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The Social and Economic Production of Greed, Cooperation, and Taste in an Ohio Food Auction

Journal article published in 2014 by Jeffrey H. Cohen, Susan M. Klemetti
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Preprint: policy unknown
Question mark in circle
Postprint: policy unknown
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Published version: policy unknown

Abstract

Monthly food auctions in Saint Mary's, Ohio, are events where individuals and their families have the opportunity to purchase a variety of foods at bargain prices. We might assume that the opportunity to fill the pantry while saving money would encourage greed and hoarding. An individual can bid strategically to amass resources (here defined as the supply of food available for consumption or resale) at the expense of others who are not as adept or willing to participate in the auction. We also might assume that the auction's suppliers and the auction house staff would look upon the event as a chance to earn a large return on their investments. Yet, the food auctions in Saint Mary's reveal an event where greed is managed and balanced against cooperation among bidders, suppliers, and auction house staff. In our article, we present data that confirm our assumptions of greed. Bidders do compete with each other, hoard purchases, and balance their bids against their ideas of what is good food and what that food should cost. Suppliers and auction house staff do manage bids to maximize their profits by encouraging competitive bidding. However, our data also demonstrate that the event as a whole works to check greed through community-based expectations of the auction and its outcomes. The event allows us to examine what the auction says about the avarice and greed of the food industry and large-scale, industrialized agriculture.