Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Club Apple Society: What this New Economic Organization Says About The Biology of Markets

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New developments in the biological sciences and in marketing are transforming relationships between people and plants. Although plants have long been bred and patented, and vertically integrated science-economic systems have grown in recent years, new forms of economic organization are reshaping these relationships. Increasingly, small-scale producers are re-organizing biological and economic systems to patent and protect plant varieties and manage their economic distribution. Through a study of patented apple varieties called club apples, this project examines the causes and dynamics of this new set of economic and biological arrangements. Club apples are often developed by breeders and managed by a group of growers, and associated with planned marketing strategies and licenses that restrict the number of trees that can be planted. By considering how and why club apples have become popular among growers, and with what consequences for plants and orchard economies, this study provides new knowledge about emergent economic-biological practices that may be increasingly common and standardized. Evidence is gathered through interviews with growers, breeders, processors and retailers, and through analysis of textual materials, such as patents and industry magazines, and observation of industry conferences. The broader theoretical importance of this study is its contribution to research on the institutionalization and deinstitutionalization of hybrid economic-science practices. Research findings are disseminated through conference presentations, academic journal publications, a dissertation, and a book, and on a blog, amazingapples.blogspot.com that is accessible to publics. Findings are also disseminated to club apple orchardists. This dissemination plan provides results of value to academic analysts of science and markets, while also engaging growers and a general consumer public in conversations about clubs and contemporary farming practices.