The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Earth and Mineral Sciences SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: A NETWORK ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICUTLURE IN PENNSYLVANIA A Thesis in Geography and Women’s Studies by Amy K. Trauger Copyright 2005 Amy K. Trauger Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2005 The thesis of Amy K. Trauger was reviewed and approved* by the following: Cynthia Brewer Associate Professor of Geography Thesis Advisor Chair of Committee Carolyn Sachs Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Rural Sociology Melissa Wright Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies and Geography James McCarthy Assistant Professor of Geography Roger Downs Professor of Geography Head of the Department of Geography *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ABSTRACT Agriculture and rural communities in the United States are in a period of decline, but sustainability movements in rural communities show promise for revitalizing both rural communities and agriculture as a sector. Sustainable agriculture is committed to the “triple-bottom-line” of social, economic and environmental justice, in which social equality, economic profitability and environmental soundness are emphasized. These discourses of justice, however, are not always translated into the practices of organizations committed to sustainability, according to some critics. This dissertation seeks to investigate how the sustainable agriculture social movement in Pennsylvania articulates these discourses and translates them into practice. The framework I use for this analysis includes a network ontology, which emphasizes social change through connection. I studied three groups (or networks) in Pennsylvania: a marketing cooperative, a women’s group and a farm based education program. The methods for the analysis are primarily qualitative, but include visualizing and analyzing social networks and political agency through the use of geographic visualization technologies. The research concludes that sustainable agriculture in Pennsylvania is committed to social change and the triple-bottom-line, but these ideals are translated rather imperfectly into the practices of individuals and groups. Organic agriculture as a technical practice of sustainable agriculture is promoted as a way to obtain price premiums for farmers. Organic agriculture supports environmentally friendly practices, and helps farmers stay in business, but reproduces some of the social injustices of conventional agriculture, such as the exploitation of labor. Women in conventional agriculture are traditionally marginalized from spaces of knowledge and power, because they are not seen as “real” farmers. Efforts to provide education and agency to women in sustainable agriculture also fall prey to identity politics based on who qualifies as a farmer. Farm-based education programs designed to spread knowledge about environmentally friendly farming practices also translate well into productivist models when an emphasis is on technical practices, rather than on community and holistic farm management. In summary, the networks facilitate the pursuit of justice, but confront obstacles regarding “who belongs,” the scale of the organization, and the length of the network. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures……………………………………………………………………… v List of Abbreviations………………………………………………………………. vi Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………vii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………… 1 I. Summary of Dissertation…………………………………… 2 II. Research Questions, Goals and Benefits…………………… 3 A. Research Questions……………………………………... 4 B. Research Goals………………………………………….. 5 C. Potential Benefits……………………………………….. 7 III. Overview of Dissertation………………………………… 7 Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………... 9 I. Sustainable Agriculture, Rurality and Social Networks……. 10 A. From Sustainable Development to the Sustainable Agriculture Movement………………………………….. 11 B. Rurality and Rural Space………………………………...15 C. Social Networks and Agri-food Initiatives………………18 II. Sustainable Agriculture and Justice Discourses……………..21 A. Economic Viability, Alternative Food Networks and Organic Agriculture……………………………………...22 B. Social Justice, Women in Agriculture and Social Change Networks………………………………………...26 C. Environmental Soundness and Knowledge Exchange Networks…………………………………………………30 Chapter 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK………………………………………. 36 I. The Place of Nature in Ecofeminist Theory………………………………………………………...39 II. Sex/Gender and Nature/Culture in Post-Structuralist Theory………………………………………………………. 42 III. The Place of Nature in Marxism and Agrarian Political Economy……………………………………………………. 44 IV. Actor-Network Theory and the Nature/Culture Dualism…… 49 V. Beyond the Nature/Culture Divide: Corporeality and Hybridity……………………………………………………. 