Reconciling the Divide: An Analysis of Farmers’ Land Strategies Within the Corporate-Environmental Food Regime
Abstract
After twenty-five years of contested change following the collapse of the
mercantile-industrial food regime, a corporate-environmental food regime appears to be
consolidating. The new food regime consists of two distinct yet complimentary
paradigms: the Ecologically Integrated paradigm, and the Life Sciences Integrated
paradigm. Through the use of in-depth interviews with organic and conventional farmers
living in southern Saskatchewan, this thesis examines how the management strategies
utilized by Saskatchewan farmers fit within the larger world food regime in relation to
farmers’ self-described identities. This study also explores the heterogeneity of
management strategies, and the consistency of these strategies with the ideologies held by
the farmers. Giddens’ theory of structuration, Gramci’s theory of hegemonic discourse,
and the idea of the reflexive producer are used to explain how farmers make decisions
concerning agricultural strategies and how these decisions impact the larger social
structure.
An analysis of the interviews suggests that producers exist within the emerging
food regime on a continuum between the Ecologically Integrated paradigm (alternative
producers) and the Life Sciences Integrated paradigm (conventional producers). Most
producers frequently utilize production strategies based on their access to markets and
specific groups of consumers, and on their personal eco-strategies. These farmers often
identify as “conventional” or “alternative” producers, while having beliefs or using
agricultural methods that are associated with the opposing paradigm. The results of this
study demonstrate the importance of community in the transfer of local knowledge,
including potential alternative farming methods. This study also illustrates that Saskatchewan farmers face additional barriers in the potential for resistance against
conventional agriculture due to the history of agriculture in western Canada, the lack of
local processors, and the corporatization of land ownership.