Civic Agriculture Notes PDF

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Notes on class the day civic agriculture is discussed...

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CIVIC AGRICULTURE o what is it, and how is it different from conventional industrial agriculture and large-scale commodity production? What are the ideals ~ is founded on, key characteristics of civic ag; What practices that can be characterized as falling within civic agriculture/types of ag that qualify as civic agriculture? what does it mean for ag to be socially embedded, and what are the implications of socially embedded CSA arrangements? 

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Explanation: Civic agriculture is focused on localizing agricultural production and bringing stronger ties between consumers and producers and shortening the supply chain. The main goal is to work in ways that are antithetical to the primary logic of capitalism. This civic agriculture is embedded in communities and is addressed towards the social and conventional problems of capitalist grocery agriculture (capitalist grocery agriculture is defined by increasing efficiency in farming to make economic rent, usually in the expense of someone or something -workers or environment). Civic Culture is intended to produce food at the same time that it produces environmental and species benefits (environmental protection, biodiversity, animals, etc - specifically targeted to pollinators) and benefits to the farmers in the form of fair labor and prices, while Customers get a more imbedded food supply and healthy foods - main idea: shortening the supply chain and increasing community (CSA and Farmers Markets trying to eliminate the line between farms and consumers). CSA is a socially embedded civic agriculture - it is the form of communally supported agriculture that is structured in a way that allows the eaters (consumers) and the farmers to share the risk of production and ensures the farmers against the risk of crop failure because consumers pay at the onset. The CSA is therefore structured in a way to provide fair wages and reasonable prices All of civic agriculture has a combination of the following 6 characterizations:  Local  Agriculture is an integral part, not just as production of commodities  Farmers concerned more with quality and less with quantity and production  More labor-intensive and land-intensive and less capitalintensive and land-extensive. Smaller in scale and scope  Local, site-specific knowledge  Direct markets links to consumers rather then through middle men

o Potential concerns about/problems with current civic agriculture practices (e.g. concerns about CSAs, as currently practiced? – Think Galt, 2013) 

Concerns:  The civic agriculture that becomes closer to their antithetical grocery ideas are often the most successful (and therefore have better wages)  Diminishes political pressure due to private solutions of public problems  Less push for governmental reform  Very limited groups (only those who can afford it)  If you emphasize localism as the prescription for reforming the globalized food system, you are confusing geographical problems with social problems  Self-exploitation on the part of the farmers

o Your thoughts on whether civic agriculture can provide one solution to enviro and social problems created by the conventional food system – the key thing here is to justify your views – e.g. explain why you see civic agriculture as an important and promising component of food system reform, OR why you don’t see it as a meaningful contributor to solving problems of enviro degradation and social injustice associated with the industrial agri-food system. 

Thoughts:  This is bad because it is a private solution to a public problem and does not result in societal change that is necessary to fix the evils of the grocery system...