French Beans and Food Scares: Culture and Commerce in an Anxious Age

282 Pages·2004·2.78 MB·English

by  Susanne Freidberg

French Beans and
Food Scares:
Culture and Commerce
in an Anxious Age
Susanne Freidberg
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
French Beans and Food Scares
This page intentionally left blank
French Beans
and Food Scares
Culture and Commerce in an Anxious Age
Susanne Freidberg
1
2004
1
Oxford NewYork
Auckland Bangkok BuenosAires CapeTown Chennai
DaresSalaam Delhi HongKong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata
KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Mumbai Nairobi
S˜aoPaulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto
Copyright(cid:1) 2004 by OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.
PublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress,Inc.
198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NewYork10016
www.oup.com
OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,
withoutthepriorpermissionofOxfordUniversityPress.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Freidberg,SusanneElizabeth.
Frenchbeansandfoodscares:cultureandcommerceinananxiousage/SusanneFreidberg.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. ).
ISBN0-19-516960-3;0-19-516961-1(pbk)
1. Producetrade—Governmentpolicy—England. 2. Horticulturalproductsindustry—
Governmentpolicy—England. 3. Producetrade—Governmentpolicy—France. 4. Horticultural
productsindustry—Governmentpolicy—France. 5. Producetrade—Governmentpolicy—
Africa. 6. Horticulturalproductsindustry—Governmentpolicy—Africa. 7. Producetrade—
Governmentpolicy—UnitedStates. 8. Horticulturalproductsindustry—Governmentpolicy—
UnitedStates. 9. Producetrade—Governmentpolicy—Developingcountries. 10. Horticultural
productsindustry—Governmentpolicy—Developingcountries. 11. Foodadulterationand
inspection—Internationalcooperation. 12. Horticulturalproducts—Inspection—International
cooperation. I. Title.
HD9011.7.E5F742004
382'.41'094—dc22
2003023133
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
Preface
FromthetimeIfirsthadtheideatowritethisbookuntilIsubmittedtheman-
uscriptinmid-2003,madcowdiseaseseemedtomostAmericansadistantand
exoticdanger.CertainlytheUnitedStateshadafewlatetwentieth-centuryfood
scares:E-coliinhamburgersandapplejuice;hepatitisonGuatemalanberries;
scattered salmonella outbreaks. But these episodes passed quickly from the
publiceye,asindividualcompaniesissuedapologiesandrecalls,andthegov-
ernmentslappedtemporarybansonsuspectimports.Thesescarescausednoth-
ingnearthelevelofpublicoutrageandpoliticalcontroversythatfollowedthe
Britishgovernment’s1996announcementthat,contrarytopreviousclaims,the
brain-eating bovine disease known as BSE might actually endanger humans
too. Americans, for the most part, continued to trust their own government’s
claimthattheUnitedStates’foodsupplywasthesafestintheworld.Theydid
not demand dramatic changes in laws or food industry practices, and did not
getthem.
One result was that European food politics and policies in the post–mad
coweraappeared,tomanyAmericans,strangerthanever.NoteventheBritish
could be considered as allies when it came to negotiations over, say, trade in
geneticallymodifiedcrops.AnotherresultwasthatAmericanscouldmoreeasily
ignorethebroaderimplicationsoftheircollectivepowertodemandsafe,high-
quality food. Supermarkets provided them with relatively little information
about where their food came from, just as the media provided relatively little
coverage of the questions raised by the mad cow crises in other countries—
questionsthathadimportantconsequencesfortheplacesandpeoplefeatured
inthisbook.
These were questions about how, for example, to make an increasingly
complexfoodsupplymoretraceableandtransparentwithoutwipingoutsmall
producers and traditional production methods; about the true costs of cheap
groceries;abouttheethicsofsupportingfarmersathomeversusthoseinformer
colonies;aboutexactlywhatittakestobuildtrustinthefaceofinevitablefood-
borne risks. All these concerns received so little attention from the American
media that I often wondered, while writing, whether this book would even
makesenseinthecountryofitspublication.
