinsic value? (See e.g., Korthals 2004; Van der Ziel 2008). This FMD crisis painfully demonstrated the many misconceptions that exist regarding agriculture amongst both the Government and the people generally. But above all, it highlighted the problems and controversies in modern agriculture. Other examples are the debate on genetic modification, the manure surplus, the alleged tension between agriculture and nature, and so on. Many authors have debated why modern agriculture is beset with so many serious drawbacks and not only the number of issues is worrying, but also their apparent insolubility. Problems often seem to have a solution, yet these solutions in turn often bring new problems. We investigate this problematic side of contemporary agriculture. How can we deal structurally with this issue, and arrive at better farming practices? To answer this question, we develop a three-stage argument. First, we briefly deal with the history of modern agriculture and identify a number of factors and trends that typify its basis and character. For practical reasons we concentrate on the Netherlands, but regard the developments in this country as a reflection of what is happening in the industrialized world generally. For some readers this may be pretty obvious material, but to enable readers who are less acquainted with this subject we begin our argument with some widely published historical notes since those historical processes harbour the root of the developments highlighted in this paper. Secondly, we pay attention to the deeper level of cultural-ethical motives behind the industrialization of agriculture. We do so since, in our view, we must go beyond general policy solutions to reveal the roots of the tensions and the resistance to solutions. This analysis will result in a useful framework for identifying the origin of many contemporary problems of industrial agriculture. Finally, we arrive at new conclusions regarding the origin of the structural problems, which may provide the key to better agriculture.

Notes on the Recent History of Agriculture Around 1850, a predominantly agricultural era in Western Europe came to an end (Van Bruchem and Visser 2004). Dutch farmers were confronted with falling prices for their products, while at the same time the cost of labor, water management, and taxes increased (all due to several wars). Technology was introduced, using the possibilities created by the Industrial Revolution. As a result, the volume of the food production was no longer restricted by human labor and hence by the growth rate in the population (Bieleman 2008). Since then, developments in agriculture have accelerated. Factors that should be mentioned are the introduction of chemical fertilizers and the rapid expansion of means of transport (Schelhaas 2003). Farming transformed rapidly into a stock-

123

Are There Ideological Aspects

659

breeding activity focused on exports (Bieleman 2008). This already led to the first worldwide crisis in 1878, as demand did not meet the supply of cheap food products (Van Bruchem and Visser 2004). This consistent tendency to over-produce was a feature of agriculture up to the Second World War and life for farmers remained tough. After World War II, agricultural activities were diligently resumed. The history of the decades following World War II can be summarized into several general developments. Because these are widely recognized, they need only be mentioned briefly. The first is mechanization: the process of replacing human work forces and techniques with machines and technological procedures (for an overview, see Priester 2000). The second salient development is intensification, in this case meaning the increase in production per hectare or per animal. The third development is specialization, where farms focus only on one type of crop or activity, e.g., dairying, pig-keeping, poultry, or maize. The leading role of science and technology is the fourth development to be mentioned. Agronomic research has focused on the increase of productivity per unit of labor through the use of new technologies and capital. Hence it underlies— among others—developments in plant breeding, resistance to disease, artificial insemination, and the feed conversion rate (Bieleman 2000b, 2008). The final development to be mentioned is the increase in the scale of farming, which has been vigorously stimulated by Government and the education of farmers. Four subprocesses can be distinguished: re-allotment, the introduction of non-land-based farms, the growth in their size, and the decrease in their number (Van Bruchem and Visser 2004; Bieleman 2008).

Trends Behind the Industrialization of Agriculture This very concise description of the developments in Dutch agricultural history since the Second World War can be summarized in one word: industrialization. The developments described are closely interrelated. More specific, common trends can be identified. Some of these trends have given rise to the developments mentioned earlier. Others can be seen rather as their result. In this chapter we identify the most important of them. Note that in actual fact, the distinction between the trends is not always as clear as described here. They often overlap and occur simultaneously. Decreasing Marginal Return Many changes in modern agriculture take place in a context of decreasing revenues and increasing costs (van Bruchem and Visser 2004). Although market prices always fluctuate in each sector of the economy, agriculture is characterized by long periods of low prices and short periods of high prices (Schelhaas 2003). At the same time, the costs of necessary inputs in agriculture keep pace with general inflation: feed, labor, land, and machine prices have increased constantly. Hence, farmers seemed to have no alternative but to participate in the developments of mechanization, intensification, and specialization in order to maintain a reasonable

123

660

E. Hardeman, H. Jochemsen

income. Dutch farmers’ income is clearly below the national average (LEI 2007), and agricultural income per manpower unit is expected to continue to fall (LEI 2010). The Government’s Major Role The Government fulfils an essential role in agricultural industrialization; some even argue that it would never have developed the way it did without explicit government intervention (Van der Ploeg 1999). The Government forcefully restored agriculture and its related infrastructure following their destruction in by World War II. For example, funds such as the Borgstellingsfonds (Security Fund) stimulated a rapid mechanization (Bieleman 2008). But the Government planned a more profound change of the very structure of agriculture, adopting a top-down approach of laws and regulations (Visser 2010). Its mission was to ensure a stable and sufficient food supply at a fair consumer price, combined with a reasonable income for farmers (Van Bruchem and Visser 2004; Visser 2010). This meant a guiding role for the Government. The desired increase in productivity—in the eyes of the Dutch government— required a large, stable export market, achieved by setting up extensive cooperation between European countries (Massink and Meester 2002). Soon, the European agricultural sector became not only self-sufficient, but a net exporter and created substantial, problematic surpluses (see fifth trend). At the same time, Government is seen in its stimulating role with regard to up-scaling, the influence of science, specialization, and intensification by recourse to the threefold remedy of research, information, and education (Bieleman 2008). Rationalization In this context, rationalization may be defined as the introduction of goal-rational methods in a process previously based on accumulated experience, ultimately to achieve greater efficiency in agriculture. It is therefore an essential characteristic of industrialization, evidencing the particular influence of science and technology (Van der Ploeg 1999). All measures taken by Government to change the structure of agriculture are informed with the desire for rationalization (Bieleman 2000a). This is clearly shown by the clause ‘‘to increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring the rational development of agricultural production’’ in article 39 of the Treaty of Rome (1957). In American literature on agriculture this is sometimes referred to as ‘‘productivism’’ (Buttel 2005, p. 276). Uniformity Under pressure from the economic pincer movement and driven by rationalization, agricultural activities became more and more uniform. Because farmers saw rationalization as the sole potential for the future, they used the same scientific data when seeking solutions. This made ‘‘agricultural science a globalizing factor’’ (Van der Ploeg 1999, p. 216). Specialization automatically brought uniformity, and

