Sustaining Unsustainability:
The Performance of Disconnection in Food Industry Supply Chains

Fahy Kathryn
Institute for Environment, Philosophy & Public Policy (IEPPP) & Department of Organisation, Work & Technology, Management School
Lancaster University

Abstract
This paper draws on research that explores the ways in which food manufacturers in the UK experience and respond to pressures to attend to environmental issues in the industry. Qualitative interviews with food manufacturers, retailers and policy actors suggests little perceived external pressure (beyond legislative) and a generally reactive approach to dealing with environmental issues in the industry. Environmental initiatives are focused very much on legislative compliance, which directs attention chiefly to the efficiency of utilities at factory sites. Consideration of wider environmental issues in supply chains or the environmental sustainability of current systems of food production, distribution and consumption are framed by research participants as ‘interesting macro debates’ that are seen to be largely beyond their remit or capacity to influence. This raises important questions about perceptions of agency in food supply chains. The paper draws on John Law’s modes of ordering concept to examine the performance and maintenance of organisational practices and relationships in the food manufacturing sector. In particular, I want to suggest that, in a variety of ways, the performance of the mode of enterprise appears to generate a series of disconnections in food chains that present a barrier to acknowledging the interdependence of practices from ‘farm to fork’ and encourages the delegation of responsibility, both up- and down-stream, in food supply chains.

To receive the full paper please contact: k.fahy@lancaster.ac.uk.