Fordism rampant: the model and reality, as applied to production, processing and distribution in the North American agro-food system.

Abstract

This chapter reviews the industrialization and restructuring of an increasingly integrated agro-food system in North America (i.e., the USA and Canada). Three premises support this review: (1) that the North American agro-food system has been dominated by the Fordist industrial model from early in its European development, and that its evolution can be best understood based on the persistence of that model; (2) that the dominant operational model, underlying greater contemporary corporate integration of the various sectors of the agro-food system, and its continental configuration, has a strongly (neo-)Fordist (rather than a post-Fordist) orientation; and (3) that the underlying frames of reference, namely, government policies and public and private research agendas, for both the farm sector and throughout agribusiness in North America, have always been, and remain strongly productivist.

Rural Economic Development: A Review of the Literature from Industrialized Economies

“…Combining traditional resource sectors, topics such as agroforestry are not new but are receiving renewed interest (Troughton 2005) through studies of processes and products (Neumann et al. 2007; Tonts and Black 2003), as well as structural changes resulting from increasingly complex partnerships or co‐management arrangements between family/commercial farms and forest products companies (Munday and Roberts 2001).…”

Challenging the inevitability of rural decline: Advancing the policy of place in northern British Columbia

“…These dimensions include the nature and type of production (from commodity to noncommodity outputs), the multidimensionality of objectives associated with landscape and resources (including environmental, amenity, and ecosystem service values), and the importance of governance (representing a greater diversity of actors and institutions) in land-use decision-making. Wilson (2004) reminds us, however, that despite the proliferation of the post-productivist concept, in place and function, the extent of the transformation from productivism to postproductivism remains controversial (see also Troughton, 2005). The debate surrounding the relevance of the concept is further complicated by its fuzziness and expanding scope.…”

Environmental regulations in the hog farming sector: A comparison of Catalonia, Spain and Manitoba, Canada

“…Research based on regulations in particular jurisdictions has also been done, including for example, Germany (Deunert, Lennartz and Tiemeyer, 2007), Denmark (Bonde, 1994), the Netherlands (Schröder and Neeteson, 2008), Mexico (Espejo, 2006), Taiwan (Yang, Hsiao, and Yu, 2008), the United States (Goldstein and Berman, 1995), Catalonia (Soldevila, 2009) and Canada (Troughton, 2005). One of the most common policies relates to manure management, particularly with respect to managing manure as a solid waste and regulating its use as a nutrient source (Meloy, 2002;Schröder and Neeteson, 2008;Soldevila, 2009).…”

“…Some regions face depopulation as farmers sell their land, squeezed out by declining margins. The Great Plains of the United States and the western Prairie regions of Canada are two notable examples (Troughton, 2005). Declining populations put pressure on the ability of communities and regions to offer basic services such as health, education, and retail.…”