Two days before Christmas2003,acrazy-eyedHolsteinexposedthebro-
kenfencearoundfortressAmerica.TheUnitedStates’firstmadcow,foundona
WashingtonStatedairyfarm,surprisednoonefamiliarwiththecountry’shistor-
icallylaxmethodsforkeepingBSEatbay.Ifanything,itwasremarkablethatthe
disease had not appeared sooner. Within days, more than forty countrieshad
closedtheirmarketstoU.S.beef,despitetheDepartmentofAgriculture’srapid
announcementofnewslaughterhouseandBSEtestingpoliciesanddespiteits
publicrelationsemphasisonthecow’sCanadianorigins.Withinweeks,itwas
clearthatthesenewBSEpolicies,stillmuchlessrigorousthanthoseinEurope
andJapan,wouldnotlikelywinbackinternationalcustomersanytimesoon.On
the home front, it was equally clear that food producers and retailersdesper-
atelywantedtoavoidlettingthediscoveryofonemadcowturnintoanything
more than that. They did not want the event to build support for country-of-
originfoodlabeling,ortoraisequestionsaboutthecozyrelationshipbetween
agribusinessandtheUSDA.Inshort,theywantedtoaverteverythingthatmad
cowhadunleashedontheothersideoftheAtlantic,severalyearsbefore.
Thebeefindustry,atleast,tookheartfromevidencethatAmericanswere
eatinghamburgersatabouttheirusualrate.Again,thiswasverydifferentfrom
whathappenedinEurope,butperhapsnotsurprising.Afterall,onlyonemad
cow had been found, and election year media coverage had quickly pushed
her story off the front pages. But her death pulled the United States into the
biggerstoryabouthowdifferentsocietiesperceiveandrespondtothedangers
born of an ever more globalized food supply and about how their responses
have,inturn,potentiallyglobalconsequences.Asthisbookwenttopress,that
biggerstoryremainedfarfromfinished.
I owethankstothemanypeoplewhohelpedbringthisbookintotheworld.
First,IamgratefulforthefellowshipsprovidedbytheNationalScienceFoun-
dation’sGeographyandRegionalScienceandCulturalAnthropologyPrograms,
the Walter and Constance Burke Foundation, and the Nelson A. Rockefeller
CenteratDartmouthCollege.Theseinstitutions’financialsupportenabledme
toconductfieldresearchontwocontinentsandfourcountries.Iamalsodeeply
grateful for the financial support provided by the Radcliffe Institute for Ad-
vanced Studies’ Bunting Fellowship Program, which made possible a year’s
leavein2000–2001.
In Burkina Faso, where the idea for this book first hatched, I most em-
phaticallythankFatimataToeandJe´re´mieKoulibaly,whoworkedwithmeboth
during my dissertation fieldwork in 1993–1994 and again in 2000. I could not
havehopedforwiser,moreprofessionalormorecompanionableresearchas-
Preface
vi
sistants.IamthankfulalsotothestaffatIFD(ORSTOM)inbothBobo-Dioulasso
and Ouagadougou, as well as at the American Cultural Center, for permitting
meaccesstotheirlibrariesandcomputers.Notleast,Iamgratefultothefamily
andstaffatI’Auberge,fortheirwarmhospitalityandcoolveranda.InZambia,
a country much less familiar to me than Burkina Faso, I owe thanks to Guy
Scott, who helped me to find, see, and figure out a great deal that I wouldn’t
haveotherwise.MyresearchtherealsobenefitedfromvisitstotheInstituteof
EconomicandSocialResearch.
InFranceandGreatBritain,IthankArounaOuedraogoforsharinghistime,
ideas,andofficespaceonbothsidesoftheChannel.Ialsothankhiscolleagues
at the Ivry-sur-Seine branch of the Institut National de Recherche Agronome,
who never questioned why a study of l’haricot vert would require so many
extendedvisitsorsuchdisparatelinesofinquiry.Ifeelespeciallyfortunateto
have gotten to know Martin Bruegel who, besides becoming a good friend,
helped me thinkmore like a historian.ConversationswithClaireMarris,simi-
larly, sent me down new and fruitful research paths. Monique Boulesteix
provedaskilledandswifttranscriberofmymanyinterviewsinFrench,aswell
asahistorianofcentralParisinherownright.IntheU.K.,IowethankstoBill
VorleyandTomFoxat theInternationalInstituteforEnvironmentandDevel-
opment; to Vicky Hird at Sustain; and to Tim Lang, Geoff Tansey, Felicity
Lawrence,JohnVidal,DannyMiller,MickBlowfield,CatherineDolan,andAlex
Hughes.Alltheseindividuals’insightsintoBritishfoodpoliticsandtheworkings
ofBritishsupermarketsprovedhugelyhelpful.FondthanksaswelltoMaurice
Bloch, for moral support and a cross-Channel perspective on green bean ap-
preciation.Lastly,Iamgratefultothosemanypeoplewhomadeeverytripto
Parisfeellikeahomecoming,includingthegreengroceronRueSaintJacques,
andthestaffatFish,ChezGeorge,andCafe´ deI’Industrie.
