A TINY WINDOW


Source: www.feasta.org

What follows is an excerpt of an email I sent to my poor longsuffering partner who is trying to have a fulfilling vacation in Berlin. I'm trying to write my final essay of my grad programme and am tying myself in knots, having read too much and thought too much to write a simple basic report on why local food is or is not good for sustainability. Here's the excerpt:

I'm reading an article now about how most of the rural development
farm-level entrepreneurial advocacy of local food (which is generally me in
a way) fails to address issues of social justice and the distribution of the
profits made on "premium" value-added products associated with local food
markets. Very Marxist and all and I think a useful argument for me to think
about.

Questions for the conclusion may be something like looking at a balance of
economic, environmental and social benefits of local food, and the potential
gaps in who they fall to. I.e. who eats the food and who gets the profits.
While there may be inherent sustainability benefits on the food miles and
less infrastructure front, it is also important to look at the
sustainability as an economic development and social justice issue--is it
just creating a haves and have nots among farmers? Is it creating a diverse
agri-food landscape that challenges the industrial high production model,
and the oft-linked consolidated retailer price and quality control system,
or is it in many cases creating a dual system of cheap, mass-produced,
environmentally destructive food for some people, with expensive, "quality,"
artisanal and environmentally friendly foods and markets for others? In
other words, are these alternative food supply chains actually a challenge
to the prevailing system, or are they niche markets which, as they grow, if
they do, will become part of the existing system of downward price pressure,
more generic conceptions of quality and environmental standards (this can be
seen in copy-cat labels of natural, fresh, nature-friendly, etc.), and a
mass-produced "locality" identity fetishism that loses traceability as it
expands and may or may not actually mean all of the farm family friendly and
positive environmental things it implies to buyers?

So, structure. Local is good for these reasons (and these people have said
so). It has often been assumed or asserted to have these additional
desirable qualities or effects (social bonding, trust, re-locating of rural
and regional identities, value capture for farmers, etc.). Several of these
have been questioned based on views of economic motivation, uneven
distribution of rents, defensive localism, etc. Conclusion: the basic
reasons that local is good generally stand. The more recent analyses of how
the supply chains work and who benefits are idealistic, peasantising and
don't stand up to long-term projections or meaningful market saturation
scenarios.

Now, this is a hard conclusion to come to, because everyone in my department
is on the side of Kathe Kollwitz pretty peasants in fields versions of
things (I know she had horrible images, but didn't she also have these?),
with the picture of family farmers reclaiming their rightful share of retail
value. But I really am starting to think about the equity issues
here--because the current state of research is all about case studies of
successful eco-entrepreneurs and alternative networks and cooperative
marketing groups, and about how this diversifies the agri-food system in
general. I agree, but I also think it's very much a them that have, gain
scenario. If you research farmers in Cornwall who are invovled in quality
food schemes, a very high percentage, which i could look up, moved to the
rural area in order to start a farm business, with specialty foods,
artisanal methods and idyllic lifestyle in mind. Most of the ones who are
making it are those who see outside the farm life box. They think like
consumers. Is that a problem? Not really. They have a market. But is
building a rural development scheme on the experiences of yuppie farmers
with vision a viable plan? Especially when the market for expensive
targeted premium foods is limited? Not so sure.

Oh boy. didn't mean to do all that. And it's a very recent stage of
thinking on this. I already have questions for myself. And I know that
there is still plenty of room for market growth, particularly if there is a bigger
steady, more widespread demand (like that of public procurement, for
example) and that more environmetnally and socially sound systems are better
and so some are better than none.

End of Excerpt. So that's where my brain is, and why I never write. And today and tomorrow I have to finish this essay so I can go see my dear supportive Jason (who actually answered this in a meaningful way from a hostel lobby in Berlin).

Wish me luck.