The greening of agricultural policy in industrial societies

Agriculture is taking on new meanings in advanced industrial societies, and values and ethical convictions regarding environmental protection, long-term sustainability, landscape amenities, nature conservation, and farm animals' well-being are rising to prominence. While shifting priorities are universal in industrial societies, David Vail, Knut Per Hasund, and Lars Drake argue here that the sweep and comprehensiveness of Sweden's "green" policy responses have put it in the vanguard. In this book they explore the gathering momentum behind agricultural "greening" in a context of worldwide economic restructuring and environmental challenges. The authors describe a wide range of Swedish policy initiatives and evaluate them in terms of goal attainment and cost-effectiveness, running the gamut from fertilizer and pesticide taxes to manure management regulations, landscape preservation contracts, organic farming subsidies, livestock husbandry standards, and bioenergy crop research. They then assess Swedish policy instruments through comparisons with innovative measures in other nations, such as Dutch farmland protection measures, Danish nitrogen-leaching restrictions, and Canadian organic farming supports. In forecasting the future trajectory of agricultural greening, they put special emphasis on Sweden's market-oriented food policy reform of 1990, the current negotiations for Swedish membership in the European Community, and international pressures for harmonization of agro-environmental policies as one aspect of removing agricultural trade distortions. This book will be of interest to political economists, rural sociologists, agricultural scientists, policy analysts, and environmental activists.