| Organic farming movements in Canada are growing rapidly and attracting increased attention from farmers, consumers, governments, and academics. Drawing on interviews with organic farmers in South-eastern Ontario, this thesis examines key discourses in the organic farming movement around naturalizing agricultural production and localizing the agricultural economy. The thesis shows that these discourses emerge as a critique of the industrialized and globalized agricultural system that predominates in Canada, and are central to farmers' efforts to regain a sense of agency in the processes of agricultural development. These discourses also challenge notions of the natural and the social, the local and the global as ontologically distinct, positing new visions, identities and responsibilities that instead frame these as interdependent and mutually constitutive realms. Finally, the thesis explores the intersection of these discourses with processes of institutionalization and conventionalization, examining the possible implications for the practice and development of organic agriculture in this region. |