At the University of California at Berkeley, I want first to thank Gill Hart,
who provided timely and spot-on advice when I was developing the original
proposal for this project. Thanks as well to my dissertation advisor Michael
Watts, for inspiring and guiding the initial research in West Africa, and to Mi-
chaelJohns,forappreciatinggoodstories.AtHarvard,myfirststopafterBerke-
ley, Iamenormously grateful toSkip Gates,Karen Dalton andthestaff atthe
W.E.B.DuBoisInstitute,whereafellowshippositionprovedinvaluable.Else-
whereoncampus,IamthankfultothestaffattheBuntingInstitute,foralltheir
helpduringmyyearthere,andtoWoodyWatson,CalestousJuma,andPauline
Peters,fortheiradviceandencouragement.
At the other end of Cambridge, I owe equally huge thanks to Deborah
Fitzgeraldforall-aroundsupportand,inparticular,forlendingmetheMIToffice
where I finished the first draft of this book and concocted ideas for the next
one.Ialsoappreciatethefriendlyhelpprovidedbytheadministrativestaffof
Preface
vii
MIT’sScience,Technology,andSocietyProgram.Notleast,Iamgratefultoall
those who worked at the various Cambridge establishments where I wrote
much of the manuscript, among them Peet’s and Darwin’s. Special thanks to
those who humored, sustained, and sometimes saved me from my late-night
scribbling at Casablanca, in particular Mick Lay, Anil Pillay, Shannon Plank,
ServioGarcia,JeffWarner,JesseSteiger,andEricCross.
AtDartmouth,IowethankstotheGeographyDepartmentcolleagueswho
supportedthisprojectinallkindsofways:RichardWrightandFrankMagilligan,
for permitting and indeed encouraging frequent and far-flung research trips;
Mona Domosh, for (among many other things) introducing me to worlds of
geographyIneverlearnedaboutatBerkeley;ChrisSneddonandPamMartin,
fortheircommentsonadraftofthemanuscript;andBenForest,forsavingme
from disaster more times than I care to remember. I am also grateful to Kelly
White,Geography’slocalhero,forextraordinaryadministrativehelp.
OthersatandaroundDartmouthwhohelpedmakethisbookbothpossible
andpleasurableincludeChristianneHardyWohlforthandothersattheJohnD.
DickeyCenterforInternationalUnderstanding,whichsponsoredastimulating
manuscript review seminar; Linda Fowler who, on behalf of the Rockefeller
Center,offeredconsistentlygeneroussupport;JodieDavi,whomadethemaps;
DavidBarreda,AnnieKneedler,andLeahHorowitz,whoallparticipatedinthe
research;AliceHartley,whotookphotographs;AnnaMcCallTaylorandKatie
Greenwood,whomovedmanyboxes;andRichardSealey,whobroughtdrama
andhilaritytosmalltownlife.
AtOxford,IowethankstoCliffordMills,fortakingonabookquiteunlike
therestofhisrepertoire,andtoJohnRauschenberg,RebeccaJohns-Danes,and
James Cook, for pushing the manuscript through the pipeline with minimal
delaysandangst.
Herethegeographyofmydebtsscatters.Amongthepeoplewhoseideas,
comments,andcamaraderieenrichedthisbookIwanttothankElizabethBar-
ham, Simon Batterbury, Lisa Disch, Judy Carney, Sam Chang, Fred Cooper,
MargaretFitzsimmons,GailHollander,TadMutersbaugh,MarkO’Malley,Jesse
Ribot, Mahir Saul, Erica Schoenberger, and Marilyn Strathern. I am especially
gratefultoJulieGuthman,ElizabethDunn,andBruceBraun,fortheirdetailed
andthoughtfulcommentsonthemanuscript.
Onepersonwhoneverreadawordofthemanuscriptbutwhononetheless
helpedmetofinishitwasthelateMargotSilin.Shestartedoffasmylandlady
but became like family, and I only wish I could have given her a copy of the
completedbook.Ialsowanttothanktherealfamily:mysiblingsJillandMark
Freidberg,forneverlettingmeassumethatschoolhadalltheanswers,andmy
parentsColleenandStanFreidberg,forgivingmetheconfidenceandfreedom
togoaskingquestionselsewhere.
Preface
viii
Finally, I am grateful to the many unnamed individuals in Burkina Faso,
Zambia, France, and Britain who responded to those questions and whose
words and ideas fill this book. In telling me about their work, they took not
only time but also, in some cases, risks. As participants in this thing we call
globalization, they helped me appreciate complexity and humanity in places
wherebothareoftenoverlooked.TheygavemehopewhereIdidnotexpect
tofindit.
Preface
ix