Submitted by: Submitted by nijiang22
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Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 03/16/2011 03:36 PM
Research Report: The Discourse of Organic Food Promotion: language, intentions and effects. 1. Background The UK Organic food market is now the third largest in the world, with a value of two billion dollars and an annual growth rate of approximately 10% (Sahota 2007). Its importance is not only economic. Organic purchasing reflects growing public concern about food production and consumption, and its personal, social and environmental impact, and is also perceived as a component of lifestyle. In addition, debates about food in contemporary society foreground issues concerning persuasive communication in both public and private decision making. Our project examined the language and social construction of organic food promotion (OFP), communicative strategies employed by writers of promotional materials, and public reactions to them. Promotion, in the organic food sector at least, should be understood in two overlapping senses: as commercial marketing and as political campaigning. Many organic farmers perceive the production and retail of organic produce as environmental campaigning. In recent years however some organic retailers have become large and profitable, and likely to be seen more as models of commercial entrepreneurial success than political commitment (Wright and McCrea 2007). Some writers have criticised the organic food movement for joining the corporate food industry it initially opposed (Lilliston and Cummins 1998, Guthman 2004, Pollan 2006, Fromartz 2006). A major aim was to investigate to what extent, and with what consequences, the language of OFP echoes that of commercial marketing and Public Relations (PR). In recent decades marketing and PR techniques have moved beyond the commercial sphere, being adopted by noncommercial organisations such as schools, universities, hospitals, trade unions, churches etc. (Moloney 2006:6). In this respect, their adoption by organic ...