Wahl, Thomas I. (author), McCluskey, Jill J. (author), and Grimsrud, Kristine M. (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2004
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C21749
Notes:
Pages 111-115 in Robert E.Evenson and Vittorio Santaniello (eds.), Consumer acceptance of genetically modified foods. CABI Publishing, Oxon, United Kingdom. 235 pages.
13 pages, via Online Journal, Indicators of food sovereignty and food democracy center on people having the right and ability to define their food polices and strategies with respect to food culture, food security, sustainability and use of natural resources. Yet food sovereignty, like democracy, exists on multiple and competing scales, and policymakers and citizens often have different agendas and priorities. In passing a ban on the use of genetically-modified (GMO) seeds in agriculture, Jackson County, Oregon has obtained some measure of food sovereignty. Between 2016 and 2017 ethnographic research was undertaken in rural Southern Oregon where local community and State of Oregon priorities regarding the use of GMO crops are in conflict. This article presents ethnographic research findings about the expression and negotiation of multiple food sovereignties by civil society in rural southern Oregon and the State of Oregon via democratic processes. In particular, these findings illustrate the effects of socio-political power dynamics on local and state acts of food sovereignty, democracy and agrifood policy by analyzing what the different expressions of food sovereignty reveal for its implementation at the local level.