Global Food Governance

Global Food Governance Peter Oosterveer Promotoren: Prof. dr. ir. A.P.J. Mol Hoogleraar Milieubeleid, Wageningen Universiteit Prof. dr. ir. G. Spaargaren Hoogleraar Milieubeleid voor duurzame leefstijlen en consumptiepatronen, Wageningen Universiteit Promotiecommissie: Prof. dr. H.J.M. Goverde Wageningen Universiteit Prof. dr. R. Matthews University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Prof. dr. ir. J.D. van der Ploeg Wageningen Universiteit Dr. M. M. Bell University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, USA Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd binnen de Mansholt Graduate School of Social Sciences Global Food Governance Peter Oosterveer Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit, prof. dr. ir. L. Speelman in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 10 juni 2005 des namiddags te vier uur in de Aula. Peter Oosterveer Global Food Governance / Wageningen: Wageningen University PhD-Thesis Wageningen University ISBN 90-8504-204-6 Copyright Peter Oosterveer, 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior permission of the author 7 Acknowledgements Transforming an NGO programme officer into an academic can be considered a case of ‘extreme makeover’ in professional sense. When, I joined the Environmental Policy Group at Wagenin- gen University in 2000, after working for fifteen years in the field of international development co-operation, I was flattered but also worried. How could I make this transition successfully? Finalising a PhD-thesis is generally considered an indicator and thus after more than four years of reading, empirical research and reflection, the results are put to paper. It is up to the reader to judge to what extent the makeover has been a success. The subject of this thesis fits rather well in current public and political debates in the Dutch society as well as in the wider European society. Concerns about food, particularly its safety and environmental impact, figure almost daily in the newspapers. Choosing the subject of food- related concerns for this thesis greatly facilitated the empirical research because it enabled linking the study to concrete events. At the same time, the repeated emergence of new food crises made it more difficult to develop and maintain a clear focus during the four years of study. The conceptual framework developed over time, however contributed to growing coherence in the work. The end result thus intends to provide a coherent scientific reflection on one of the most challenging questions in contemporary societies: ‘how to organise the provisioning of safe food in a sustainable manner’. Strangely enough, finalising a PhD-thesis is considered to prove the academic qualifications of a particular individual person. However, everyone knows that the contributions by many others are indispensable to make any research project, including this one, into a success. The- refore, I would like to express my gratitude to all those who contributed to this thesis research. To Gert Spaargaren, a friend since the early days of studying sociology in Wageningen and Tuur Mol, whom I got to know and respect during my PhD-research at the Environmental Policy Group. As supervisors they continuously supported the process and provided suggestions and comments during the whole project. To all permanent and temporary colleagues from the Envi- ronmental Policy Group, who supported my work, provided comments and offered a very pleasant working environment. Thanks to the many specialists, whose names are listed in the annex, who accepted to be interviewed and to answer my sometimes difficult questions contri- buting to the empirical foundation of this thesis The ‘Giddens-circle’ deserves a special word of thanks. This reading circle was initiated by Rien Munters in the 1970s and has survived until this very day. Although its composition has changed over the years, this group remained for me a permanent and stimulating environment for reflection on the work of contemporary social scientists. Without the intensive discussions on social theory in this group, I would never have been able to bridge the gap between 1982 and 2000, the years when I was not actively engaged in academic work. Finalising a thesis and preparing its publications also includes many practical tasks. These have been accomplished, thanks to the concrete support of Corry Rothuizen (practical assis- tance on many occasions), Susan Parren (English language correction of Chapters 1, 2 and 8), Hans Weggen (lay-out) and Suzanne van der Schenk (front-page). A special word of thanks goes to my parents Giel and Bep for their supported over so many years. As is the custom an acknowledgement concludes with the direct family. Although I did try to limit the inconvenience of working on this thesis to a minimum, I know that on occasions they have suffered the consequences. Suzanne, Hanne, Tim and Lise, thank you very much for being considerate during these years. Hopefully the future will bring ample opportunities to make up for some of the missed moments. 