Abstract
This article argues that the definition of land grabs in public debate is a politically contested process with profound normative consequences for policy recommendations regarding the future of the family farm model. To substantiate this argument, I first explore how different definitions of land grabbing bring into focus different kinds of actors and briefly survey the history of land grabbing in Canada. I then introduce the public debate about land grabbing in Québec and discuss its evolution from its beginning in 2009 up until the provincial public inquiry on land grabs in March 2015. Here, I make critical observations regarding each participant’s position, showing how different definitions of land grabbing has significant implications for policy recommendation and the promotion of different agricultural business models. More specifically, I emphasize how these discussions crucially fail to consider indigenous people’s land rights and ignore the constraints imposed by the corporate food regime on family farms. I conclude by suggesting that the adoption of a food sovereignty approach to land governance helps redirect attention to these important issues and provide insight into imagining more sustainable alternative models of agriculture.
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Abbreviations
- AIMco:
-
Alberta Investment Management Corporation
- BN:
-
Banque Nationale
- CDPQ:
-
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
- CIBC:
-
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
- CIRANO:
-
Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en analyse des organisations
- CPPIB:
-
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
- FAO:
-
Food and Agriculture Organization
- FCC:
-
Farm Credit Canada
- ILC:
-
International Land Coalition
- IREC:
-
Institut de recherche en économie contemporaine
- MAPAQ:
-
Québec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- UPA:
-
Union des Producteurs Agricoles
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Acknowledgements
Earlier versions of this article were presented at a meeting of the Waterloo Food Issues Group, Waterloo, Canada (January 2016) and at the World Congress of the International Rural Sociology Association, Toronto, Canada (August 2016). I am grateful to Alison Blay-Palmer, Jennifer Clapp, Sébastien Rioux, Lilian Yapp, Christine Henderson and Jennifer Marshall for their help and insight along with the editor of Agriculture and Human Values and the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions. This article benefitted from support from the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et Culture and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
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Gheller, F. Governing large-scale farmland acquisitions in Québec: the conventional family farm model questioned. Agric Hum Values 35, 623–636 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-018-9855-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-018-9855-7