Abstract
The advent of rBGH (recombinant bovinegrowth hormone) has spurred the establishment of anorganic milk industry. The food systems/commoditychain analytical framework cannot fully explain therise of this new food. An adequate understanding ofthe consumer's role in the food system/commodity chainrequires more attention to consumption as a form ofpolitics. One way to do this is to look at thepolitics of other new social movements, especiallythose contesting mainstream notions of risk. From thisapproach, organic milk consumption challenges rBGHfrom a ``Not-in-my-Body'' or ``NIMB'' politics of refusal,similar to the political refusal of neighborhoodresidents in ``Not-in-My-Backyard'' or ``NIMBY''environmental movements. The NIMB form of politics isnot a social movement of politically consciousconsumers, yet it is still a political activity inwhich consumers participate in the formation of theindustry through a process of ``reflexive consumption.''An analysis of producer-consumer discourse on milkcartons reveals the nature of this political formation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, P. and C. Sachs (1993). “Sustainable agriculture in the United States: Engagements, silences, and possibilities for transformation,” in P. Allen (ed.), Food for the Future: Conditions and Contradictions of SustainabilityNew York: John Wiley.
Barbano, D. M. (1994). “What's the fuss about cow hormones?” Consumers' Research Magazine77(5): 14–18.
Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.
Belasco, W. J. (1993). Appetite for Change: How the Counterculture Took on the Food Industry.Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Brown, P. (1993). “Popular epidemiology challenges the system.” Environment35(8) (Oct, 1993): 16–31.
Buck, D., C. Getz, and J. Guthman (1997). “From farm to table: The organic vegetable commodity chain of northern California.” Sociologia Ruralis37(1): 3–20.
Buttel, F. and C. Geisler (1989). “The social impacts of Bovine Somatotropin: Emerging issues,” in J. J. Molnar and H. Kinnucan (eds.), Biotechnology and the New Agricultural Revolution. Boulder, Colorado: Westview.
Callon, M. (1986). “Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fisherman of St. Breux Bay,” in J. Law (ed.), Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge?(pp. 196–233). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Clarke, A. and T. Montini (1993). “The many faces of RU486: tales of situated knowledges and technological contestations.” Science, Technology, & Human Values18(1): 42–79.
Cohen, R. (1997). Milk: The Deadly Poison.Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Argus.
Cummins, R. (1998). “Organic standards: Who really speaks for the organic consumer?” Food Bytes: News & Analysis on Genetic Engineering and Factory Farming8 (April) www.purefood.org/Organic/foodByt8.
Dairy Foods Magazine (1997). “Organic opportunities.” December.
Dairy Products News. (1999). May 3. DuPuis, E. M. (Forthcoming). Nature's Perfect Food.New York: NYU Press.
DuPuis, E. M. and C. Geisler (1988). “Biotechnology and the small farm.” Bioscience38(6): 406–411.
Featherstone, M. (1991). Consumer Culture & Postmodernism.London: Sage Publications.
Fine, B., M. Heasman, and J. Wright (1996). Consumption in the Age of Affluence: The World of Food.New York: Routledge.
Food Ingredients Online (1999). “Horizon purchases organic cow brand.” April 27.
Friedland, W. H. (1994). “The new globalization: The case of fresh produce,” in A. Bonanno. L. Busch, W. H. Friedland, L. Gouveia, and E. Mingioine (eds.), From Columbus to ConAgra(pp. 210–231). Kansas City: University Press of Kansas
Friedmann, H. (1993). “The political economy of food.” New Left Review197: 29–57.
Gilbert, S. (1999). “Fears over milk, long dismissed, still simmer.” New York Times, Jan 19: F7.
Goodman, D. (1999). “Agro-food studies in the 'age of ecology': Nature, corporeality, bio-politics.” Sociologia Ruralis 39(1): 17–38.
Goodman, D. and M. Redclift (1991). Refashioning Nature: Food, Ecology, Culture.New York: Routledge.
Guthman, J. (1998). “Regulating meaning, appropriating nature: The codification of California organic agriculture.” Antipode30(2): 135–154.