123

Are There Ideological Aspects

661

farmers did not see much opportunity for serious differentiation. All this resulted in highly impoverished diversity in present day agriculture compared with the early twentieth century. Structural Problems Modern agriculture seems almost irrevocably to be bound up with problematic sideeffects; this is the fifth trend. Overproduction is a major problem that has already been with us for decades (Klijnhout 1965; Schelhaas 2003).1 A second major issue is animal welfare: animals are being reduced to an economic production factor whose intrinsic value is not respected (Korthals 2004; Massink and Meester 2002; Paarlberg 2009). Other issues that appear to resist a solution are the manure surplus, the debate on genetic modification, and the culling of animals, for example during epidemics of swine fever and FMD. The Gap Between Agriculture and Society In modern times, too often there seems to be a discrepancy between the ideas that exist in society about what the farming sector looks like and the functions and reality of this sector. Interestingly enough, this gap between farmers and nonfarmers has not been taken sufficiently seriously as a useful approach to the analysis of modern agriculture. Van der Ploeg (1999) coined the concept of the virtual farmer in this connection, representing an imaginary view of farmers in the public mind. People wrongly assume that farmers act as these virtual counterparts. Two versions of this virtual farmer can be distinguished. Firstly a homo economicus as seen by the policymakers, suggesting a farmer interwoven with the general economy and acting as economical as all other agents in the market (Van der Ploeg 1999; Treaty of Rome 1957, article 39.2). However, agriculture is a distinct social-economic sector with its own specific characteristics (Korthals 2004). The second virtual farmer lives in the perception of the town dweller as an oldfashioned, relatively primitive person without direct visible impact on food production (Korthals 2004; van Bruchem and Visser 2004). Three reasons for the existence of the virtual farmer can be distinguished: extensive division of labor (hardly anyone is now involved in primary food production), urban migration (farming has disappeared from view), and ‘‘technification’’ of agriculture (farming became hard to understand). For example, many no longer choose to consider whether practices in agriculture might be immoral (Williams 2008).

A Cultural-Ethical Theory of Ideology So far, we have looked at the industrialization of Dutch agriculture in a historical perspective. The industrialization started particularly as a project after the Second 1 Whether this overproduction is necessarily caused by industrialization has been debated over and over again, and we leave this issue to the reader. For our purposes it is enough to establish a correlation.

123

662

E. Hardeman, H. Jochemsen

World War, and radically transformed agriculture. At the same time, as already pointed out in the terms of reference, contemporary agriculture is a can of worms. Experts, both policy-makers and researchers have tried and are still trying to find solutions. And despite all efforts on a global scale, they have not managed to find effective and workable solutions. Generally speaking, the solutions used usher in a paradox: often they reinforce or aggravate the problems they should solve, or create new and sometimes worse problems. This suggests that to a certain degree, we have no control over our problems and solutions. How did this phenomenon arise? In this paper, we argue that there is a relationship between the cultural mindset behind the industrialization of agriculture and the stubbornness of its problems. Our analysis starts with the Era of Enlightenment in Europe, occurring in the eighteenth century and roughly ending with the French Revolution. This philosophical, cultural, and political movement has been observed and interpreted in many different ways. It comprised a lengthy, consecutive series of interlocking and sometimes warring intellectual debates and writing by thinkers of all kinds (see: Outram 2005). Broadly, there is agreement that its core content consisted of two aspects: a critical questioning of traditions, customs, morals, and institutionalized religion; and a constructive search for new, rational knowledge and science pursuing such ideals as control of reality, social justice, equality, and democracy. The criticism of medieval religion and its goals led to the search for an alternative meaning of life, new norms and values, etc. This change has been of vital importance to the way people value life itself, their purpose in life and their whole environment. Secular thinking has begun to impinge in places where the public impact of traditional Christianity has declined. It has been driven from the start by the desire to achieve a new, rational social structure. That meant, amongst other things, that the world came to be seen as a structure of many building blocks without intrinsic value, that people can rearrange in whatever they want. So far, we have presented nothing new; this is all broadly accepted knowledge. But continuing our analysis, we want to borrow from the insights of the Dutch economist Goudzwaard et al. (2007). These writers are trying to find an explanation for the world’s contemporary global crises such as worldwide poverty, environmental degradation, and widespread terrorism. They consider the thoughts of the French Enlightenment philosopher Destutt de Tracy (1754–1836) on modern ideologies as the key to clarifying the crises concerned. De Tracy was fully involved in developments surrounding the French Revolution and its desire for radical social change. He mused on how education could lead children to copy the ideals of the French Revolution—freedom, equality, and brotherhood—as self-evident truths. He reasoned that, because it would need to change the whole system of ideas, values, and norms, a discipline or science was needed to study the origin and development of human ideas. He coined the term ideology for this. The knowledge obtained from this science can be directly applied to changing one’s mindset. As Goudzwaard et al. put it, ‘‘here for the first time we encounter a deliberate political attempt to systematically regulate or manipulate people’s currently held ideas in order to achieve certain societal ends’’ (2007, p. 33). This became the present-day meaning of the word ‘‘ideology’’.

