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Presentation short abstract

The processes by which capital accumulates and is reproduced within vegetable production systems in Iceland and a dominant valorizing discourse surrounding production combine in transforming and restructuring socionatural relationships in Icelandic and connected global agricultural landscapes.

Presentation long abstract

This paper seeks to understand the processes by which capital accumulates and is reproduced within vegetable production systems in Iceland. An extensive geographic study utilizing a survey, interviews, and on-farm observation was conducted among vegetable farmers in Iceland during the years 2021-2023, with 75% of vegetable farmers participating in the study. These farmers include both conventional and organically certified growers, those producing indoors as well as in fields outside, and those growing in soil and hydroponically. A schema is developed for understanding the various vegetable production methodologies employed by these farmers. Drawing upon a theoretical basis in agrarian political economy and political ecology, these production methodologies are evaluated as to the ways in which capital accumulates through them, especially insofar as processes of intensification, appropriation, and valorization are mobilized within the specific context of vegetable production and sales in Iceland. Alongside these processes, farmers make specific claims regarding the sustainability of their farming operations, resulting in specific forms of commodification and market capture. These claims are evaluated through an assessment of the environmental and social impacts associated with farming inputs and outputs, production practices employed on these farms, and particular discourses regarding sustainability deriving from the local context. These processes of accumulation are understood to combine in transforming and restructuring socionatural relationships in Icelandic and connected global agricultural landscapes. The resulting structure has particular implications for the social metabolism of Icelandic food production, the autonomy of Icelandic rural communities, and the democracy of political-economic organization in Iceland.