Beyond agroecology versus organics: Alternative farmer subgroups in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Abstract

Alternative farmers vary widely in their social and environmental practices, yet scholars and practitioners tend to portray alternative farmers as either a single group or dualistically divided between “big organics” and the radical rest (“agroecology” in Argentina). Through observation and 50 interviews, I trace the economic and social networks of alternative farmers in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and find six subgroups: export organics, local organics, solidarity agroecology, unionized agroecology, extensive agroecology, and biodynamic agroecology. I argue that farmers' socioeconomic power and privilege mark the fault lines between subgroups and systematically affect farmers’ pathways into alternative agriculture, scale, crops grown, prioritization of labor, and relationship with the state. For alternative agriculture to realize its potential for environmental and social change, it must address the social and economic inequities among its farmers.