The “Trap of Conventionalisation”: Organic Farming between Vision and Reality

The “Trap of Conventionalisation ” its phenomena, potential effects and measures to be taken were discussed within the scope of the 8th Scientific Conference on Organic Agriculture in March 2005. The aim of this paper is to bring out the symposium’s results, structured alongside the stages of the organic product chain, and relate them to the current scientific literature on conventionalisation of organic farming. The observations made by the participants mirror quite accurately the arguments introduced by the scientific literature: In the participants view as well as in scientific thoughts the regional context seems to be of special importance to overcome the trap of conventionalisation. The Embeddedness Theory appears to be a promising concept to understand the excellence of locally oriented organic product chains, characterised by trust, transparency, connectivity, reciprocity and communication