‘Seed to shelfʹ, ‘teat to tableʹ, ‘barley to beer’ and ‘womb to tombʹ: discourses of food quality and quality assurance schemes in the UK

In the current restructuring of agro-food systems quality is seen as increasingly important and in the United Kingdom this is evidenced by the growth in quality assurance schemes (QAS). The aim of this paper is to critically examine the process of introducing quality through QAS in the UK. This is done by identifying and analysing the key discourses in the farming and food industries surrounding this process. Drawing on Farmers Weekly as a data source, four main discourses are identified and analysed. These are discourses of organisational change within the agro-food chain; discourses surrounding the definition of quality; discourses of farmer acceptance of, and resistance to, QAS; and discourses which construct a particular representation of consumers. The implications of each of these discourses for the development of QAS are also discussed and key issues for further research identified.