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Mikael Klintman

Mikael Klintman

Professor

Mikael Klintman

State-centered versus nonstate-driven organic food standardization: A comparison of the US and Sweden

Author

  • Magnus Bostrom
  • Mikael Klintman

Summary, in English

Organic food standardization is an increasingly important strategy for dealing with consumer concerns about the environment, animal welfare, health, and the economic structure of food production. But the ways in which this consumer-oriented strategy is introduced, organized, and debated vary considerably across countries. In Sweden, a nongovernmental organization [KRAV (Association for Control of Organic Production)] - consisting of social movement organizations, associations for conventional and organic farmers, and the food industry - has been quite successful in promoting organic food labeling as an eco-label. KRAV has developed a complementary position vis-a-vis the state and EU regulatory framework. In the US, the federal government controls standardization. The government frames the label as a "marketing label," thus rejecting the idea that organic food production would have any significant advantages for the environment or, indirectly, for human health. This framing is separate from the ones created by organic constituencies, leading to deeper controversies than in Sweden. The purpose of this paper is to examine why standardization has followed different patterns in the two settings. We analyze context factors (i.e., political culture, pre-regulatory arrangements, and organizational structures) and process factors (i.e., framing and organizing). What are the benefits of a state-centric versus a nonstate-driven approach regarding powerful standardization? The paper shows that both settings provide not only "threats of regulatory occupation" from actors not committed to organic principles but also avenues for substantial standardization in the future, albeit through different channels.

Department/s

  • Sociology

Publishing year

2006

Language

English

Pages

163-180

Publication/Series

Agriculture and Human Values

Volume

23

Issue

2

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Keywords

  • environmental governance
  • organic
  • food labeling
  • organic movement
  • policy discourse
  • political culture
  • social movement
  • United States
  • standardization
  • advocacy network
  • consumer policy
  • Sweden

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0889-048X