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The spaces and ethics of organic food

The spaces and ethics of organic food
The spaces and ethics of organic food
Initial assessments of the potential for organic food systems have offered an optimistic interpretation of the progressive political and
ethical characteristics involved. This positive gloss has prompted a stream of critique emphasising the need to explore the ambiguities and
disconnections inherent therein. In this paper, we consider the case of Riverford Organic Vegetables,1 arguably the largest supplier of
organic vegetables in the UK, and suggest that existing debates assume too much about the ‘‘goods’’ and ‘‘rights’’ of organic food and
leave important questions about the spaces and ethics of organic food. We argue that, in the case of Riverford, the space of organic food
production and distribution is neither the small, local, counter-cultural farm nor the large, transnational, corporate firm. Rather,
simultaneously, the spaces of organic food production and distribution are the national network, the regional distribution system and the
local farm. In addition, in the case of Riverford, the ethics of organic food exhibit few grand designs (of environmental sustainability, for
example). Rather, the ethics of organic food are best characterised as: ordinary, since they relate to concerns about taste, value for
money, care within the family and so on; diverse, since multiple practices steer the production and distribution of organic food; and
graspable, in that both vegetables and box have material and symbolic presence for consumers.
ethical consumption, ethics, organic production and distribution, scale, space
0743-0167
219-230
Clarke, Nick
4ed65752-5210-4f9e-aeff-9188520510e8
Cloke, Paul
317a4a99-ccc5-4506-bf03-d111d95919fc
Barnett, Clive
b1f2f557-2f7b-4c99-8aec-0b37a57db0c8
Malpass, Alice
bd406aae-8579-46d0-b6c4-b9efb6ddc678
Clarke, Nick
4ed65752-5210-4f9e-aeff-9188520510e8
Cloke, Paul
317a4a99-ccc5-4506-bf03-d111d95919fc
Barnett, Clive
b1f2f557-2f7b-4c99-8aec-0b37a57db0c8
Malpass, Alice
bd406aae-8579-46d0-b6c4-b9efb6ddc678

Clarke, Nick, Cloke, Paul, Barnett, Clive and Malpass, Alice (2008) The spaces and ethics of organic food. Journal of Rural Studies, 24 (3), 219-230. (doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2007.12.008).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Initial assessments of the potential for organic food systems have offered an optimistic interpretation of the progressive political and
ethical characteristics involved. This positive gloss has prompted a stream of critique emphasising the need to explore the ambiguities and
disconnections inherent therein. In this paper, we consider the case of Riverford Organic Vegetables,1 arguably the largest supplier of
organic vegetables in the UK, and suggest that existing debates assume too much about the ‘‘goods’’ and ‘‘rights’’ of organic food and
leave important questions about the spaces and ethics of organic food. We argue that, in the case of Riverford, the space of organic food
production and distribution is neither the small, local, counter-cultural farm nor the large, transnational, corporate firm. Rather,
simultaneously, the spaces of organic food production and distribution are the national network, the regional distribution system and the
local farm. In addition, in the case of Riverford, the ethics of organic food exhibit few grand designs (of environmental sustainability, for
example). Rather, the ethics of organic food are best characterised as: ordinary, since they relate to concerns about taste, value for
money, care within the family and so on; diverse, since multiple practices steer the production and distribution of organic food; and
graspable, in that both vegetables and box have material and symbolic presence for consumers.

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Published date: July 2008
Keywords: ethical consumption, ethics, organic production and distribution, scale, space

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 55449
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/55449
ISSN: 0743-0167
PURE UUID: 97b70bf9-5e8f-45cc-adc1-a6e003375d9b
ORCID for Nick Clarke: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9148-9849

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Date deposited: 31 Jul 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:46

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Contributors

Author: Nick Clarke ORCID iD
Author: Paul Cloke
Author: Clive Barnett
Author: Alice Malpass

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