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1. Globalization and Organic Food Systems
- University of Iowa Press
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1 Globalization and Organic Food Systems When Christopher Columbus discovered America, it is said he was disappointed, for the place he was really seeking was this, the coast of Malabar, India’s fabled spice coast, linked by intricate waterways to a hinterland of unimaginable riches. The Romans and Phoenicians, the Arabs, Chinese, and Europeans all came here in search of ivory, silks, and gold. But most of all, they came for the spices of India: cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, and black pepper—or black gold.—Narration from an Indian Ministry of Tourism Incredible !ndia video In the south of India is a land of coconuts—Kerala, as it is called in Malayalam, the local language. Several sizes and varieties of coconut trees fill every possible corner, swaying behind train stations in groves and along city streets, lining the sides of every canal and waterway, and ranging from the Malabar Coast to high into the foggy mountain ranges of the Western Ghats. When you look down from rooftops or out of the window of an airplane, everything is green—a verdant landscape extending to the horizon. Kerala has enchanted travelers for centuries with its natural resources and geography. Marco Polo sought its spices, and colonial empires fought for control of its teak forests and medicinal plants. Today, the southwestern Indian state is the “torchbearer” of the Government of India’s Incredible !ndia, a marketing campaign designed by the Indian Ministry of Tourism.1 Images of Kerala’s greenery, from its rolling hills of spice 2 chapter one gardens to its coasts lined with coconut palms, dominate promotional posters and videos for India. “Don’t be fooled,” warned Sugathakumari, an environmental activist bornandraisedinKerala.“Youcan’tevendrinkourcoconutwaterwithout getting sick.” She did not see a mythical landscape of spices and coconut palms. Instead, when she looked at the state’s landscape, she saw monocrops of pineapples, rubber, and other cash crops, all regularly sprayed with the pesticides furadan and endosulfan, two poisonous chemicals leaching into the watersheds.2 Promotional images of the state for travel and tourism belied how its greenery was produced. It was the year 2010. The Kerala Forest Research Institute had just released a study documenting that the fingernails of pineapple pickers in Kerala were falling off after they had been exposed to an unknown cocktail of chemical pesticides. This was not an unusual story, Sugathakumari emphasizedtoanaudiencegatheredforthe2010IndianBiodiversityConference in the capital of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram. She reminded the crowdthat,earlierinthatsamedecade,severalchildreninanorthernagriculturaldistrictofthestatehadbeenbornwithseverephysicaldeformities after their parents had been exposed to endosulfan, a harmful chemical classifiedasapersistentorganicpollutantbythescientificcommunity,because of its ability to linger in the environment for years. For over a quarter of a century, these agrarian communities had been repeatedly sprayed aerially with the chemical to control pests on nearby cashew plantations. Kerala had become a toxic place: its lush greenery was now drenched in poisonous pesticides, bad for human health and the environment. Sugathakumariwasoneofthekeynotespeakersatthe2010conference, which had attracted environmentalists, students, government officials, and farmers from throughout the state to share research and news about environmental issues. While conversations and panel discussions were often somber, in response to recent news stories about pesticide poisonings and agriculture’s threats to biodiversity, another news item cheered up the gathered people and dominated the speeches: Kerala’s recently issued organic farming policy. Internationally renowned environmental activist Vandana Shiva was so impressed with the state’s policy that she spoke of it at length at the closing ceremony. “Kerala is and can be a Globalization and Organic Food Systems 3 model,” she insisted, suggesting that the state could be a “torchbearer” again, this time in the organic farming sector. Shiva continued: “The world needs more models.” The policy that so delighted the people at the conference on biodiversity was an official plan put forth by Kerala’s government leaders to convert the entire state to organic farming within ten years.3 State officials claimed that organic agriculture—farming with limited use of synthetic inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides—could be the solution to the innumerable agrarian problems the state was facing, from farmer suicides to poisoning by pesticides such as endosulfan. The policy ’s announcement signaled a momentous political step and indicated that an ever-increasing amount of land in India was being set aside solely fororganicproduction.WhileKeralaisgeographicallyoneofthesmallest states in India, its 2010 policy initiative is the equivalent of designating an area greater than the size of Maryland as an organic zone.4 Over thirty million people living in the area would be covered. Estimates as of 2013 suggest that over...