FROM FARM TO TABLE - THE ORGANIC VEGETABLE COMMODITY CHAIN OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

This paper explores the structure and dynamics of organic commodity sy stems in California. Employing a commodity systems analysis, we conduc ted approximately seventy semi-structured interviews with key players along the northern California organic vegetable commodity chain, looki ng at the internal dynamics of each node as well as the linkages betwe en them. Codification of the term 'organic,' which has contributed to the recent growth in the organic foods industry, has also created econ omic rents and unique opportunities for agribusiness accumulation. We argue that agribusiness capital is penetrating the most high-value seg ments of organic vegetable commodity chains, despite the prevalence of practices and ideologies which countervail trends in conventional foo d provision. Agronomic and marketing practices increasingly mirror tho se of conventional agriculture. We also found several examples of 'app ropriationism,' where processes once integral to the farm have been ta ken off and reconfigured as inputs, and 'substitutionism,' where indus trial activity accounts for a rising proportion of value added.