Food systems in an unequal world : pesticides, vegetables, and agrarian capitalism in Costa Rica

305 Pages·2014·3.16 MB·English

by  Galt

Food Systems in an Unequal World
Society, Environment, and Place
Series Editors: Andrew Kirby, Janice Monk, and Paul Robbins
Food Systems in an
Unequal World
Pesticides, Vegetables, and Agrarian Capitalism
in Costa Rica
Ryan E. Galt
tucson
The University of Arizona Press
© 2014 The Arizona Board of Regents
All rights reserved
www.uapress.arizona.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Galt, Ryan E., 1977–
Food systems in an unequal world : pesticides, vegetables, and agrarian
capitalism in Costa Rica / Ryan E. Galt.
pages cm. — (Society, environment, and place)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 8165- 0603- 3 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Pesticides—Health aspects—Costa Rica. 2. Pesticides—Government
policy—Costa Rica. 3. Farmers—Health and hygiene—Costa Rica.
4. Farmers—Costa Rica—Social conditions. 5. Agricultural laborers—Health
and hygiene—Costa Rica. 6. Agriculture—Economic aspects—Costa Rica.
I. Title.
SB950.3.C8G35 2014
363.738’498097286—dc23
2013034410
Manufactured in the United States of America on acid- free, archival- quality
paper containing a minimum of 30% postconsumer waste and processed
chlorine free.
19 18 17 16 15 14 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Pesticide Problems, Pesticide Paradoxes 3
1 Farm Households, Environmental Geography, and Agrarian
Capitalism 40
2 Socioeconomic Differentiation and Geographies of Nature 67
3 An Environmental History of Agricultural Industrialization 88
4 Policing Pesticides 120
5 Regulatory Risk and the Temptations of Methamidophos 152
6 “It Just Goes to Kill Ticos” 171
Conclusion: A Green Agriculture for the Green Republic? 205
Appendix 1: Study Methodology 218
Appendix 2: Detailed Pesticide Data 229
Notes 237
Glossary of Pesticide Terms 247
References 251
Index 284

Illustrations
Figures
0.1 Vegetable Pesticide Intensities by Market 12
0.2 A Farmworker Mixes a Batch of Pesticides 26
1.1 Towns and Physical Features of Northern Cartago and
the Ujarrás Valley 42
1.2 The Chayote Plant on a Trellis 46
1.3 A Potato Harvest 48
1.4 The Cloud Belt 51
2.1 Export Squash Pesticide Intensity and the Cloud Belt 73
2.2 Potato Pesticide Intensity and the Cloud Belt,
Northern Cartago 75
2.3 Change in Pesticide Use in the Last Three Years 76
3.1 Land Utilization, Paraíso Area, 1951 93
3.2 Land Utilization, Cervantes and Juan Viñas Areas, 1951 94
3.3 Costa Rican Potato Yields 108
3.4 False Promises in Pesticide Advertising 109
4.1 Exporter HortaRica’s Agronomist Checks on
Agrochemical Use 135
4.2 Prices of Selected Central American Vegetable Exports 138
6.1 Green Beans for National Market Being Washed in a
Pesticide Mixing Tank 172
6.2 Vegetable- Borne Methamidophos Poisonings in Hong Kong 180
6.3 Levels of Methamidophos Residue in Cucumbers 189
A.1 Pesticide Use on Export Minisquash and Chayote 230
A.2 Pesticide Use on Open National Market and Export Squash 231
Tables
0.1 Pesticide Intensity by Country, 2001 6–7
0.2 Intensity of Pesticide Use on Costa Rican and Californian
Vegetables 9
viii Illustrations
0.3 Per Capita Annual Fresh Produce Consumption in Costa Rica,
1991 and 2009 16–17
1.1 Characteristics of Farm Households, Northern Cartago and the
Ujarrás Valley, 2003–2004 44
1.2 Environmental Influences on Important Pathogens of Potato and
Squash, Northern Cartago 53
1.3 Country of Manufacture and Formulation for Pesticides Sold in
Northern Cartago and the Ujarrás Valley 61
2.1 Minisquash and Potato Pesticide Intensity in Relation to the Cloud
Belt, Northern Cartago and the Ujarrás Valley, 2003–2004 74
2.2 Asset Portfolios of Minisquash and Potato Farmers 78
3.1 Percentage of Farms Selling Agricultural Goods, 1963 97
3.2 Percentage of Farms Dedicated Primarily to Certain Agricultural
Goods, 1963 98
3.3 Percentage of Farms Using Pesticides, 1963 103
3.4 Pesticide Use on Various Vegetables, Northern Cartago and the
Ujarrás Valley, 1971 and 2003 104
4.1 Pesticide Residue Violation Rates of Vegetables Tested in the US,
by Country, 1996–2006 127
5.1 Insecticide Classes Used on Export Minisquash and Chayote,
Northern Cartago and the Ujarrás Valley, 2003–2004 161
5.2 Costa Rican Pesticide Toxicity Categories, Packaging Symbols,
and Color Bands 165
6.1 Pesticide Residues on Fresh Produce in Developing
Countries 177–78
6.2 Cost of Insecticides per Hectare, Northern Cartago,
July 2003 186
6.3 Groups of Insecticides and Fungicides Used by Market Segment,
Northern Cartago and the Ujarrás Valley, 2003–2004 194–95
6.4 Use of Bad Actor Pesticides per Crop Cycle by Market Segment,
Northern Cartago and the Ujarrás Valley, 2003–2004 196–97
A.1 Chemical Classes and Modes of Action for 122 Pesticide Active
Ingredients 232–34
Acknowledgments
Writing is inevitably a social endeavor—not just because it is commu-
nication but also because the author is supported by a large network of
people. My largest debt is to the farmers of Northern Cartago and the
Ujarrás Valley. Their interest and hospitality was truly remarkable, and I
remain grateful and humbled by their generosity. I am also very thankful
to the other people in the agrifood system—especially export firm man-
agers and employees, produce buyers, and agrochemical salespeople—
who were willing to talk to me. A number of farmers who were especially
interested in my study became my guides in their communities as well as
good friends: Salomón Montenegro in Buenos Aires de Pacayas, Crisanto
Ramírez in Cot, Marcos Sanabria in San Martín de Santa Rosa, Reinaldo
Sánchez in Cipreses, and Ignacio Segura in Calle Naranjo de El Yas. Estoy
muy agradecido a ustedes por su ayuda, su tiempo, y su entusiasmo. No
tengo palabras para agradecerles. Two families provided me with a home
away from home in Costa Rica, for which I am extremely thankful: the
Warn family in San Antonio de Desamparados and the Sánchez family of
Cipreses. I also thank the Sanabria family of San Martín de Santa Rosa
for their hospitality on so many occasions.
I owe a large debt to my faculty mentors while I was in graduate
school—Professors Karl Zimmerer, Matthew Turner, Jamie Peck, Jane
Collins, and Bradford Barham—as well as to other influential professors
in my education, including Jess Gilbert, Bob Reed, Dick Walker, Michael
Watts, Ted Hamilton, Lisa Naughton, Doug Jackson- Smith, and the late
Fred Buttel and Bill Freudenburg. As exemplary scholars, their knowl-
edge and advice improved my endeavor immeasurably. Chris Duvall, Dan
Mensher, Mara Goldman, Dawn Biehler, Eric Carter, Eric Compas, the
University of Wisconsin–Madison Global Studies dissertators’ group, Ste-
fanie Hufnagl- Eichiner, Jennifer Blesh, Rob Young, Steven Wolf, Laurie