Creating Organic Standards in U.S. States: The Diffusion of State Organic Food and Agriculture Legislation, 1976–2010

Mosier, Samantha L.

ISBN 10: 1498554407 / ISBN 13: 9781498554404

Published by Lexington Books, 2017

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9781498554404

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Creating Organic Standards in U.S. States: The Diffusion of State Organic Food and Agriculture Legislation, 1976?2010
• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1498554407
• ISBN 13: 9781498554404
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Samantha L. Mosier, PhD, is Associate Professor of Political Science at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, USA. Mosier teaches courses on public policy, public administration, and leadership and ethics. Her research focuses on sustainable agriculture, food labeling, university-community partnerships for sustainability, and local sustainability and resilience initiatives. Dr. Mosier is author of Creating Organic Standards in U.S. States: The Diffusion of State Organic Food and Agriculture Legislation and co-author of Performance Measurement in Sustainability Programs: Lessons from American Cities. Her work has also appeared in Environment and Planning C, Environmental Management, Food Policy, and Environmental Issues Today: Choices and Challenges.