123

Are There Ideological Aspects

663

Undeniably, ideologies existed centuries before the French Revolution, although not called such. These ‘‘classical’’ ideologies have three common characteristics. Firstly, they have an absolutized end with a corresponding narrowing of focus. Secondly, they require a redefinition of currently held values, norms and ideas ‘‘to such an extent that they legitimize in advance the practical pursuit of the predetermined end’’ (Goudzwaard et al. 2007, p. 33). Finally, they take this absolutized objective as a sole criterion for the choice of methods: the end justifies all means. Modern ideologies—namely ideologies that emerged after the Enlightenment— introduce three additional aspects compared with classical ideologies. Firstly, they are all rational by nature and are systematically thought through (rationalization). Secondly, they have radical breadth and depth (radicalization). Thirdly, they pursue the most efficient possible use of all means (instrumentalization). Summarizing, modern ideologies became hardened and totalitarian. Remember that, in contrast to the religious goals that saw service in ideologies during the Middle Ages, a modern ideology introduces the novelty of pursuing a specific ‘‘earthly’’ objective as an absolute end. This was the direct result of the Enlightenment, because it removed religion and religious belief as the primary source of the experience of the meaning of life. The latter conclusion is of vital importance to the reasoning of Goudzwaard and his colleagues. In their view, the Enlightenment not only changed the character of ideologies, but also enhances the vulnerability of people to ideologies. After all, if worldly ends replace the religious goals as the meaning-giving source, there is a high risk that people will impose quasi-religious traits on those ends (Goudzwaard et al. 2007, pp. 36–38). In other words, secular groups or societies more easily pursue a social goal in an ideological way, consciously or not. In practice, an important sign of this is the development of a certain narrow-mindedness, which means that people predominantly focus on the goal and particular methods for reaching it without paying serious attention to the influence this has on their environment. They see no alternative goal or methods, and believe that they should continue along the chosen path, even though the methods for achieving the goal seem to enhance current problems or create new ones. This might result in an aggressive, political ideology that debases a whole society. Nazism (serving the realization of the Third Reich) and Soviet Communism (serving the victory of the working class) are two major examples from the twentieth century. But as the authors argue, the tendency towards ideology is not only found in such horrific, totalitarian systems. Numerous kinds of ‘‘mild,’’ partial ideologies can be found in Western societies. Their character is such that they may never lead to mass murder and other horrific acts. The objective can even be reasonable and legitimate in itself. But they still show the features of a modern ideology: an absolutized end and a corresponding rational theory; a radical redefinition of values and norms; and an unrestricted, instrumental use of means to reach this end. For example, the authors argue that the survival of one’s cultural identity has increasingly become an ideological end in itself, which is the explanation behind widespread ideological terrorism. It also provides an explanation of the fanaticism found in the protracted conflict in Palestine and the appearance of apartheid in South-Africa in the twentieth century.

123

664

E. Hardeman, H. Jochemsen

To clarify the above further, we include two examples of legitimate human purposes in our contemporary society that display ideological traits. The first is the pursuit of material wealth as discussed by Goudzwaard et al. Modern societies are convinced of an unquestioned need for economic growth as the solution in the war against human poverty, hunger, and unfulfilled basic needs. Especially in predominant neo-liberal thinking, the free market—a concept dating from the time of the Enlightenment—should be given free rein, and economic sectors and aspects should be subjected to the dynamics of supply and demand. This market mechanism is now the coordinator of economic activity and policy makers create social, legal, and financial space for the necessary technology. Money decides what is good or not for society. This idea has produced impressive economic wealth and it would not be a problem were it not that ‘‘certain things in life cannot succumb to the dynamic forces of production’’ (Goudzwaard et al. 2007, p. 90). This applies, for example, to the environment. Leaving its management to the market results in numerous tensions between its actual and required capacity, both in the supply of raw materials and in waste disposal. Another example is the healthcare system, which in most wealthy countries is squeezed between the provision of comprehensive care and the desire for economic efficiency. But, even though the quest for material wealth has created many comparable major problems on a global scale, the growth of wealth continues to be seen as the solution to those problems: more wealth will ultimately help the poor and thus solve its own adverse effects. As Goudzwaard et al. show, this pattern of thinking exhibits traits of ideological narrow-mindedness. The second example concerns technology, which is closely related to both material wealth and agricultural industrialization. Modern technology is dynamic and has expanded exponentially. This is not only true of physical machines and other products, but also of the encompassing science of technology. Ellul, one of the leading thinkers in the field of philosophy of technology, coined the (French) word technique to indicate ‘‘the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency in every field of human activity’’ (Ellul 1964). Hence ‘‘technique’’ means any set of standardized methods used for a predetermined purpose, with physical mechanization as only one part of it (Young 1988). It is a means of control, which includes nature, the laws of nature, the environment and human limitations (Van der Laan 2004). In the history of technology, two types or periods can be distinguished: traditional technology and modern technology resulting in ‘technique’ (Ellul 1964; Young 1988; Schuurman 2005). Traditional technology and techniques function in a traditional society, where they are subordinated to certain requirements such as religious prescriptions (Ellul 1992). The rules were more important than the tools, and efficiency was more than offset by stability. In other words, techniques were subordinated to the needs of cultural control (Roy 2005). Modern technology, however, arrived at the point when the traditional cultural bedrock disappeared, and in our present society there are essentially no limits to either the development of technology or to its goals (Schuurman 2005; Visser 2010). In this case, technology has the freedom to develop in every direction it wants and becomes a supposedly independent phenomenon.

