IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v30y2013i3p379-388.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Private standards, grower networks, and power in a food supply system

Author

Listed:
  • Lyndal-Joy Thompson
  • Stewart Lockie

Abstract

The role of private food standards in agriculture is increasingly raising questions of legitimacy, particularly in light of the impacts such standards may have on food producers. While much work has been carried out at a macro policy level for developing countries, there have been relatively few empirical case studies that focus on particular food supply chains, and even fewer studies still of the impact of private standards on developed countries such as Australia. This study seeks to address this imbalance, with a particular focus on examining the impact of private standards on an Australian vegetable supply food system in North Tasmania as well as tracing the impact of perceived and actual power relations among actors. Applying a governance framework and adopting a Foucauldian position we show that private standards are a “technology of power” that have risen out of a crisis discourse in the mid-1990s about on-farm food safety. Private standards have the effect of using knowledge from particular actors to establish truths about good agricultural practice (GAP), however we show that Tasmanian vegetable growers are not docile bodies and are employing alternative knowledge and technologies of power to challenge how GAP is implemented on-farm. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Lyndal-Joy Thompson & Stewart Lockie, 2013. "Private standards, grower networks, and power in a food supply system," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(3), pages 379-388, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:30:y:2013:i:3:p:379-388
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-012-9404-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10460-012-9404-8
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-012-9404-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stewart Lockie, 1998. "Environmental and social risks, and the construction of “best-practice” in Australian agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 15(3), pages 243-252, September.
    2. Spencer Henson, 2011. "Private agrifood governance: conclusions, observations and provocations," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(3), pages 443-451, September.
    3. Hatanaka, Maki & Bain, Carmen & Busch, Lawrence, 2005. "Third-party certification in the global agrifood system," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 354-369, June.
    4. Philip McMichael, 2009. "A food regime analysis of the ‘world food crisis’," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 26(4), pages 281-295, December.
    5. Doris Fuchs & Agni Kalfagianni & Tetty Havinga, 2011. "Actors in private food governance: the legitimacy of retail standards and multistakeholder initiatives with civil society participation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(3), pages 353-367, September.
    6. Doris Fuchs & Agni Kalfagianni & Jennifer Clapp & Lawrence Busch, 2011. "Introduction to symposium on private agrifood governance: values, shortcomings and strategies," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(3), pages 335-344, September.
    7. Henson, Spencer & Masakure, Oliver & Boselie, David, 2005. "Private food safety and quality standards for fresh produce exporters: The case of Hortico Agrisystems, Zimbabwe," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 371-384, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mercado, Geovana & Nico Hjortsø, Carsten, 2023. "Explaining the development policy implementation gap: A case of a failed food sovereignty policy in Bolivia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    2. Jiping Ding & Paule Moustier & Xingdong Ma & Xuexi Huo & Xiangping Jia, 2019. "Doing but not knowing: how apple farmers comply with standards in China," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(1), pages 61-75, March.
    3. Patrick Baur & Christy Getz & Jennifer Sowerwine, 2017. "Contradictions, consequences and the human toll of food safety culture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 713-728, September.
    4. Geovana Mercado & Carsten Nico Hjortsø & Benson Honig, 2018. "Decoupling from international food safety standards: how small-scale indigenous farmers cope with conflicting institutions to ensure market participation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(3), pages 651-669, September.
    5. Julia M. L. Laforge & Colin R. Anderson & Stéphane M. McLachlan, 2017. "Governments, grassroots, and the struggle for local food systems: containing, coopting, contesting and collaborating," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 663-681, September.
    6. Salvatore Squatrito & Elena Arena & Rosa Palmeri & Biagio Fallico, 2020. "Public and Private Standards in Crop Production: Their Role in Ensuring Safety and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, January.
    7. Douglas H. Constance, 2023. "The doctors of agrifood studies," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 31-43, March.
