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Sustainability Standards and Their Implications for Agroecology

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Integrating Agriculture, Conservation and Ecotourism: Societal Influences

Part of the book series: Issues in Agroecology – Present Status and Future Prospectus ((AGRO,volume 2))

Abstract

Agroecology has helped produce a movement where consumers are concerned about more than price. The qualities sought include the process by which a product is grown or produced. When supply-chains are long, it is difficult to know whether to believe any particular production quality claimed on a label. This review describes the evolution of market, government (state) and civil society efforts to devise credible certification schemes that would allow consumers to use their dollars to build healthy ecosystems that are socially just and economically secure for producers and workers. Market groups now control governmentally sanctioned certifiers, such as the International Standards Organization and the ISO 14000 family of standards, regulation and enforcement mechanisms. At the same time, numerous market-led and civil-society led certifying efforts are competing to determine what is ecologically sound and socially just. These mechanisms and their negotiations are discussed and the future of sustainability standards for agroecology assessed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the intellectual support provided by Solutions from the Land (http://www.sfldialogue.net/) and the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Agriculture and Food.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, 317 East Hall, Ames, IA, 50011-1070, USA

    Cornelia Butler Flora, Carmen Bain & Caleb Call

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  1. Cornelia Butler Flora
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  2. Carmen Bain
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  3. Caleb Call
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Correspondence to Cornelia Butler Flora .

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  1. , Campus Veracruz, Colegio de Postgraduados, Apartado Postal 421, Veracruz, 91700, Mexico

    W. Bruce Campbell

  2. , Campus Veracruz, Colegio de Postgraduados, Km. 86.5 Carr. Fed. Xalapa-Veracruz, via paso de Ovejas, Veracruz, 91690, Veracruz, Mexico

    Silvia López Ortíz

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Flora, C.B., Bain, C., Call, C. (2012). Sustainability Standards and Their Implications for Agroecology. In: Campbell, W., López Ortíz, S. (eds) Integrating Agriculture, Conservation and Ecotourism: Societal Influences. Issues in Agroecology – Present Status and Future Prospectus, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4485-1_3

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