123

Are There Ideological Aspects

665

Four factors facilitate this process. Firstly, making life easier by implementing techniques has always appealed to humans but is especially tempting in our Western economy of seduction and being seduced (Van der Laan 2004). Secondly, there is something that Ellul called technological bluff: technology is seductive, but also often bluffs mankind by its amazing capacities (Ellul 1990). Technological bluff spreads the vague and general notion that technology is a sole and unique source of human improvement and progress (Son 2004). It makes people feel satisfied with a certain degree of technification. It can overwhelm people and the possibilities that a new technique offers often make people feel good. Thirdly we note there is always an interaction between a human being and his or her environment, including technology (VanderBurg 2004). And if technology has a strong influence on a person, that person may get the impression that his life is determined more by technology than vice versa. This creates a sense of autonomy of technology, a concept Ellul frequently works with (see on this point also Goudreau 2003). Fourthly, when a person depends largely on technology it is impossible to maintain a well-balanced assessment of technology (Furr et al. 2005; Schuurman 2005). Dependence on technology prevents an objective evaluation of its use and impact. Implementing techniques thus becomes more or less standard without a critical assessment. All of this again reveals the traits of an ideology, and we should not refrain from using such a loaded word in this context. Roy even calls technology a modern religion, which points at the pseudo-religious role that people attribute to technique (Roy 2005). Does the phrase ‘‘new technology’’ not have a positive tone by definition? Only few people see the downside of technology and technical development as a possible threat to the quality of life (Schuurman 2005).

Modernized Agriculture Given this cultural-ethical treatise, the question is: do similar ideological goal orientations underlie agriculture’s most urgent problems? To answer this core question, the industrialization of agriculture must be tested for ideological traits. A number of characteristics should be tested for. Note that not all of them have to be equally visible but the more they are found the stronger the ideological character will be. Firstly, the three main characteristics of an ideology: (1) the presence of an absolutized end, with its narrow-mindedness (2) a reformulation of ideas, norms, and values and (3) the use of the chosen end as a sole criterion for the choice of method. Secondly, the three additional characteristics of a modern ideology: (1) a well-thought-out rational structure (2) a radical, and (3) a most efficient use of all resources involved. Thirdly, the belief that beyond the chosen means no alternatives can be found and, as a consequence, the tendency to solve the problems with the same means that caused these problems themselves in the first place. Fourthly and finally, the use of ideological or even religious terms by people involved in or talking about agricultural industrialization.2 2 From now on we shall use the term modernization instead of industrialization, because to a certain degree it involves the cultural process behind the industrialization that we shall be testing.

123

666

E. Hardeman, H. Jochemsen

When studying the above-mentioned developments and trends in modern industrialized agriculture, we see one central aspect characteristic of all of them: the drive for efficiency in as many facets of agricultural life as possible. First and foremost, this was the desire and aspiration of the Dutch government directly after World War II, and a few decades later also of the European Community. Through structural policies, financial support, and encouragement of various modernization processes such as up-scaling and re-allotment, and the information institutions for farmers, attempts were made to boost any potential efficiency in agriculture. Not surprisingly, this effort corresponds with the much broader trend in Western society towards economic efficiency as recorded in the previous section. This link is mainly due to the existence of the virtual homo economicus in the mindset of government officials and policymakers. The agricultural sector is seen and treated as a regular economic sector, as a modern industry (Paarlberg 2009). The key development is rationalization, exchanging the diversity in agriculture—existing both between geographical regions and different kinds of agriculture—for reasonable methods based on scientific knowledge. This reduction in diversity leads to considerable uniformity (Jochemsen 2008). The knowledge institutions for farmers function as pivotal bodies for policy transfer to the farming community. There certainly is a positive relationship between the modernization of agriculture and overall economic growth in the long term (Self and Grabowski 2007). But, as already stated, agriculture fundamentally deviates from other sectors of the economy in its character, although whether this is still visible after so many decades of industrialization is open to question (Schelhaas 2003; for a detailed discussion see the contribution of Meester in Silvis 2004). Van der Ploeg (1999) elaborates on this and argues that farmers consciously evade the logic of markets for the sake of their own existence. Unfortunately, this difference between virtual and real farmers remains stubbornly intact. That should not surprise us, since the rationalization is spearheaded in the Treaty of Rome itself. This conclusion is not only hindsight. Already in 1965, Klijnhout noted that the purpose of EC agriculture is ‘‘concentrated, specialized modern agriculture, fast and efficient,’’ which can only be achieved by regarding agriculture as a ‘‘total industrial activity’’ (Klijnhout 1965, p. 27). Since the beginning of modernization, its core has never changed. All these developments indicate that agricultural efficiency has become an absolutized objective. The latter conclusion is aptly expressed by Van der Ploeg (1999). He calls the transformation of farming practice ‘‘to a new, scientifically defined optimum’’ the modernization project (p. 262). This project was first introduced by Government as a proposal but later increasingly portrayed as an inevitable process: it is the logical, if not law-like unfolding of the future (see also Visser 2010). It was said to be the only solution to escape the pincer movement of decreasing income and increasing costs. However, one may seriously wonder whether the market really forces companies to specialize and to increase their scale (Korthals 2004). Because, certainly, there are a number of alternative responses to the threat of farmers’ reducing income (Van der Ploeg 1999, p. 281). To state that norms and values in society are consciously changed to legitimize the search for efficiency in agriculture may sound exaggerated. It seems unfair to claim that the Dutch government actively and systematically manipulated attitudes

