Abstract
The quinoa export boom generated a rapid standardization project that sought to transform a heteroglot local grain into a uniform global commodity that could flow smoothly through global markets. All agricultural commodities come into being through different standardization processes that materialize specific concepts of quality. Yet the sudden rise in export demand for quinoa, massive price surge, and the biodiverse nature and local orientation of existing quinoa production made quinoa’s standardization particularly dramatic. This article traces the enforcement of quality standards for quinoa export ethnographically, focusing on the interactions between farmers and técnicos, a category of actors tasked with training farmers in “quality” quinoa production and enforcing quality at the moment of sale. I argue that standards moralize agricultural production practices, redefining “good quinoa” and “good farmers.” At the same time, they serve as powerful tools to render technical the reorientation of Andean agricultural systems toward quinoa export. Advocates for more just and ecologically sustainable global commodity chains should pay attention to quality standards as a key site of politics with major ramifications for inclusion/exclusion and resilience.
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Notes
Fischer and Benson (2006) examine the desires of Guatemalan broccoli farmers who want to produce for export through this idea of algo más, revealing the complex relationships between hegemony and desire.
Compra refers to a buy/sale. Both farmers and buyers in the quinoa industry use the term to refer to the rather ceremonial purchase and sale of quinoa and other farm products.
In red quinoa or black quinoa, the puntos might be white. It is the contrast that’s the issue.
Cronon (1991) uses the “golden stream” metaphor in his analysis of the nineteenth century commodification of wheat.
The moral dimension of these standards did not simply inhere in the standards themselves. Nor was moralization exclusively evident in their enforcement. The line between standards being moralizing versus standards coming to take moral meaning in their enforcement is nuanced and often blurry.
Of the 10 entities involved, only the Confederación Nacional Agraria represented the interests of farmers.
To add to this complexity, an estimated 10–15% of quinoa cross-pollinates, generating unexpected variation within a single field.
Estimates of how many varieties of quinoa exist vary widely (in part because of the difficulties of defining varieties versus ecotypes), but most experts claim about 200 distinct varieties exist.
In recent years, a massive literature has emerged on standards for value-added ecolabels (organic, fair trade) and the increasing use of private standards as a form of sustainability governance (Nelson and Tallontire 2014).
In 2014, a new technical normal was published that replaced the 2008 version. The 2014 version included the same parameters at the 2008, but with lower tolerances of different “irregularities”.
Salcedo INIA is an “improved” variety that is sweet and favored by buyers.
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Acknowledgements
My utmost appreciation goes to my anonymous research interlocutors whose generosity and kindness made this research possible. I would like to thank colleagues who have offered useful feedback on versions of this paper over the years including Carey McCormack, Edward Brudney, Sarah Osterhoudt, Andrew Ofstehage, Shane Greene, Brad Jones, and Amanda Waterhouse, as well as the two anonymous reviewers who offer careful and nuanced constructive criticism. In addition, funding from Fulbright IIE, Andrew C. Mellon Foundation, Tinker Foundation, and Indiana University made this research possible.
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McDonell, E. Rendering quality technical: modern quinoa, modern farmers, and the moral politics of quality standards. Agric Hum Values 40, 305–315 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10358-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10358-7