Green Economies in the Age of Globalized Capitalism

Plant-based food production and biotech in India as well as cooperative markets in California that do not sell meat are used as examples when I argue that a moral economy perspective that includes food security aspects provides a compelling framework for understanding green economies. Through its empirical examination of the intersections between regulation (state agencies), production (producers), trade (retailers), and consumption (consumers), my paper advances understanding of the potential role of plant-based economies in fostering sustainability. Building on empirical material derived from my research on vegetarianism and green economies in India (the Global South) and the United States (the Global North), the paper explores plant-based moral economies. Findings provide an understanding of how plant-based production, as a key contributor to the reduction of global greenhouse gases, is understood, practiced, and contested at different social scales. The methodology that I have applied in my research is multi-sited and it has yielded interview and observation data. I applied comparison as a powerful conceptual mechanism to explore forms of vegetarianism in India and the United States, as my two case studies, for generating new theories on plant-based moral economies from a global perspective. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the green economy, adding to an emerging body of empirically rich explorations of the multiple meanings of the ‘green’.