Agricultural trade liberalization, multifunctionality, and sugar in the south Florida landscape

• Published in: Geoforum 2004-05, Vol.35 (3), p.299-312
• Main Author: Hollander, Gail M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural trade; Agriculture; Biodiversity; Ecology; Environmental protection; Farming; Florida; Geography; International agricultural politics; International political economy; Multifunctionality; Neoliberalism; Sugar; Trade liberalization; U.S.A
• ISSN: 0016-7185; 1872-9398
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2003.11.004

This paper explores the applicability of the concept of “multifunctionality” to the south Florida sugar-producing region. Multifunctionality is being promoted in the European Union in response to neoliberal trade pressures in agriculture. It is seen as a way to address social and ecological concerns such as farm abandonment and biodiversity loss through domestic agricultural policies that conform to the GATT/World Trade Organization. I have two objectives in this paper. First, I seek to investigate multifunctionality as one response to neoliberal pressures for agricultural reform. In doing this, I identify two types of multifunctionality, a “weak” and a “strong” version. Second, I want to explore the possibility for multifunctionality to serve as a vehicle for resistance to GATT/WTO in other regions. I do this through a study of arguably the most maligned agricultural zone in the world, the sugar-producing region of south Florida. The specific geographic focus is the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), the federally designated, 700,000-acre zone south of Lake Okeechobee that is home to the Florida “Sugar Bowl.”