Subsistence and Sustainability in Post‐industrial Europe: The Politics of Small‐scale Farming in Europeanising Lithuania

Abstract

This article examines the marginalisation of small-scale semi-subsistence farming in the context of the European Union's sustainable development reforms as implemented in the new member countries. In documenting how small-scale farming in post-socialist Lithuania has been redefined from being a solution to the environmental and social degradation of industrialised agriculture under socialism to becoming a major obstacle in building sustainable agriculture, this case study offers a critique of sustainability as a developmental project and the asymmetrical relationships implicit in the rural development politics in Europe. Taking a historical-comparative approach, this study demonstrates that the notion of sustainability has been built on assumptions about the industrialisation and globalisation of agri-food systems that exclude alternative local forms of production, consumption and distribution. As a result, the implementation of such sustainable development policies leads to the reproduction of the industrialised agriculture and the exclusion of small-scale farmers from the vision of sustainable rural societies.T his study focuses on the marginalisation of small-scale farming in post-socialist Lithuania in the context of the implementation of European agri-food policies to consider the following questions: how do semi-subsistence economies fit in the vision of sustainable Europe? What role do the poor, smallholder farmers play in advancing sustainability in the new European Union (EU) member states where they constitute a majority among rural populations? What does the fact that semisubsistence agri-food economies have no place in the framework of sustainable development say about the assumptions and contradictions implicit in contemporary definitions of sustainability?Small-scale semi-subsistence farming in post-socialist Lithuania emerged during the early years of decollectivisation and land privatisation (Meyers and Kazlauskiene

Current status and future prospect of local food production in Hungary: a spatial analysis

“…Retail revolution in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries is considered to have happened extremely fast (Dries, Reardon, & Swinnen, 2004;Swinnen & Maertens, 2007), which resulted in additional difficulties when small-scale farmers attempted to join modern food distribution channels (Bakucs, Fertő, & Szabó, 2012). Moreover, the rate of food self-provisioning is higher (Jehlička & Smith, 2011); it has a double role as a survival strategy and a recreational activity (Alber & Kohler, 2008;Jehlička et al, 2013;Mincyte, 2011). Still, semi-subsistence farming often gets little emphasis in the sustainable development reforms in the European Union (EU) new member states (Mincyte, 2011).…”

“…Moreover, the rate of food self-provisioning is higher (Jehlička & Smith, 2011); it has a double role as a survival strategy and a recreational activity (Alber & Kohler, 2008;Jehlička et al, 2013;Mincyte, 2011). Still, semi-subsistence farming often gets little emphasis in the sustainable development reforms in the European Union (EU) new member states (Mincyte, 2011). This paper focuses on Hungary, where the dominant traditional forms of short food supply (sensu Kneafsey et al, 2013), such as farmers' markets, market halls and farm shops, are overdependent on public investments for their sustainable operation, while neo-traditional forms (box schemes, webshops, community supported agriculture (CSA) schemes and buying groups) reached a rudimentary success in urban and peri-urban areas (Balázs, 2012;Réthy & Dezsény, 2013).…”

Deskilling, agrodiversity, and the seed trade: a view from contemporary British allotments

“…These varieties need not meet DUS criteria in order to be marketed, and the prohibitive registration fee which previously priced many small plant breeders and traders out of the market (cf. Dunn 2003; Dolan and Humphreys 2000;Mincyte 2010) has been greatly reduced for these cultivars. Of particular significance for the argument advanced here is the fact that the EU's definition of a Conservation variety treats it as a ''landrace,'' understood as a plant population ''traditionally grown in particular regions,'' while an Amateur variety is grown ''under particular conditions.''…”

“…Recent studies of agricultural zones of qualification in the EU emphasize the extent to which standards designed to protect consumer interests or ensure health and safety often have unintended and perverse effects on agrodiversity. Attempts to harmonize agricultural standards at the frontier of the expanding EU appear to encourage the vertical integration and industrialization of agricultural economies (Dunn 2003;Mincyte 2010)-not least because of the scale and budget required to fulfill agricultural audit requirements (cf. Dolan and Humphrey 2000).…”

“…Dolan and Humphrey 2000). Agrodiversity is thus eroded as small farms disappear from a newly standardized European landscape (Mincyte 2010). Allotments stand out as important sites of agrodiversity in the British landscape, and these are also threatened by European zones of agricultural qualification.…”