Master´s Thesis, 30 credits Sustainable Enterprising Master´s programme 2008/10, 120 credits Sustainability and organic farming in the light of conventions theory The example of the Hungarian organic sector Orsolya Erdélyi Stockholm University Stockholm Resilience Centre Sustainable Enterprising Master’s Programme Sustainability and organic farming in the light of conventions theory The example of the Hungarian organic sector by Orsolya Erdélyi Supervisor: Ulf Jonsson, Professor at the Economic History Department, Stockholm University Master’s Thesis 30 ECTS Spring term 2010 I Abstract The globalization and industrialization of food sector created a need for food traceability. Alternative food networks, such as organic farming, can serve this purpose by offering an alternative to the conventional food and by regaining the trust between the producer and the consumer. Organic agriculture is assumed to be more sustainable than the industrial one. However, there is a misconception of the concepts “sustainable agriculture” and “organic farming”. In Hungary the contradiction of high export of organic raw materials and high import of processed organic food from the main export countries was experienced in the 1990s. But lately the import volume decreased, and the high export remained combined with low domestic organic consumption. It is important to see how the actors involved in the organic sector perceive the sustainability of the Hungarian organic sector. The research question is: How do different actors perceive sustainability in the Hungarian organic food sector in the light of conventions theory? In order to find the answer 10 actors with different profiles were interviewed. Semi- structured qualitative interviews were carried out. Seven different conventions based on Thévenot et al. (2000) served as the analytical tool. The respondents showed low understanding of such concepts as sustainability and sustainable agriculture, as well as their contribution to sustainable development. A main conclusion of the study is that the actors closer to the field, i.e. farmers and food processing companies, show more consideration towards the environment, rural development and sustainability. Green, domestic and civic conventions are for them as important as market and industrial conventions. Keywords: Organic farming, sustainability, conventions theory, Hungary II Acknowledgement I would especially like to thank my supervisor, Ulf Jonsson, Professor at the Economic History Department of Stockholm University, for his comments and suggestions. Further, I also would like to thank for my colleagues in the thesis group for giving me valuable feedbacks and supporting me at difficult times. Big thanks for the contribution of all the interviewed companies, thanks for devoting time to my thesis and for sharing thoughts with me. III Table of contents 1. Introduction ___________________________________________________________- 1 - 1.1. Problem statement ________________________________________________________ - 3 - 1.2. Aim of the thesis __________________________________________________________ - 4 - 1.3. Research question ________________________________________________________ - 5 - 2. The conceptual and theoretical framework ___________________________________- 6 - 2.1. Concepts ________________________________________________________________ - 6 - 2.1.1. Sustainability _________________________________________________________________ - 6 - 2.1.2. Sustainable agriculture _________________________________________________________ - 7 - 2.1.3. Organic Farming ______________________________________________________________ - 8 - 2.1.4. Sustainable agriculture vs. organic farming__________________________________________ - 8 - 2.2. Previous studies __________________________________________________________ - 9 - 2.3. Conventions Theory ______________________________________________________ - 10 - 3. Case study ____________________________________________________________- 13 - 3.1. Development of Hungarian agriculture ______________________________________ - 13 - 3.2. Organic farming in Hungary ______________________________________________ - 14 - 4. Methodology __________________________________________________________- 16 - 4.1. Literature review ________________________________________________________ - 16 - 4.2. Qualitative interviews ____________________________________________________ - 17 - 4.2.1. Data generation ______________________________________________________________ - 18 - 4.3. Critical reflection of the methods and data sources ____________________________ - 20 - 5. Empirical findings _____________________________________________________- 20 - 5.1. Market conventions ______________________________________________________ - 20 - 5.2. Industrial conventions ____________________________________________________ - 24 - 5.3. Domestic conventions _____________________________________________________ - 25 - 5.4. Civic conventions ________________________________________________________ - 29 - 5.5. Opinion and inspired conventions __________________________________________ - 30 - 5.6. Green conventions _______________________________________________________ - 30 - 6. Analysis ______________________________________________________________- 34 - 6.1. Sustainability perceived by the actors _______________________________________ - 35 - 7. Conclusions __________________________________________________________- 39 - References ______________________________________________________________- 41 - Appendix 1: Interview questions ____________________________________________- 47 - IV “Learn from the birds what food the thickets yield; Learn from the beasts the physic of the field; The arts of building from the bee receive; Learn of the mole to plow, the worm to weave.” (Alexander Pope) 1. Introduction This chapter gives us an introduction to the complexity of food globalization and the need for alternative food networks, such as organic farming. Furthermore, the problems are defined and the research question the thesis aims to answer is set. The saying goes: “You are what you eat”. Food is much more than just the most important source of nutrition fundamental for the normal function of the body: it is culture, it is a way of self-expression, and it is a way of life. The globalization of food started already with Columbus but became stronger in the twentieth century when foreign influence of the local cuisine was experienced all over the world (Kiple, 2007). The globalization of food economy led to the restructuring of farms in the USA (Allen and Sachs, 2007:6). A shift to more flexible systems of production, the aim for higher profits and the permission of freer flows of goods across national borders helped the globalization (Phillips, 2006: 39). And now, the ten largest food companies are controlling almost the half of the food sales in the States (Allen and Sachs, 2007: 7). The industrialization of the agricultural production was a result of the Industrial revolution. The mechanization of food production, the organized transportation and distribution were the beginnings of the industrialization process (Kiple, 2007: 215). Industrial agriculture served its aim after the Second World War, namely to increase the volume of agricultural production in order to feed the hungry population. The quantity was increased over quality with the help of chemicals, monoculture and mass production. This production- driven model led to devastating environmental, social and health consequences. According to some scientists industrial agriculture sees the farm as a factory that uses huge quantities of - 1 - fossil fuels, fertilizers, pesticides, water and topsoil, and produces not only food stuff and livestock, but huge amounts of waste as well (Horrigan et al., 2002: 445). Another concern regarding industrial agriculture is that fossil fuels are the main energy inputs used (ibid: 448). Lots of energy is required along the supply chain: production – especially meat production – transport, processing and packing (ibid). Biological innovations, such as genetic modification (GM) of the crops are also meant to increase the extent of the production. GM crops are on the market since 1996 and already in 2007 they were grown on 114,3 million hectares (ha) worldwide (ISAAA, 2008). This is 7.6% of the total present 1.5 billion ha of agricultural land used in crop production (fao.org, retrieved 09.05.2010). Certified organic land counted for ‘only’ 2.3% of total agricultural land (35 million ha) in 2008 worldwide (organic-world.net, retrieved 09.05.2010). Some of the health consequences of consuming GM food are still unknown, while one health concern is that the food can contain new allergens previously not eaten by humans (Horrigan et al., 2002: 452). But the main concern again is that the large transnational companies control the market. These are only some of the concerns regarding industrial agricultural production. It is very likely that this kind of production method is not sustainable in the long run. Fortunately, there are different food networks serving as the alternative for industrial agricultural system. The globalization of food systems created a need for quality food that is traceable by the consumers. Such food systems are the alternative food networks, which Goodman et al. (2009) describe as “new and rapidly mainstreaming spaces in the food economy”. Usually it means that the supply chain in these networks is shorter, and the food is locally produced or bought