8 Global Food Governance Contents Acknowledgements 7 Lists of figures, tables and boxes 11 Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1. Introduction 15 1.2. Globalisation of food production and consumption 16 1.3. Environmental and food safety impacts of globalising food production and consumption 19 1.4. Governing environmental and food safety risks 20 1.5. Central research questions 20 1.6. Outline of the thesis 21 Part I: Introducing the challenges facing the governance of food production and consumption in the context of global modernity Chapter 2. Current debates in global food governance 2.1. Introduction 27 2.2. Conventional food governance 28 2.3. Different views on globalisation 29 2.4. Global food governance 32 2.5. Questioning conventional food risk politics 35 2.6. Consumers and the consumption of food 37 2.7. Conclusion 40 Chapter 3. Developing a conceptual framework to study the governance of flows of food in a global network society 3.1. Introduction 47 3.2. Food production and consumption in global modernity 47 3.3. Flows and place in the global network society 50 3.4. Governing global flows of food 52 3.5. Challenges in governing flows of food 56 3.6. Conclusion 58 Intermezzo Introducing the empirical research 65 9 Part 2: Cases of food and governance in global modernity Chapter 4. Reinventing Risk Politics. Reflexive Modernity and the European BSE-crisis 4.1. Introduction 73 4.2. Risk society 73 4.3. BSE; a brief history 74 4.4. United Kingdom: from simple to reflexive risk politics 77 4.5. The Netherlands: continuation of simple risk politics at large 79 4.6. France: facing the limitations of simple risk politics 80 4.7. BSE in Germany: initiating reflexive risk politics? 82 4.8. EU and BSE: a first step towards reflexive risk politics 83 4.9. General conclusions: BSE between simple and reflexive risk politics 85 Chapter 5. Governing genetically modified food in the global network society? 5.1. Introduction 89 5.2. Conceptual tools for analysing the regulation of global flows of GM-food and potential risks involved 90 5.3. Growing GM-food production and its regulation in the US 93 5.4. The history of GM-food-regulation in Europe 96 5.5. Globalising GM-food governance 101 5.6. Conclusions and discussion 106 Chapter 6. Turning blue into green? 6.1. Introduction 113 6.2. Theoretical introduction 114 6.3. General trends in global fisheries 115 6.4. Aquaculture 118 6.5. The case of salmon 119 6.6. The case of shrimps 121 6.7. Regulating fish 126 6.8. Defining sustainable aquaculture 127 6.9. Official and privately initiated forms of governance for aquaculture 128 6.10. Civil society initiatives to govern aquaculture 131 6.11. Conclusions 135 Chapter 7. Environmental governance of global food flows: Labelling as new arrangements? 7.1. Introduction 147 7.2. Labelling and food governance in the global network society 148 7.3. WTO and global food governance 150 7.4. ISO and HACCP as private regulatory tools 153 7.5. Fair Trade Coffee; including environmental and social consequences of global trade 155 7.6. Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): global environmental governance 161 7.7. Conclusion 167 10 Global Food Governance Part 3: Conclusions Chapter 8. Conclusions 8.1. Introduction 177 8.2. Key changes in food governance: conclusions from the case studies 178 8.3. Governing food in global modernity: theoretical reflections 179 8.4. Changing roles of social actors in innovative governance arrangements 182 8.5. Epilogue 184 References Appendices Samenvatting About the author 11 Lists of figures, tables and appendices List of figures 3.1 Globalised food 48 3.2 Agri-food flows 49 3.3 Global flows of food 52 3.4 Regulation of food in the space of places 54 3.5 Regulation in the global flows of food 55 4.1 Changes in beef consumption (October – November 2000) 75 4.2 Cases of BSE (1987 – 2001) 76 4.3 Distribution of risk material in the food chain 76 7.1 Regulation of food in global modernity 148 7.2 Regulation of coffee in the global market 159 7.3 Fair trade based regulation of the global coffee market 160 7.4 Global trade regulation of coffee 161 7.5 Regulation of fish in the global space of flows 165 7.6 Regulation of fish using the MSC-label 166 7.7 Global regulation of fish in the space of flows and the space of places 167 8.1 Combining food regulation in the global space of food with the space of places 181 List of tables 1.1 World exports in agricultural

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