Hilde Bjørkhaug

Foundations of production and consumption of organic food in Norway: Common attitudes among farmers and consumers?

In Norway, the production andconsumption of organic food is still small-scale. Research on attitudes towards organic farming in Norway has shown that most consumers find conventionally produced food to be “good enough.” The level of industrialization of agriculture and the existence of food scandals in a country will affect consumer demand for organically produced foods. Norway is an interesting case because of its small-scale agriculture, few problems with food-borne diseases, and low market share for organic food. Similarities between groups of consumers and producers of food, organic and conventional, when it comes to attitudes concerning environment, use of gene technology, and animal welfare have implications for understanding market conditions for organically produced food. The results of our study indicate that organic farmers and organic consumers in Norway have common attitudes towards environmental questions and animal welfare in Norwegian agriculture. Conventional farmers have a higher degree of agreement with the way agriculture is carried out today. Unlike organic farmers and consumers, conventional farmers do not see major environmental problems and problems with animal welfare in todays farming system. But like the organic farmers and consumers, and to a stronger degree than conventional consumers, conventional farmers renounce gene technology as a solution to environmental problems in agriculture. These results are discussed in relation to their importance for the market situation for organically produced foods.

The chicken game: Organization and integration in the Norwegian agri-food sector

Up until recent years, all agricultural production in Norway was strictly regulated through spatial policy (location), production quotas and other price and market regulations. Prices and products were handled by the farmers’ cooperatives. International (e.g. WTO agreements) and domestic pressure has gradually loosened the governmental regulation of chicken and eggs. Economic (e.g. new ownerships), technological (innovations throughout the whole chain), political and institutional (liberalization) and cultural (e.g. in consumption and farming) changes have reconfigured the landscapes of chicken meat production, opening up new opportunities for the chicken industry. Chicken therefore makes a particularly good case for exploring recent major changes in the agri-food system. In this chapter, we investigate evolving rules, risks, challenges and opportunities in and around chicken meat value chains. Empirically, we build on interviews, document studies and statistics on the structural development of the chicken industry and we discuss how these changes are developing in other parts of the Norwegian agri-food system.

Farmers as climate citizens

This article explores the potential for farmers to become climate citizens. Drawing on in-depth interviews, we analyse how Norwegian farmers relate to climate change in their everyday farming practises. After discussing the concepts of environmental and ecological citizenship, we propose the climate citizen approach to meet the challenges that climate change poses to agriculture. Until now, Norwegian farmers’ response to climate change has been limited. Major changes in farming practises seem unlikely without incentives from the state. A climate citizen approach can help balance a response to institutional regulations and policies with the individual moral obligation to take personal and non-reciprocal responsibility for the planet. In order to influence how farmers might incorporate climate change awareness into their everyday practises, policy makers should take existing norms and values in the agricultural community into account and adopt clear and manageable instruments to reward farmers for taking adaptive measures.

How relationships can influence an organic firm’s network identity

ABSTRACT A main challenge when organic food actors cooperate with conventional food actors is to maintain their identity in the relationship. In this paper, we analyse such a relationship through the use of the industrial marketing and purchasing perspective (IMP). The aim is to increase knowledge about changes in relationships that occur through growth processes and about how new relationships influence the identity of a quality-oriented firm. We use a case-study method when examining the relationship between the organic Røros Dairy and the retail chain Coop, and its effects on relationships within the dairy network. Results show that the focal relationship influences, and in turn is influenced by, the dairy’s network. Because of the dairy’s strong identity that preceded its formal cooperation with Coop, as well as its reputation for quality production and continuous product development, the dairy has strengthened its position in the network. We conclude that the IMP perspective contributes a valuable framework in this study of an organic food network. For business managers, our results highlight the importance of considering possible effects of relationships on the identity one would want to convey.