A license to produce: Finding an alternative for the organic quality label in the Netherlands

Abstract

Consumers’ concern about agriculture grows. Dutch farmers too notice consumers' feelings of food insecurity. Farmers perceive that the distance between producers and consumers is increasing. In order to keep support of society, to make sure that they are able to farm in the future, farmers search for ways of creating food security. Farmers are aware that their future is at stake. Starting organic farming can be a solution for farmers, but organic farming is not always easy. Organic legislation is strict, inspection costs are high and farmers are critical on the straight organic legislation. In this thesis the processes of farmers inventing new strategies for selling their agricultural products are explained. Farmers do not want to farm in the non-organic way anymore, but do not see themselves as organic farmers either. Dutch farmers search for an alternative between the industrial and modern character of non-organic agriculture and the fixed rules of organic legislation. While negotiating economic structures, social structures, ecological structures and political structures, farmers get a different mindset. They are submissive to consumers, answer consumers questions and in this way create consumer confidence. This consumer confidence is based on a personal way of trust and fundamentally differs from the systemic way of trust of auditing schemes in modern society.