123

Are There Ideological Aspects

667

and beliefs as to what efficiency in agriculture should be. Yet the Government radically transferred its objectives through information and education to the farming sector. We repeat that the knowledge institutions in particular acted as government agents to promote the application of scientific knowledge. In his farewell speech in 1983, the Wageningen professor of Information Studies, Van der Ban, expressed his concern at the tendency to seek a solution to agricultural problems in a reduction of productivity (Van der Ban 1983). This remark is typical of the limited direction in which information was provided: increasing productivity by working more efficiently. The decreasing awareness of local circumstances on the part of individual officers enforced this trend towards rationalization and standardization (Visser 2010). It is here that the role of technique and technification comes into play, as described in the previous chapter. For in agriculture, almost every efficiency improvement means implementing a new technique, often obtained through scientific knowledge. Rationality becomes an essential feature for all technical development (Ter Borg–Neervoort 1982). By presenting agriculture as ‘‘unfolding scientific laws,’’ progress is made only in the use of more techniques and patterns of action as devised by scientists (Van der Ploeg 1999). As a result, country life is integrated in a technological treadmill (Marsden 1998). Specialization, intensification, ‘‘scientification,’’ up-scaling and other modern developments are manifestations of this treadmill. and all of this corresponds perfectly with the modern cultural view behind the use of science and technology: because the world does not have given structures but is just a conglomerate of materials and building blocks, mankind can entirely rearrange it for its own benefit through science and technology (Goudzwaard et al. 2007, see also Jochemsen 2008; Van den Berg and Nijhoff 2009). Is this easy acceptance of techniques surprising? No. Two remarks are in place here. Firstly, as already argued in section three, the seductive character of technology fits our Western culture. This is also true of farmers, especially because their income level is concerned. Secondly, an interesting aspect of technique is that in itself it does not entail any ethical boundary. As traditional techniques were embedded in the natural and cultural order, there was no demand for an ethics of technology (Schuurman 2005). However, despite the continual development and intrinsic dynamics of modern techniques, only relatively little attention is paid to the ethical side of technology in agriculture). This is probably largely due to labor specialization that accompanies modern technology. No-one feels responsible for the bigger project: everyone carries out his or her technical task and everything else is irrelevant or someone else’s responsibility (Ellul 1992). Again, this indicates an ideology: we are no longer concerned about whether a technique should be implemented, but how this should be done most efficiently and safely. Making agricultural practice more efficient was not only very rational by nature, but also thoroughly addressed. The Government not only wanted to guide the sector but to change Dutch agriculture. Especially in the seventies of last century, government intervention rapidly expanded, e.g., in re-allotment projects. This radicalism may be even better illustrated by new techniques on a small scale or in inconspicuous areas. Think of the Best Farming Practices, trying to influence the

123

668

E. Hardeman, H. Jochemsen

limited amount of steps left to farmers after all attempts to regulate mechanization. Or, look at poultry farming practices: the biological constraints on a chicken were a reason for inventing a more efficient way of machine breading to overcome this natural rhythm (Bieleman 2000c). A wide range of available means was used to pursue greater efficiency: grants, taxes, promotion funds, re-allotment and so on. Many of them have been criticized since their introduction, and have certainly not been continued at all costs. Yet it is remarkable that their introduction was accompanied by a degree of indifference or insensitivity to their impact on practical farming. This again indicates a narrowing of focus: searching only to achieve the goal and thus forgetting the nuance. In addition to radical depth, the terminology sometimes used in connection with agricultural modernization is striking. Here a few illustrative examples will suffice. Cullather uses the term miracles of modernization in the title of his paper on the Green Revolution (2004). Also remarkable is Bieleman’s use of words such as ‘‘impressive’’ and ‘‘spectacular’’ in his historical descriptions of agriculture (2000, 2008). Van der Ploeg concludes that the modernization project acquired ‘‘an aura of indisputability,’’ and adds that ‘‘the penalty for sin was not long in coming.’’ The message is all too clear (1999, p. 271). This pseudo-religious terminology confirms the ideological traits of the modernization project. The quest for efficiency turns out to have caused serious problems for the agricultural sector. As previously concluded, the sector seems to be linked inextricably to problematic side-effects: overproduction, loss of biodiversity and of soil fertility, lack of animal welfare, risk of animal diseases because of the large concentration of animals on small areas, social controversy on the culling of animals etc. Many of them result from a blinkered view that did not give them serious thought since only the realization of the primary goal of efficiency counted. Let us illustrate this with an example. Standardization in agriculture led to genetic erosion and vulnerability to disease (Jochemsen 2008). To resolve these effects the main cause, standardization itself, is not addressed. Instead, the risk of more diseases is tackled by the extensive use of chemical pesticides. When these pesticides turned out to cause serious environmental problems themselves, a new technology was introduced: genetic engineering of plants to make them resistant, either to certain, presumably less toxic, pesticides or to the pest. But the use of genetic modification forces genetic erosion yet further. This spiral of problems and ‘‘solutions’’ shows that the use of modern techniques to deal with their deleterious side-effects has caused new problems to accumulate. The troubles were even aggravated because the economic pressure exercised by Government on farmers results in a greater willingness of farmers to resort to unethical measures (James and Hendrickson 2008). That is why ethically unjustifiable practices have slowly entered into agriculture, further contributing to the accumulation of problems. That these practices only caused much debate and civil disagreement later on is closely linked to the virtual farmer concept (see ‘‘A Cultural-Ethical Theory of Ideology’’ section). Questionable consequences of the chosen methods are hard to observe and are spotted only after long delays (Visser 2010).

123

Are There Ideological Aspects

669

So the inability to solve today’s problems has a deeper cause than simply failure to apply the right mix of standard remedies. Because of the restricted view, the integration of new technologies into the various social and ecological contexts remains a major problem (for a thorough study on this point see Visser 2010). If many of these modernizations are introduced into daily farming life, it will continue to cause all kinds of friction. Farmers may constantly attempt to increase production, which is not always needed (Klijnhout 1965). Korthals concludes that ecological problems particularly originate from the confrontation of science and technology with its own drawbacks (2004). Introducing science and technology seems to lead to improvement, but over time, problems start to return. Many still believe that when it comes to increased agricultural production and efficiency, science has a duty to examine every opportunity without any limits to its implications (Jochemsen 2008). De Hoogh rightly comments on this one-sided development: ‘‘We learn by trial and error, but do we really learn?’’ (1991, p. 312).

