In this paper we have presented two stylised accounts
of conventional and organic food chains. This approach
has allowed us to exaggerate reality for the sake of
conceptual clari®cation (in much the same way as Weberian
ideal types allow key aspects of social phenomena
to be rendered clearly visible). By counterposing key
aspects of each chain or network we hope to have shown
how the contemporary food system comes to take the
shape it does and how it might be changed. We have
concentrated on the distribution of knowledge in each of
the network types. In the conventional chain we proposed
that as the process of industrialisation tied together
all elements, so farmers' local knowledge was
displaced by standardised knowledge emanating from
up-stream supply industries. However, the conventional
production process has moved into crisis, so the fragility
of farmers' economic situations has been exposed. And
one important aspect of such fragility is their reliance on
external, specialised sources of knowledge for this
weakens their ability to explore new agricultural practices.
In the organic food chain we showed that farmers
must forget many of the practices acquired under the
conventional system and must (re)learn to farm in ways
much more in tune with local ecosystems and the rythms
of nature. This food production process also entails
learning new forms of distribution some of which are
highly localised.