Abstract
This paper illustrates that the modern agriculture in French Jura has developed through the “Jurassian model”, run by family- and community-based farms without intensification. A case study of the village F is presented and how family-based farms adopt this model and how the model becomes a social consensus is examined.
Milk production in Jura is strongly conditioned by nuclear family (as unit of production), kinship relations (for land transaction), and cooperation with community members. The analysis of village conflicts and family conversations on farm management shows that these conditions influence people’s decision making processes over farming, and that people constantly affirm their family and economic values through such processes. The Jurassian farming model becomes established through farmers’ relationships and daily discussions with neighbors and kinsmen who share the farming experience and values. Family ties significantly contribute to the increased economic efficiency of the farm, and it consequently leads farmers to adopt the model. The paper concludes that the particular local conditions of Jura region lead its villagers to accept the Jurassian model-based farming as a social consensus due to its economic efficiency.