Discussion In this paper we have tried to identify the roots of the persistent contemporary problems in our modernized agriculture. By studying the historical development of present-day farming in Holland, we were able to identify the key factors. We realize that several of these historical trends and their concomitant problems were identified earlier, not least in American literature (e.g., Buttel 1986, 2005; Burkhardt 1988). However, by interpreting these developments in the broader context of the cultural movement of modernization and of the concept of ideology as developed by Goudzwaard et al. (2007) we are able to achieve new insights that may turn out to be fruitful in thinking about agriculture policy. Attention should be paid to the cultural mindset at the base of our modern society. Summarizing the results, modern agriculture is problematic because since it came of age, it has never really been embedded in its ecological and social context. Post-war policymakers were extremely focused on making agriculture more efficient, spreading specific scientific findings amongst large groups of farmers. This could happen because beliefs about the value of life and the environment changed due to the Enlightenment movement. From its rational point of view, nature is made up of material and energy with no intrinsic value and man is essentially free to modify the current arrangement. These beliefs would not necessarily have to led to problems. However, since Enlightenment thinkers considered religion a superfluous source of meaning of life, they proposed new ‘‘worldly’’ goals with their values as a replacement. This harbored the risk of people attributing quasi-religious traits to those ends. If this happens, the end becomes absolutized and an ideology is born. This pattern is also found in agriculture to a certain degree. In this article, we have identified striking indications of an ideological character to modern industrialized agriculture. This supports Goudzwaard’s hypothesis of the existence of mild ideologies in our Western society (2007). The pattern found in agriculture is not a self-contained phenomenon but must be seen in the broader social pursuit of material wealth. As explained in ‘‘Trends Behind the Industrialization of Agriculture’’ section, the latter has

123

670

E. Hardeman, H. Jochemsen

been loaded with an ideological character as well. To quote De Hoogh again: ‘‘I regard the strong influence of economic forces on the speed and direction of technological developments as a major factor, which may explain why agricultural technology has not only produced great wealth, but has also cast dark shadows’’ (1991, p. 310). This very one-sided focus on efficiency as the road to higher agricultural production caused the stakeholders in power to ignore the need to embed their calculations in the farming context and that is problematic by definition, causing all kinds of tensions (cf. Weis 2010). We realize this topic is not very popular, not least because it puts the finger on the problematic side of our prized Enlightenment. Goudzwaard acknowledges this when, talking about such terms as ideology, he comments that these words sound not only terribly heavy but also miles removed from us and from our own world (Goudzwaard 1984, p. 25). People like Ellul also realized this (Ellul 1964; 1992). Nevertheless, in our view our search for solutions in agriculture should not be determined by what is popular but by what in practice proves to be correct. Therefore, we would like to encourage historians to study the development of our industrialized agriculture in a broad, independent way. This present article is a start, but unravelling the forces behind agricultural history is a very complex matter. Since ideologies functions at the level of a cultural mind-set, countering an ideology starts with the essential step of becoming aware of its presence (Ellul 1992). It also means that a new relationship between and integration of agriculture, sustainability, environment, and ethics will be needed (Meester et al. 2005; Weis 2010). It must include the social consequences of the policy implemented (De Hoogh 1991; Jochemsen 2008), not least indicating renewed attention to the opinions of farmers themselves (Guehlstorf 2008; Visser 2010). This new ethical attitude should also pay critical attention to the assistance provided to Third World countries towards modernizing and rationalizing their agriculture, perhaps more for political than for ideological reasons (e.g., the Green Revolution, as described by Cullather (2004) and Hamblin (2009)). Three steps can be distinguished in order to arrive at a form of ecological agriculture:3 an ethical reorientation on society level, an effect of the latter on a personal level, and a supplemental governmental policy. Firstly, an ethical reorientation is required in dealing with agricultural issues. The utilitarian cost-benefit analysis commonly used in the technical-rational decisionmaking process does not provide adequate results (Ter Borg–Neervoort 1982, Korthals 2004). A full discussion of such a new, fruitful ethical attitude to agriculture is beyond the scope of this present study. A good start may be found in the work of Van den Berg and Nijhoff (2009), who present an ethical framework as a reaction to scientific-technological control in agriculture. For a similar approach focusing on technology and technique, see Schuurman (2005). The ethical considerations made by Korthals on different issues in agriculture can be of additional value (2004). Finally, an interesting survey and analysis of many ethical concerns regarding agriculture is published by Thompson and Hannah (2008). 3

We use the word ecological in its broader sense: a way of farming that is economically, environmentally and socially embedded in its local context (cf. Delind and Bingen 2008). This is an alternative to top-down centralized ‘‘science in farming’’ projects (Visser 2010). For this issue see also Woodhouse (2010) and De Schutter (2010).

