Guthman - Agrarian dreams: the paradox of organic farming in California

Agrarian Dreams

CALIFORNIA STUDIES IN CRITICAL HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Editorial Board:

Professor Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley

Professor Allan Pred, University of California, Berkeley

Professor Richard Walker, University of California, Berkeley

Professor Gillian Hart, University of California, Berkeley

Professor AnnaLee Saxenian, University of California, Berkeley

Professor Mary Beth Pudup, University of California, Santa Cruz

1. Changing Fortunes: Biodiversity and Peasant Livelihood in the Peruvian Andes, by Karl S. Zimmerer

2. Making the Invisible Visible: A Multicultural Planning History, edited by Leonie Sandercock

3. Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin, by Gray Brechin

4. Imposing Wilderness: Struggles over Livelihood and Nature Preservation in Africa, by Roderick P. Neumann

5. Shady Practices: Agroforestry and Gender Politics in The Gambia, by Richard A. Schroeder

6. On Holiday: A History of Vacationing, by Orvar Lfgren

7. Spaces of Hope, by David Harvey

8. Even in Sweden: Racisms, Racialized Spaces, and the Popular Geographical Imagination, by Allan Pred

9. American Empire: Roosevelts Geographer and the Prelude to Globalization, by Neil Smith

10. Disabling Globalization: Places of Power in Post-Apartheid South Africa, by Gillian Hart

11. Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California, by Julie Guthman

The Paradox of Organic Farming
in California

Julie Guthman

University of California Press

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

University of California Press, Ltd.

London, England

2004 by the Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Guthman, Julie.

Agrarian dreams : the paradox of organic farming in California / Julie Guthman.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.

ISBN 0-520-24094-4 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN 0-520-24095-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Organic farmingCalifornia. I. Title.

S605. 5.G88 2004

631.58409794dc22 2003016040

Manufactured in the United States of America

13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlorine-free (TCF). It meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.481992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).

To Mel
For Sierra

As with all work products, this book has resulted from the efforts, ideas, and personal support of many different people. Gaining access to usable data was probably the biggest challenge of this research project. I would like to thank Don Villarejo, Merissa Wright, and other folks at the California Institute for Rural Studies for access to and assistance with their all-important database of California growers. I am equally grateful to Ray Green, who heads the organic program at the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), for his help in obtaining what is allegedly public information of California organic growers and certifiers. Erica Walz at the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) graciously sent me database information, as Libby McCulley did at California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF); Libby also gave me access to some of CCOFs archival materials. In general, I have appreciated CCOFs policy of organizational transparency, often lacking among other organic certification agencies.

I am deeply grateful to the many growers who let me into their trucks, fields, offices, and homes, where almost all of my interviews occurred. Most of them were eager to have someone come look at and talk about their operations, and I found them to be both forthcoming and generous in our discussions. On several occasions I returned from interview trips with bags full of avocados, apples, garlic, melons, dates, raisins, almonds, and so forth, a nice side benefit of such research. I also appreciate the honesty and willingness of others with whom I spoke at length: representatives from all the certifiers with significant operations in California (except for the always elusive Quality Assurance International) and various industry advocates. Bob Scowcroft (of OFRF), especially, continues to be a vocal and generous contributor to the growing body of oral history regarding the organic movement.