Hinrichsen, D. (1996). “Stratospheric maintenance: fixing the ozone hole is a work in progress.” Amicus Journal18(3): 35–39.
Hoover, B. (1996). “The Other Milky Way.” The Detroit NewsApril 2.
Kauffman, L. A. (1991). “New age meets new right: Tofu politics in Berkeley.” Nation253(8) (Sept 16): 294–297.
Kenney, M., L. Lobao, J. Curry, and R. Goe (1991). “Agriculture in U.S. fordism: The integration of the productive consumer,” in W. Friedland, L. Busch, F. Buttel, and A. Rudy (eds.), Towards a New Political Economy of Agriculture. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Krimsky, S. and D. Golding (eds.) (1992). Social Theories of Risk.Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.
Latour, B. (1986). “The powers of association,” in J. Law (ed.), Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge?(pp. 264–280). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Looker, D. (1998). “High-level turbulence: Big dairies regroup, but some Milk Meisters continue to grow.” Successful Farming Online, November.
Manchester, A. C. (1983). The Public Role in the Dairy Economy: Why and How Governments Intervene in the Milk Business. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Manchester, A. and D. Blayney (1997). The Structure of Dairy Markets Past, Present, Future. Washington, DC: US Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
Marsden, T. and A. Arce (1995). “Constructing quality: Emerging food networks in the rural transition.” Environment and Planning A27: 1261–1279.
Marsden, T. and N. Wrigley (1995). “Regulation, retailing and consumption.” Environment and Planning A27: 1899–1912.
Miller, D. (1995). Acknowledging Consumption: A Review of New Studies.New York: Routledge.
Mintz, S. (1985). Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. New York: Penguin.
Murphy, K. (1999). “More buyers are asking: Got milk without chemicals?” The New York Times, August 1: 6.
National Research Council (1996). Understanding Risk: Informing Decisions in a Democratic Society.Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Newman, A. (1994). “CFC phase-out moving quickly.” Environmental Science & Technology28(1): 35–38.
Perrow, C. (1984). Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies. New York: Basic Books.
Publish RGB (online magazine) (1999). “1997 Grand Makeover.” June. www.publish.com/features/9706/makeover.
Regional Farm and Food Project (1999). “Can we have a safe, secure food supply with just a handful of huge food corporations in control?” 2(2).
Rural Vermont Report (1999). July-August. Szasz, A. (forthcoming). Inverted Quarantine.Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
Scott, M. (1997). “Organic dairy a cash cow.” Natural Foods Merchandizer, June.
Slovic, P. (1997). “Public perception of risk.” Journal of Environmental Health59(9): 22–25.
Slovic, P. (1992). “Perceptions of risk: reflections on the psychometric paradigm,” in S. Krimsky and D. Golding (eds.), Social Theories of Risk. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.
Stecklow, S. (1999). “Germination: How a U.S. gadfly and a green activist started a food fight.” The Wall Street Journal, November 30.
Thevenot, L. (1998). “Innovating in 'qualified' markets: Quality, norms and conventions.” Memorandum to the “Workshop on Systems and Trajectories for Agricultural Innovation,” Berkeley, California, April 23–25.
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Survey of Current Business. Selected issues.
Vos, T. (2000). “Visions of the middle landscape: Organic farming and the politics of nature.” Agriculture and Human Values17: 245–256 (this issue).
Whatmore, S. and L. Thorne (1997). “Nourishing networks: Alternative geographies of food,” in D. Goodman and M. Watts (eds.), Globalizing Food: Agrarian Questions and Global Restructuring. New York: Routledge.
Wiles, R., K. Davies, and S. Elderkin (1995). “A shopper's guide to pesticides in produce.” EnvironmentalWorking Group, November.
Wyngate, P. (1999). “Organic dairy: The little niche that could.” Natural Foods Merchandiser. May.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DuPuis, E.M. Not in my body: BGH and the rise of organic milk. Agriculture and Human Values 17, 285–295 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007604704026
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007604704026