We have never been "GE Free": The spatial complexities of food (im)purity in New Zealand

Abstract

Although New Zealand is labelled as a “GE-Free” food producing nation, genetic engineering (GE) techniques are in widespread use, including in the development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agricultural research. Rather than assume this is a contradiction in terms or a controversy to be settled, I argue that an understanding of the spatial complexities of GMO research can provide insights into this issue. To do this I employ conceptual tools associated with Actor-Network Theory, particularly those that conceive heterogeneity in both material and spatial terms. I explain how GMO research is conventionally spatialized in terms of “regions”, leading to the demarcation of spaces that are either GE-Free or not. While an attention to “networks” and “fluids” disrupts the geometry and rigidity of these physical spaces, it is in “fire” that I highlight the flickering relations of disconnection that serve to include and exclude GMOs from New Zealand. In doing so, I aim to disrupt the work of spatial purification that underpins the GE-Free mantra, and consider the implications this has for agri-food futures.