    8. Großmann, Anne-Marie & von Gruben, Paul, 2014. "The Role of Company Standards in Supply Chains – The Case of the German Automotive Industry," Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), in: Blecker, Thorsten & Kersten, Wolfgang & Ringle, Christian M. (ed.), Innovative Methods in Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Current Issues and Emerging Practices. Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conferenc, volume 19, pages 99-123, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management.
    9. Madhura Rao & Nadia Bernaz & Alie Boer, 2024. "Holding Retail Corporations Accountable for Food Waste: A Due Diligence Framework Informed by Business and Human Rights Principles," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(3), pages 679-689, September.
    10. Mikkola, Minna, 2015. "Business Concept as a Relational Message: Supermarket vs Independent Grocery as Competitors for Sustainability," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 6(4), pages 1-11, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiping Ding & Paule Moustier & Xingdong Ma & Xuexi Huo & Xiangping Jia, 2019. "Doing but not knowing: how apple farmers comply with standards in China," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(1), pages 61-75, March.
    2. Carmen Bain & Tamera Dandachi, 2014. "Governing GMOs: The (Counter) Movement for Mandatory and Voluntary Non-GMO Labels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Laura Silva-Castañeda, 2012. "A forest of evidence: third-party certification and multiple forms of proof—a case study of oil palm plantations in Indonesia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(3), pages 361-370, September.
    4. McCaffrey Sara Jane & Kurland Nancy, 2014. "Who defines “local”? Resistance to harmonizing standards in ethical markets," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 191-219, April.
    5. Jason Konefal, 2015. "Governing Sustainability Transitions: Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives and Regime Change in United States Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-22, January.
    6. Elena Fagotto, 2014. "Private roles in food safety provision: the law and economics of private food safety," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 83-109, February.
    7. Jérémie Forney, 2016. "Blind spots in agri-environmental governance: some reflections and suggestions from Switzerland," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 1-13, June.
    8. Lemeilleur, Sylvaine, 2013. "Smallholder Compliance with Private Standard Certification: The Case of GlobalGAP Adoption by Mango Producers in Peru," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 16(4), pages 1-22, November.
    9. Lars Esbjerg, 2020. "To the market and back? A study of the interplay between public policy and market-driven initiatives to improve farm animal welfare in the Danish pork sector," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 963-981, December.
    10. Valeria Sodano, 2006. "Food Safety and Social Capital: A Double Side Connection," Department of Economics University of Siena 488, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    11. Andrea Marescotti & Alessandro Brazzini, 2014. "L?utilizzo degli standard privati di qualit? nella gdo italiana. Il caso dello standard GlobalG.A.P," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 16(1), pages 63-83.
    12. Valerie Nelson & Anne Tallontire, 2014. "Battlefields of ideas: changing narratives and power dynamics in private standards in global agricultural value chains," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(3), pages 481-497, September.
    13. F. Cafaggi & P. Iamiceli, 2014. "Supply chains, contractual governance and certification regimes," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 131-173, February.
    14. Robert Chiles, 2013. "If they come, we will build it: in vitro meat and the discursive struggle over future agrofood expectations," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(4), pages 511-523, December.
    15. Okello, Julius Juma & Narrod, Clare & Roy, Devesh, 2007. "Food safety requirements in African green bean exports and their impact on small farmers:," IFPRI discussion papers 737, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    16. Verena Bitzer & Pieter Glasbergen & Bas Arts, 2013. "Exploring the potential of intersectoral partnerships to improve the position of farmers in global agrifood chains: findings from the coffee sector in Peru," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(1), pages 5-20, March.
    17. Arthur P. J. Mol & Peter Oosterveer, 2015. "Certification of Markets, Markets of Certificates: Tracing Sustainability in Global Agro-Food Value Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-21, September.
    18. Fuchs Doris & Kalfagianni Agni, 2010. "The Causes and Consequences of Private Food Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-36, October.
    19. Pavel Castka & Charles J. Corbett, 2016. "Governance of Eco-Labels: Expert Opinion and Media Coverage," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 309-326, May.
    20. J. Dara Bloom, 2014. "Civil Society in Hybrid Governance: Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Legitimacy in Mediating Wal-Mart’s Local Produce Supply Chains in Honduras," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-24, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:30:y:2013:i:3:p:379-388. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.