Gabriela Pechlaner. Corporate Crops: Biotechnology, Agriculture, and the Struggle for Control.

Abstract

Gabriela Pechlaner, Corporate Crops: Biotechnology, Agriculture, and the Struggle for Control. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012, 289 pp. $55.00 hardcover (978-0-29272613-0). Corporate Crops examines shifts in agricultural production caused by the introduction and spread of biotechnology, which Pechlaner argues represents a new food With a North American focus, Pechlaner examines biotechnology by drawing on the voices of people who engage with it, both intentionally and unintentionally (i.e., through involuntary field contamination). Technological change, specifically the increasing reliance on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in farming, is seen as the main factor driving a global power shift within agriculture that favours transnational corporations like Monsanto. Pechlaner, a sociologist at the University of Fraser Valley in British Columbia, examines several dimensions of this topic through the eight chapters of the book, including the notion of a third food regime, the rise of canola and the fall of wheat, and legal battles over patents on new biotechnologies. The first two chapters draw on a political economy perspective to lay the groundwork for the analysis of interviews and court cases that drives the remainder of the book. The empirical analysis is used to capture the complexity of the spectrum of arguments over biotechnology. For Pechlaner, the global food regime ushered in by biotechnology is characterized by the logic of expropriationism as a new mode of capital accumulation. The concept of expropriationism refers to losing what control they formerly had over their ability to direct their own agricultural production. This is accomplished through technical and legal mechanisms that shape the context of agriculture, including laws, patents, and agreements that prioritize corporate intellectual property rights. The logic of expropriationism runs through everything that is attached to GMOs, with Saskatchewan and Mississippi serving as prime examples of places that are being transformed into monopolistic markets due to this global food regime. Through expropriationism, a handful of large, biotechnology-oriented agricultural corporations have gained a high level of control over seed markets. As biotechnology becomes central to agricultural production, farmers have been reduced to dealing with one company, and that company decides rules, contracts, loyalty schemes, and, of course, prices (p. 241). Pechlaner analyses four separate lawsuits between and Monsanto to illustrate the enormous influence Monsanto's reliance on legal protections for intellectual property has for the restructuring of agriculture in the United States and Canada. Her analysis leads her to argue that agricultural industry regulations in these countries are relatively weak, and have little to do with protecting or ensuring food security. A key issue that comes up throughout the book is involuntary contamination. Through interviews with organic farmers, Corporate Crops describes concerns about genetically modified seeds blowing into other crops. Once this occurs on an organic farm, these crops are no longer usable in that market. The book examines specific court cases, such as Hoffman v. Monsanto Canada Inc., that result from instances where this has occurred. Due to Monsanto holding a patent over these GMOs, they can seek legal action towards affected parties whose participation in biotechnological farming is unwilling and undesired. Corporate Crops draws out the complexity of the advantages and disadvantages that these new technologies represent for farmers. Many purchase genetically modified products because the seeds are easy to use, the crops are easier to maintain, and they produce a higher yield. When talking about disadvantages, however, view it as unjust that they are not allowed save seeds and that Monsanto is given the right to inspect their fields at any time for three years after purchasing seeds. …