| The shift towards large-scale production, processing and distribution is seen in Canada's livestock agriculture, with the effects of decreasing numbers of small-scale abattoirs rippling throughout all points on food supply chains. This paper looks at the loss of small-scale abattoirs in British Columbia, arguing that federal and provincial regulations have limited the possibilities at local levels and suppressed the food sovereignty of producers, processors, and consumers. This loss is the result of regulations that reflect dominant neoliberal discourses of 'standardization equals safety,' 'bigger is better,' and 'one-size-fits-all.' These discourses are normalized and facilitated through scalar relations and embedded neoliberal tendencies, enabling the systematic reproduction of the neoliberal hegemony. These factors define and limit the potential for resistance, creating tensions between stakeholders and encouraging responses to recreate the very systems that caused the crisis. Fortunately, new possibilities for resistance have been opened that hold the potential of building a counter-hegemonic movement. |
