Lee Glezos Thesis
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The Emergence of an Organic Food Market in Australia: An Economic Sociological Approach Lee Glezos BA Hons Swinburne University of Technology This thesis is submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Business and Law, Swinburne University of Technology 2016 ABSTRACT Drawing on economic sociology, this thesis adopts Fligstein and McAdam’s A Theory of Fields framework in order to understand how social movements, or social movement-like groups, contribute towards the creation of new markets. Specifically, it examines the interplay of competition and cooperation between institutional entrepreneurs from sustainable agriculture, the consumer movement, the conventional food industry and the State in the creation of a market for organic produce in Australia. In particular, the thesis addresses how Australian organic food graduated from a state of informal trade, strongly guided by the values of the sustainable agriculture movement, to become a formal market. This includes consideration of how structures such as production standards and certification, a coordinated supply chain and a sense of membership to the organic industry initially came into being. The thesis draws upon a variety of texts, often generated by social movements and industry groups, including newsletters, journals and conference proceedings. These texts are supplemented through 11 targeted in-depth interviews with pioneering organic food retailers, wholesalers and certification body actors. The research offers two main contributions. Firstly it provides novel detail on the origins of the Australian organic food market. Key market-building projects are identified across three distinct temporal brackets. They roughly equate to periods of planning and theorising (1982-1986), execution and expansion (1987-1989), and crisis and contraction (1990-1995). The findings suggest that the sustainable agriculture movement aimed to transform mainstream food production by delegitimising the conventional chemical-based model, and proposing an alternative that focused on maintaining the health of farming soils, farmers and consumers. Ultimately this project gained enough legitimacy with key stakeholders to establish the market, but the extent of success was significantly limited. Entrenched incumbents with interests in continuing conventional agriculture deployed extensive resources to secure state and industry support and reaffirm the status quo, albeit one that accommodated organic food as a marginal member. ii The second contribution is theoretical. The research confirms the fundamental argument in A Theory of Fields that new institutional space is often forged in an inherently political process, which can be entangled in periods of fluctuating conflict between challengers and incumbents. I also argue that this framework can be given extra explanatory power by integrating the concept of judgment devices from the sociology of valuation. Judgment devices are observed as technologies that influence how key stakeholders such as producers, consumers and the State evaluate particular products or broader market models. Judgment devices should then be understood as vital tools available to both challengers and incumbents, used to spearhead their market building projects while simultaneously curbing the legitimacy and power of those wielding oppositional interests. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Much like marathon runners, PhD candidates cannot get by without support crews. I’d like to briefly acknowledge my crew. First and foremost I want to thank my primary supervisor Professor Michael Gilding. At the many junctures when I felt challenged and overwhelmed, your guidance, advice and tolerance always brought things back into perspective. I simply could not have completed this thesis without your generosity. Thank you to my secondary supervisor, Associate Professor Karen Farquharson, for your clarity and care at the most critical times. I am honoured to have such amazing academic mentors as you and Michael. I will forever be grateful to you both. On a personal note, thank you to my family for the support over my academic journey. A most special thank you to my amazing partner Emma. Emma, there is no way I could have done this without your unwavering support, care and faith in me. Apologies for the PhD rollercoaster – I know you don’t like rides! On a final note, I suspect that librarians don’t get too many mentions in theses acknowledgements. I want to say a sincere thank you to all the dedicated librarians who helped me source those obscure documents from the far corners of the country. iv DECLARATION This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. To the best of my knowledge, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. This thesis has been copyedited and proofread by Dr Jillian Graham (Articulate Writing Solutions), whose services are consistent with those outlined in Section D of the Australian Standards for Editing Practice (ASEP). Dr Graham’s own fields of study encompass Social History, Women’s Studies, Musicology and Psychoanalysis. Signature: ………………………………… Date: ……………………………………… v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………... iv DECLARATION ………………………………………………………………… v CHAPTER ONE Introduction …………………………………………………................................. 1 The development of organic food………………………………………………...... 1 An economic sociological approach……………………………………………...... 4 The current study………………………………………………………………....... 6 Outline of chapters…………………………………………………………………. 9 CHAPTER TWO Literature Review ……………………………………………………………..... 12 Economic sociology vis-à-vis economics..……………………………………...... 13 Markets and contention………………………………………………………….... 23 A theory of fields………………………………………………………………...... 30 The economic sociology of valuation……………………………………………... 40 CHAPTER THREE Methods…….………………………………………….......................................... 54 Research perspective……………………………………………………………… 54 Breaking into the organic food field…………………………………………...…. 55 Choosing the research site………………………………………………………... 56 Documentary data sources………………………………………………………... 58 Interview sources…………………………………………………………………. 61 Data analysis………………………..……………………………………….......... 62 Consent and confidentiality………………………………………………………. 67 Credibility………………………………………………………………………… 67 vi Limitations……………………………………………………………………….. 68 CHAPTER FOUR From movement to market: the initial plan to commercialise organic food in Australia, 1982-1986………………………………………………….... 70 Event 1 – The consumer movement introduces notions of product safety……… 71 Event 2 – The crisis of the agri-chemical industry…….………………………... 83 Event 3 – Commercialising organic food in Australia………………………….. 92 CHAPTER FIVE From talk to action: disruption in the agri-food policy field and the implementation of an organic food market, 1987-1989………….................. 106 Event 1 – The beef crisis ripples into broader agriculture fields………………. 107 Event 2 – The agri-food policy field accommodates sustainable agriculture….. 109 Event 3 – The initial implementation of the organic food market……………... 126 CHAPTER SIX From outside fringe to inside niche: constraining the organic food market, 1990-1995…………………………………………………………….. 143 Event 1 – The organic food market enters into crisis…………………………... 144 Event 2 – The stratification of the agri-food policy field………………………. 156 Event 3 – Stabilising the organic food market niche…………………………… 171 CHAPTER SEVEN: Conclusion…….……………………………………….. 182 Field settlements and judgment devices………………………………………... 184 Australian organic food………………………………………………………… 190 Limitations and future research………………………………………………… 191 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………... 193 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………… 217 Appendix 1: Examples of coded incidents, events and arguments…………….. 217 Appendix 2: Evidence of human ethics clearance for this research project…… 219 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Key attributes of interviewees …………………………………..... 62 Table 2: Events organised around the commercialisation of organic food production …………………………………………………………..... 139 Table 3: Market-oriented sustainable agriculture media ………………...... 140 Table 4: Installing the ‘clean food’ settlement 1982-1992 ……………....... 188 Table 5: Installing the organic niche settlement 1992-1995 ………………. 190 Table 6: Three examples of coded incidents ………………………………. 217 Table 7: Examples of coded arguments …………………………………… 218 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Industry newspaper advertisements throughout 1990 illustrating intermediaries seeking supply………………............................................... 150 Figure 2: A common marketing tactic was pushing the chemical-free message to consumers …………………………………………………….. 154 Figure 3: The cover of the NFA journal signals the States’ validation of conventional food ………………………………………………………… 169 Figure 4: Incidents representing event: ‘Development of first organic standards (1982-1986)’ ……………………………………………………………… 218 ix ORGANISATIONAL ABBREVIATIONS ABARE Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics ACA Australian Consumers’ Association ACCC Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ACF Australian Conservation Foundation ACIC Australian Chemical Industry Council ACTU Australian Council of Trade Unions AFCO Australian Federation of Consumer Organisations