123

Are There Ideological Aspects

671

Secondly, such a reorientation should be further developed at a personal level, especially with regard to the responsibility of stakeholders in agriculture. Goudzwaard et al. (2007) gives three guidelines in this respect. The first is called the periscope guideline. Becoming aware of ideological tendencies, one often experiences difficulty in distancing oneself from them: the ideological perspective is so intertwined with daily life that there seems to be hardly an alternative. This limited view of reality can be remedied with a periscope: the ability to rise above the surface and take a broader view. Taking into account the meaning of values such as justifiability, sustainability, freedom, and solidarity may act like such a periscope. The second guideline is represented by the image of a minesweeper. If one fights an enemy who lays mines, a counter-reaction can be to lay mines also. But a solution that is better in the long run is to send a minesweeper. Anyone who is faced with the consequences and problems of an ideology in agriculture should not attempt to fight it with comparable methods and procedures, but try to eliminate the ‘‘explosive’’ elements inherent in industrialized agriculture. The third guideline is called a rope-ladder. For an individual, fighting the ideological traits in agriculture may seem a hopeless battle, but it can be fought in the same way as climbing a rope ladder: step by step, hand by hand. Ultimately, one must go from problem to problem and by good solutions break the downward spiral. Thirdly, apart from new social and personal ethical conduct, additional government policies are needed to ensure stakeholders act according to mutually agreed ethical guidelines. Those engaged in agricultural science and technology for business purposes will have to meet conditions forcing them to take other than commercial interests and values into account (De Hoogh 1991; Paarlberg 2009). Think of regulations on animal welfare: if laws exist accompanied by regular checks, companies will generally comply with the rules (Korthals 2004; Meijboom et al. 2009). Another example is policy to avoid further reduction in the world’s biodiversity (Jochemsen 2008; Chappell and LaValle 2009). Many countries have already taken steps of this kind but have not yet changed the main direction of agriculture. In addition to government interventions, other issues will also affect the success or failure of new ecological agriculture. Firstly, developments in farming are to a substantial degree shaped by future liberalization of the European agricultural market (Meester et al. 2005). Secondly, the organization of the food chain that begins with farmers and ends with consumers is of major importance (Van Otterloo 2000). This chain has changed significantly over past decades, especially with regard to power: it is no longer the producer who decides what is produced, but the retail trade and its customers. For a good analysis of the food chain and ensuing future scenarios, see Food Wars by Lang and Heasman (2004). An important role is assigned to possible regionalization of production and consumption (Meester et al. 2005; Jochemsen 2008). This will again raise the question whether demand from consumer markets does indeed force farmers to modernize (see also Weis 2010). After all, one may even wonder whether largescale industrialized agriculture is more productive than an ecological alternative (Woodhouse 2010; Visser 2010).

123

672

E. Hardeman, H. Jochemsen

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

References Bieleman, J. (2000a). De Landbouw en het Sociaal-economisch Krachtenveld (Agriculture and SocioEconomic Forces). In J. W. Schot, H. Lintsen, & A. Rip (Eds.), Techniek in Nederland in de Twintigste Eeuw, Deel III: Landbouw en Voeding (pp. 13–21). Zutphen: Walburg Pers. Bieleman, J. (2000b). Biotechniek–Inleiding (Bioengineering–Introduction). In J. W. Schot, H. Lintsen, & A. Rip (Eds.), Techniek in Nederland in de Twintigste Eeuw, Deel III: Landbouw en Voeding (pp. 127–129). Zutphen: Walburg Pers. Bieleman, J. (2000c). Dieren en Gewassen in een Veranderende Landbouw: de Legkippenhouderij (Animals and Crops in a Changing Agriculture: Poultry Layer Management). In J. W. Schot, H. Lintsen, & A. Rip (Eds.), Techniek in Nederland in de Twintigste Eeuw, Deel III: Landbouw en Voeding (pp. 155–179). Zutphen: Walburg Pers. Bieleman, J. (2008). Boeren in Nederland: Geschiedenis van de Landbouw 1500–2000 (Farming in the Netherlands: A History of Agriculture 1500–2000). Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Boom. Burkhardt, J. (1988). Biotechnology, ethics, and the structure of agriculture. Agriculture and Human Values, 5(3), 53–60. Buttel, F. H. (1986). Agricultural research and farm structural change: bovine growth hormone and beyond. Agriculture and Human Values, 3(4), 88–98. Buttel, F. H. (2005). Ever since Hightower: The politics of agricultural research activism in the molecular age. Agriculture and Human Values, 22, 275–283. Chappell, M. J. & LaValle, L. A. (2009). Food Security and Biodiversity: Can We have Both? An Agroecological Analysis. Agriculture and Human Values, published online: 27 November 2009. Cullather, N. (2004). Miracles of modernization: The Green Revolution and the Apotheosis of Technology. Diplomatic History, 28(2), 227–254. de Hoogh, J. (1991). Agricultural Technology: for Better or for Worse? In J. de Hoogh (pp. 305–313). Werkgroep Landbouwpolitiek: Beschouwingen over Landbouweconomie en Landbouwpolitiek. Wageningen. de Schutter, O. (2010). Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier DeSchutter. UN Human Rights Council, December 2010, Doc. A/HRC/16/49. Delind, L. B., & Bingen, J. (2008). Place and civic culture: Re-thinking the context for local agriculture. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 21, 127–151. Ellul, J. (1964). The technological society. New York: Vintage Books. Ellul, J. (1990). The technological bluff. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. Ellul, J. (1992). Het Verraad van de Techniek (The Betrayal of Technology). Dutch TV broadcast by IKON on October, 8, 1992. Furr, P. F., Ragsdale, R., & Horton, S. G. (2005). Technology’s non-neutrality: Past lessons can help guide today’s classrooms. Education and Information Technologies, 10(3), 277–287. Goudreau, K. A. (2003). Habermas on purposive-rational action: A contribution to the understanding of Ellul’s technique. Bulletin of ScienceTechnology and Society, 23(3), 174–179. Goudzwaard, B. (1984). Idols of our time. Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press. Goudzwaard, B., Van der Vennen, M., & van Heemst, D. (2007). Hope in troubled times: A new vision for confronting global crises. Grand Rapids: Baker Academics. Guehlstorf, N. P. (2008). Understanding the scope of farmer perceptions of risk: considering farmer opinions on the use of genetically modified (GM) crops as a stakeholder voice in policy. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 21, 541–558. Hamblin, J. D. (2009). Let there be light… and bread: The United Nations, the Developing World, and Atomic Energy’s Green Revolution. History and Technology, 25(1), 35–48. James, H. S., & Hendrickson, M. K. (2008). Perceived economic pressures and farmer ethics. Agricultural Economics, 38, 349–361. Jochemsen, H. (2008). An ethical assessment of cisgenesis in breeding late blight resistant potato. Potato Research, 51, 59–73.

