The Importance of Alternative Rationalities
Although the analysis so far has explored the various characteristics of CSA farmers and farms related to farmers’ earnings (i.e., the objective production function of the farm operation) and has advanced explanations, we must also account for farmers’ motivations (the subjective). Farmers may not have high earnings because high earnings do not matter much to them. This possibly is in direct contrast to capitalist rationality: “The only possible motivation for putting money into circulation on a repeated basis is to obtain more of it at the end than was possessed at the beginning” (Harvey 1999, 13). As Mooney (1988, 4) noted, “Other logics persist, sheltered by the discipline of hard work and the sanctity of private property.”
The interviews revealed that the vast majority of CSA farmers are not engaging in profit maximization, and many are not interested in a monetary return to their labor (i.e., having more money than they put into circulation). Indeed, some took issue with questions about profit. Farmer 31 asked, “What do you mean by profit? Do you mean having good food to eat, friends to share it with?” Farmers 9A and 9B also considered growing their own food to be a profit—what Gibson-Graham (2006) would call “self-provisioning labor”—rather than interpreting it in purely monetary terms. In short, other values and rationalities are clearly driving how CSA farmers run their operations. The following comments make the point, but similar sentiments were expressed by most CSA farmers.
The Importance of Alternative RationalitiesAlthough the analysis so far has explored the various characteristics of CSA farmers and farms related to farmers’ earnings (i.e., the objective production function of the farm operation) and has advanced explanations, we must also account for farmers’ motivations (the subjective). Farmers may not have high earnings because high earnings do not matter much to them. This possibly is in direct contrast to capitalist rationality: “The only possible motivation for putting money into circulation on a repeated basis is to obtain more of it at the end than was possessed at the beginning” (Harvey 1999, 13). As Mooney (1988, 4) noted, “Other logics persist, sheltered by the discipline of hard work and the sanctity of private property.”The interviews revealed that the vast majority of CSA farmers are not engaging in profit maximization, and many are not interested in a monetary return to their labor (i.e., having more money than they put into circulation). Indeed, some took issue with questions about profit. Farmer 31 asked, “What do you mean by profit? Do you mean having good food to eat, friends to share it with?” Farmers 9A and 9B also considered growing their own food to be a profit—what Gibson-Graham (2006) would call “self-provisioning labor”—rather than interpreting it in purely monetary terms. In short, other values and rationalities are clearly driving how CSA farmers run their operations. The following comments make the point, but similar sentiments were expressed by most CSA farmers.
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