U.S. Organic Dairy Politics

Based on a decade of study, this book provides a scholarly overview of organic dairy politics, showing how politics, policy, and protest both inside and outside of agriculture can determine a future of pastoral landscapes resembling an earlier time in the western world or, alternatively, one made of dystopian ruralities.

“Scholten’s book puts forward a new perspective on current trends in the American food system, and thus makes a significant contribution to geographies of food, political economy, and political ecology literatures. … the book is appropriate for graduate students, academics, and farmers alike who are interested in the political landscape of the organic dairy industry in the USA and agricultural politics more generally.” (Jennifer Mateer, Human Geography, Vol. 10 (1), 2017)

“The book begins with an introduction to organic dairying, highlighting its inception following a trend that began in the last half of the 20th century of decreasing dairy farm numbers and farmers, increasing farm and dairy herd size, and the proliferation of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). … is informative for graduate students, academics, and farmers interested in the politics andplayers within the national organic dairy industry.” (Nicole E. Tautges, Agriculture and Human Values, Vol. 32 (3), September, 2015)

"Bruce Scholten's U.S. Organic Dairy Politics is an important book that should be read by all of those interested in current trends in food systems and sustainable agriculture. It provides a detailed account of the murky politics of organics in America but also opens our eyes to the subversive power of corporate interests generally. Dr Scholten's erudition on dairy issues is remarkable. His published scope includes India, Africa, Europe and now North America. He is one of the foremost experts in the field and his analysis of family dairy farming in particular deserves close attention by policy makers." - Peter Atkins, Durham University, UK, author of Liquid Materialities: A History of Milk, Science and the Law

"Moving beyond polemical debates in organics, this insightful and very readable book breaks new conceptual and empirical ground by examining the politics and emergence of US dairy organics and its co-constitutive intersections with conventional and mega-dairying. Scholten's perceptive and critical eye unflinchingly interrogates the controversial and contested behaviours of all involved in the dairy world to show an unpredictable and troubled future for dairy organics as a food category." - Richard Le Heron, University of Auckland, USA

"Bruce Scholten brings both academic and practical expertise to bear in a forensic analysis of conflict within the US dairy industry. This book should be read by anyone who wants to understand how our dairy farmers are coping with the contrasting demands of government regulation, consumer concerns about food quality, animal welfare and environmental sustainability, and the farmers' need to remain competitive under harsh economic conditions." - Guy Robinson, University of South Australia

Bruce A. Scholten is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Geography, Durham University, UK. He writes on agricultural policy for a variety of international publications, and his research focuses on the political economy of family farming and cooperatives. He grew up on a dairy farm near Lynden, Washington, USA.