organic farming Articles
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Moving on – European organic farming movements between political action and self-reflection
Organic farming movements in Europe are widely recognised as a positive force by market actors and civil society, as well as relevant actors in policy networks. At the same time, the organic movement is in a process of self-reflection, reconsidering its value basis. Taking account of both a policy network and a social movement perspective, this article seeks to understand political action of the ...
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Goals and standards in Swedish organic farming: trading off between desirables
Organic farming is an explicitly value-based movement working towards a set of goals. The standards of organic farming serve the purpose of telling organic producers what they need to do, to be certified organic, but they are also as a means to steer them towards the goals of organic production. Both standards and goals are dynamic and subject to change. While goals can be broad and idealistic, ...
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Patterns of resource use on Danish organic farms: aspects of farm-based rural development
The diversity in the Danish organic farming sector in terms of patterns of human resource use is investigated. Based on the total time allocated to agricultural activities almost half the organic farms are full-time farms, one third part-time and the rest hobby farms. Spouses contribute little time to agricultural activities and 75% of them has full- or part-time jobs outside the farm. Half of ...
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Looking for alternatives: the construction of the organic beef chain in Mugello, Tuscany
There is a growing consensus that organic farming is undergoing critical changes as it is integrated into food chains. A situation of 'deadly embrace' between organic and retail chains can be observed and explained by the appropriation of both the alternative values and the economic benefits associated with the organic food production by the 'dominant' actors within the conventional agro-food ...
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The organic food market in Portugal: contested meanings, competing conventions
The European Union regulatory framework on organic farming gave a new impulse to the institutionalisation of the Portuguese organic farming movement. This paper offers an analytical account based on interviews with key market and institutional actors within the organic food sector in Portugal. The qualitative analysis undertaken is underpinned by the premises of convention theory and aims at ...
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Policy instruments in support of organic farming in Austria
This paper explores the connection between agricultural policy measures and the development of organic farming in Austria from 1991 onwards. First, past policy measures are reviewed. Then, various new policy strategies for the further development of the organic sector in Austria are elaborated and their potential impact discussed. The analysis suggests that the current direct policy measures ...
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Factors influencing the conversion to organic farming in Norway
Determinants of the decision to convert to organic farming methods are examined by applying bivariate analyses and a multinomial logit model to a survey of 1018 Norwegian crop and dairy farmers. The results show that 4% of the conventional respondents plan to convert by 2009, which may imply that the national goal of 10% organically managed area will not be achieved. The analysis indicates that ...
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Motivations for organic farming among farmers from Malopolska Province, Poland
Poor condition of Polish agriculture, clean soil environment and extensive methods of production make Poland particularly suitable for developing environmentally friendly forms of farming. In the last decade the number of people who have decided to convert from old, conventional farms to new, environmentally friendly ones, has markedly increased. The objective of this study was to find out what ...
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Values of organic producers converting at different times: results of a focus group study in five European countries
This paper presents the results of a focus group study of the values of organic producers entering the sector at different times in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and Switzerland. As well as expressing values widely associated with organic farming, such as food quality, health and environmental protection, they also mentioned professional challenge, fairness in the food chain, and ...
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Family as an autonomous institution for local agricultural resources governance: discourse on organic agriculture development in the mountains of Nepal
This paper focuses on the institutional dynamics of family–led organic farms in the mountains of Nepal. It is based on continuous observations and experiences of local farmers who have dedicated themselves to organic agriculture for a significant period of time. It is found that family–led organic farming can contribute significantly to the sustainable use of local agricultural resources. The ...
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Weed control in organic farming
Probably the most cost-intensive and time-consuming operation in organic farming is the elimination of weeds at different stages of plant development. Due to the impossibility of herbicides application, the processing must be performed mechanically. For this purpose farmers use a wide variety of rotary and striegel harrows, cultivators and tillers for interrow processing and ...
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Regional economic integration and local food: the case of Latvia during European Union accession
Latvia's agriculture sector remains economically important despite 50 years of central Soviet planning as well as rapid reorientation to a market economy after independence in 1991 and accession into the European Union in 2004. At independence, many Latvians embraced a local organic farming movement which has evolved during an era of sweeping economic and socio-political change. This article ...
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Feeding the world from organics
Washington State University researchers have concluded that feeding a growing global population with sustainability goals in mind is possible. Their review of hundreds of published studies provides evidence that organic farming can produce sufficient yields, be profitable for farmers, protect and improve the environment and be safer for farm workers. The review study, “Organic Agriculture ...
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Ecological modernisation as bureaucracy - organic food and its certification in the UK and India
This paper seeks to analyse ecological modernisation using a focus on how bureaucracy contributes to constituting ecological modernities in the case of organic food trade in the UK and India. Ecological modernisation is a way for business to apply ecological technologies to satisfy the demands of increasingly affluent publics for higher quality of life, including high environmental standards. ...
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Is organic farming climate friendly?
Think organic farming is climate friendly? You might want to think again. A study published recently in the journal Agriculture and Human Values suggests that as organic agriculture emulates conventional industrial agriculture, the environmental benefits may not be the slam-dunk that Earth-loving proponents might like them to be. It’s well known that organic practices offer climate ...
By Ensia
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OR-TEC supports fundraiser for Hiram Farm - Case Study
OR-TEC recently supported a fundraiser for Hiram Farm, a working organic farm in Hiram, Ohio that provides meaningful work for adults with autism and other significant developmental ...
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What makes organic agriculture move: protest, meaning or market? A polyocular approach to the dynamics and governance of organic agriculture
Many different actors have hopes and aspirations for the future of organic agriculture. They have different perspectives on organic agriculture with different understandings of what it is and what makes it move. Each perspective entails a certain understanding of organic agriculture featuring certain concepts and values and a particular logic or rationality. It is important to acknowledge this ...
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An analysis of some paradoxes in alternative agriculture and a vision of sustainability for future food systems
The paper offers an analysis of some of the prevailing practices in sustainable agriculture and points out some of the paradoxes that need to be addressed and resolved in order to enhance acceptability of sustainable agriculture by the general public. Education and research in sustainable agriculture are suggested as possible tools via which solutions to the paradoxes may be found. Preserving the ...
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Evolving more sustainable agriculture in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
Smallholders in many tropical highlands cause serious environmental damage. The Cameron Highlands of Malaysia offer an excellent opportunity for studying how farmers interact with environment, changing markets, infrastructure development, indigenous peoples, and tourism, and how these shape innovation. Our surveys in 2002-2004, 2006 and 2007 show that farmers have intensified production and in ...
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How embedded are organic fresh fruit and vegetables at Irish farmers' markets and what does the answer say about the organic movement? An exploration, using three models
This article is about the responses the organic movement makes to various pressures on the alterity of farmers' markets (FMs) in Ireland. These pressures are the increasing distance food travels to the FM, availablity of processed foods, disconnected vendors and produce, appropriation, market forces and evaluations and finally policy pressures. However, the research presented here suggests that ...
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