123

Are There Ideological Aspects

673

Klijnhout, C. C. (1965). Moderne Landbouw-politiek (Modern Agricultural Politics). Amsterdam/ Brussel: Agon Elsevier. Korthals, M. (2004). Before dinner: Philosophy and ethics of food. Dordrecht: Springer. Landbouw Economisch Instituut. (2007). Landbouw-Economisch Bericht 2007 (Agricultural Economic Report 2007). The Hague: LEI. Landbouw Economisch Instituut. (2010). Landbouw-Economisch Bericht 2010 (Agricultural Economic Report 2010). The Hague: LEI. Lang, T., & Heasman, M. (2004). Food wars: The global battle for mouths. Minds and Markets. London/ Sterling: Earthscan. Marsden, T. (1998). Agriculture beyond the Treadmill? Issues for Policy, Theory and Research Practice. Progress in Human Geography, 22(2), 265–275. Massink, H. F., & Meester, G. (2002). Boeren bij Vrijhandel: De Nederlandse Agrosector bij Handelsliberalisatie en EU-uitbreiding: een Verkenning (Farming and Free Trade: the Dutch Agribusiness in Trade Liberalization and EU Enlargement: an Exploration). The Hague: LNV. Meester, G., Oskam, A., & Silvis, H. (2005). EU-beleid voor Landbouw, Voedsel en Groen: van Politiek naar Praktijk (EU Policy on Agriculture, Food and Greenery: From Policy to Practice). Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers. Meijboom, F. L. B., Cohen, N., Stassen, E. N., & Brom, F. W. A. (2009). Beyond the prevention of harm: Animal disease policy as a moral question. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 22, 559–571. Outram, D. (2005). The enlightenment. Cambridge: University Press. Paarlberg, R. (2009). The Ethics of modern agriculture. Society, 46(1), 4–8. Priester, P. R. (2000). Boeren met Machines (Farming with Machines). In J. W. Schot, H. Lintsen, & A. Rip (Eds.), Techniek in Nederland in de Twintigste Eeuw, Deel III: Landbouw en Voeding (pp. 65–125). Zutphen: Walburg Pers. Roy, R. (2005). Scientism and Technology as Religions. Zygon, 40(4), 835–844. Schelhaas, H. (2003). Liberalisering in de landbouw: Mogelijkheden en grenzen (Liberalization in Agriculture: Opportunities and Limits). Wageningen Academic Publishers (dissertation), Wageningen. Schuurman, E. (2005). The technological world picture and an ethics of responsibility. Sioux Center: Dordt College Press. Self, S., & Grabowski, R. (2007). Economic Development and the Role of Agricultural Technology. Agricultural Economics, 36, 395–404. Silvis (red.), H. J. (2004). Landbouwbeleid: Waarom ook al weer? (Agricultural Policy: why again?). The Hague: LEI. Son, W. C. (2004). Reading jacques Ellul’s the technological bluff in context. Bulletin of ScienceTechnology and Society, 24(6), 518–533. Ter Borg–Neervoort, M. (1982). Innovatie tot in Eeuwigheid: het Geloof in de Technische Vooruitgang in Discussie (Innovation for Ever: The Belief in Technical Progress in Discussion). Amersfoort: de Horstink (Dissertation). Thompson, P. B., & Hannah, W. (2008). Food and Agricultural Biotechnology: A summary and analysis of ethical concerns. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, 111, 229–264. Treaty of Rome. (1957). http://ec_europa.eu/economy_finace/emu_history/documents/treaties/rometreaty2. pdf van Bruchem, C., & Visser, C. (2004). Boeren voor Morgen: Landbouwbeleid en Christelijke Politiek (Farming for Tomorrow: Agricultural Policy and Christian Politics). Amsterdam: Buijten and Schipperheijn. van den Berg, H., & Nijhoff, R. A. (Eds.). (2009). Bio-energie: Natuurlijk beter? (Bio-energy: Naturally Better?). Amersfoort: Wetenschappelijk Instituut van de ChristenUnie. van der Ban, A. W. (1983). De rol van voorlichting en voorlichtingskunde in de samenleving (The Role of Information and Information Science in Society). Farewell Speech at the Agricultural University Wageningen. Unpublished manuscript available at Wageningen University. van der Laan, J. M. (2004). Temptation and seduction in the technological milieu. Bulletin of Science Technology and Society, 24(6), 509–514. van der Ploeg, J. D. (1999). De Virtuele Boer (The Virtual Farmer). Assen: Van Gorcum. van der Ziel, T. (2008). Verzet en Verlangen: Het Platteland in de Greep van MKZ en Stedeling (Resistance and Desire: the Countryside in the Grip of FMD and Townsman). Kampen: Stichting IJsselacademie.

123

674

E. Hardeman, H. Jochemsen

van Otterloo, A. H. (2000). Voeding in Verandering (Food in change). In J. W. Schot, H. Lintsen, & A. Rip (Eds.), Techniek in Nederland in de Twintigste Eeuw, Deel III: Landbouw en Voeding (pp. 237–247). Zutphen: Walburg Pers. VanderBurg, W. H. (2004). The autonomy of technique revisited. Bulletin of ScienceTechnology and Society, 24(6), 515–517. Visser J (2010). Down to Earth, Dissertation, Wageningen University, Wageningen. Weis, T. (2010). The accelerating biophysical contradictions of industrial capitalist agriculture. Journal of Agrarian Change, 10(3), 315–341. Williams, N. M. (2008). Affected Ignorance and animal suffering: Why our failure to debate factory farming puts us at moral risk. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 21, 371–384. Woodhouse, P. (2010). Beyond industrial agriculture? Some questions about farm size, productivity and sustainability. Journal of Agrarian Change, 10(3), 437–453. Young, P. (1988). Ellul on technological forecasting. Futures, 20(2), 194–197.

123