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From burgers to biodiversity? The McDonaldization of on-farm nature conservation in the UK

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Abstract

This paper uses George Ritzer’s account of McDonaldization – the socially transformative process of rationalization – to undertake a critical analysis of agri-environment schemes, the dominant form of on-farm nature conservation in England. Drawing on a wide range of evidence, including social surveys of the participants and non-participants of agri-environment schemes, government files, and interviews with government officials, the four key dimensions of McDonaldization – efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control (through non-human technologies) – are applied to the analysis of agri-environment schemes. The irrationalities emerging from a McDonaldized approach to nature conservation are discussed together with their implications for farmers, nature, and society. In conclusion, the paper points to the emergence of alternative models of on-farm nature conservation that may offer ways of resisting and displacing the McDonaldized version.

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Abbreviations

AEP:

Agri-environmental policy

AES(s):

Agri-environment scheme(s)

AH:

Agri-environment scheme agreement holder

CSS:

Countryside Stewardship Scheme

DEFRA:

Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

ERDP:

England Rural Development Plan

ESA:

Environmentally Sensitive Area

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the editor, Laura B. DeLind, four␣anonymous reviewers, and David Howe for their constructive suggestions on an earlier version of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK

    Carol Morris

  2. EGENIS, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Matt Reed

Authors
  1. Carol Morris
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  2. Matt Reed
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carol Morris.

Additional information

Carol Morris is Professor of Geography at the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. Her research is broadly concerned with the application of social scientific approaches to the critical analysis of issues and problems affecting the rural environment and agro-food system in British and European contexts.

Matt Reed is Research Fellow in the ESRC Centre for the Study of Genomics in Society (EGENIS), University of Exeter, UK and a visiting Fellow in the Centre for Rural Research at the University of Exeter, UK. The main focus of his research has been the organic food and farming movement, but he also has conducted research on family farming, rural protest movements, and the local food economy.

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Morris, C., Reed, M. From burgers to biodiversity? The McDonaldization of on-farm nature conservation in the UK. Agric Hum Values 24, 207–218 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-006-9048-7

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