52 VI. Network Ontology and Network Analysis………………… 56 Chapter 4. METHODS AND METHODOLOGY…………………………………... 59 I. Research Questions……………………………………………60 II. Study Area and Population…………………………………….61 III. Methodology…………………………………………………...63 A. Qualitative and Feminist Methodologies…………………..63 B. Network Analysis and Geographic Visualization………….67 iv IV. Methods and Data Sources…………………………………… 70 A. Tuscrarora Organic Growers Network………………….. 71 B. Women’s Agricultural Network………………………… 73 C. Farm Based Education Network………………………… 76 V. Summary……………………………………………………… Chapter 5. ANALYSIS I: TUSCARORA ORGANIC GROWERS………………… 80 I. History and Background of the Cooperative………………………………………………….. 81 A. Why Wholesale and Cooperative?………………………. 85 B. Farmers, Economic Justice and Organic Farming………. 87 II. Organic Farming and Economic Justice: Race, Class and Gender……………………………………………………….. 91 A. Class and Consumption………………………………….. 91 B. Race and Agricultural Labor…………………………….. 95 C. Gender, Labor and Management………………………… 99 III. Summary……………………………………………………… Chapter 6. ANALYSIS II: WOMEN’S AGRICULTURAL NETWORK………….. 106 I. Women in Agricultural Organizations………………………………………………… 108 II. WAgN Beginnings: Vermont and Maine………………………………………………………… 110 A. Jump on the WAgN in Pennsylvania……………………………………………… 113 B. What do Women in Agriculture Need?……………………117 III. Social Networks, Agency and Identity Politics………………. 120 A. Network Materiality………………………………………. 122 B. Network Ontology…………………………………………126 C. Network Hybridity and Identity……………………………129 IV. Summary………………………………………………………. Chapter 7. ANALYSIS III: FARM BASED EDUCATION PROGRAM…………… 137 I. History and Purpose of the Farm Based Education Program………………………………………………………. 138 A. Structure and Organization of the FBE…………………... 139 B. Sponsors…………………………………………………...141 C. 2003 Field Day Schedule………………………………….142 II. Knowledge Exchange Networks and Discourses of Nature…..146 A. Farm Tours………………………………………………...147 B. Pasture Walks……………………………………………...152 C. Demonstrations……………………………………………157 D. On-Farm Research…………………………………………161 III. Summary………………………………………………………. v Chapter 8. CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………………. 168 I. Tuscarora Organic Growers: Agency, Economy and Hybridity………………………………………………………169 II. The Women’s Agricultural Network: Agency, Identity and Hybridity…………………………………………………….. 174 III. Farm-Based Education: Agency, Nature and Hybridity……... 181 IV. General Conclusions, Findings and Challenges…………….. 186 V. Questions for Future Research……………………………… 188 References…………………………………………………………………………….192 Appendix A: Interview Protocol A.……………………………………………………205 Appendix B: Interview Protocol B.……………………………………………………207 Appendix C: Survey A…………………………………………………………………209 Appendix D: Survey B…………………………………………………………………211 Endnotes……………………………………………………………………………….213 vi LIST OF FIGURES 1. Study area………………………………………………………………... 62 2. TOG Member Farms…………………………………………………….. 82 3. TOG Markets……………………………………………………………. 83 4. Historic Neighborhood Markets in Washington D.C………………….... 84 5. Chart of Washington D.C. Markets……………………………………... 85 6. Female Farm Operators in Pennsylvania……………………………….. 110 7. Pennsylvania WAgN Membership ……………………………………. 115 8. Pennsylvania WAgN Leadership ……………………………………... 116 9. Field Day Locations…………………………………………………….. 143 10. Sponsors and Locations of Farm Tours…………………………………. 148 11. Sponsors and Locations of Pasture Walks………………………………. 153 12. Sponsors and Locations of Demonstrations……………………………... 158 13. Sponsors/locations for On-Farm Research………………………………. 162 14. Before TOG Network Diagram………………………………………….. 171 15. After TOG Network Diagram……………………………………………. 172 16. Before WAgN Network Diagram…………………………………………176 17. After WAgN Network Diagram………………………………………….. 177 18. Before FBE Network Diagram…………………………………………… 183 19. After FBE Network Diagram………………………………………………184 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS DEP Department of Environmental Protection CSA Community Supported Agriculture FBE Farm Based Education NEON Northeast Organic Network NOFA Northeast Organic Farming Association NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service PACD Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts PASA Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture PCO Pennsylvania Certified Organic PDA Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture PRFMA Pennsylvania Retail Farm Market Association PSI Public Seed Initiative PSU Pennsylvania State University PVGA Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association SARE Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education TOG Tuscarora Organic Growers USDA United States Department of Agriculture WAgN Women’s Agricultural Network viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As with any project of this size, scale and scope, there is a long list of individuals and groups