Moderately radical? Stakeholders' perspectives on societal roles and transformative potential of organic agriculture

Organic agriculture has achieved many important milestones over the last three decades. Despite these achievements, criticism of the mainstream model of agriculture, which had originally contributed to the success of the organic sector, is potentially having a negative impact on its transformative potential. The main goal of this paper is to provide further empirical evidence that captures ongoing changes in the social discourse of the organic movement. Specific attention is paid to the formation of a relationship between the organic movement and other alternative initiatives and conventional agriculture, based on the potentially shared values of sustainability as articulated in the Organic 3.0 strategy. The empirical study was conducted in the Czech Republic. The study identifies three distinct discourses that show how different groups of stakeholders form their expectations towards organic farming. The findings of our study suggest that their views differ significantly when it comes to the functions of organic farming in society. Results of the study show that the dominant social discourse on organic farming principally conveys the Organic 3.0 strategy. •Three social discourses on organic agriculture identified.•Association between ‘organic food’ and ‘health benefits’ remains strong among consumers.•The dominant social discourse advocates the production capacities of organic methods.•Expectations of stakeholders principally convey the Organic 3.0 strategy.