Creating Organic Standards in U.S. States

The Diffusion of State Organic Food and Agriculture Legislation, 1976–2010

Samantha L. Mosier

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2017
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216280866
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Agricultural Public Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The organic food and agriculture market has greatly expanded over the course of the past forty years. Once considered a fringe practice and market, organic food and agriculture now receives mainstream acceptance and political support in the United States. The USDA's National Organic Program regulates the current U.S. market, but organic regulations were originally developed in the states starting in the 1970s. From 1976-2010, thirty-eight states adopted organic food and agriculture regulatory legislation. A majority of state legislatures adopted initial legislation in 1989 and 1990, the same year as Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act that effective began the development of national level standards. Grounded in the policy diffusion and diffusion of innovation literature, Creating Organic examines why and how state legislatures decide to adopt legislation that regulate the organic food and agriculture market. The consequences for early and continual state involvement in this policy domain impact national policy trajectories and reshape the sustainable agriculture market. The evidence from this evaluation demonstrates a host of conditions led to the diffusion and evolution of organic regulatory legislation in the U.S. California, Vermont, and Georgia are case studies that illuminate the complexities of adoption decisions and evolution of state regulations over time. In turn, there are a number of lessons to be derived for how state regulatory design has influenced today's organic market and federal policy development.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter One. Approaching the Study of Organic Policy Diffusion
• Chapter Two. A Revolutionary Idea: Organic as an Innovation
• Chapter Three. Organic Policy in the States
• Chapter Four. Organic in California: A Leading Innovator
• Chapter Five. Organic in Vermont: A Critical Mass Adopter
• Chapter Six. Organic in Georgia: A Laggard
• Chapter Seven. Creating Organic
• Appendix A. Independent Variables
• Appendix B. Univariate Results
• Appendix C. California Presidential Election Results by County (2000–2012)
• Appendix D. Vermont Wealth and Population Density
• Appendix E. Georgia Presidential Election Results by County (2000–2012)
• Appendix F. State Average Professionalism Score and Ranking
• References
• Index
• About the Author