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Sociology of Agriculture and Food (SAFRIG)

Moralization without Control: How Environmental Advocacy and Corporate Retail-Driven Regulation Shapes but Do Not Determine Growers’ Pest-Management Decisions Edem Avemegah*, Jessica Goldberger, Derek Franklin, Katherine Dentzman,

Pest management in the United States (U.S.) potato industry is increasingly shaped by scrutiny of neonicotinoids, a widely used class of systemic insecticides critical for controlling pests such as aphids, Colorado potato beetle, and wireworms. Concerns about environmental and health risks—including impacts on pollinators such as honeybees and bumblebees, water and soil contamination, and insect resistance—have intensified pressure from regulators, food and nursery retailers, and environmental advocates. Drawing on in-depth interviews, focus groups, and surveys with growers, agronomists, pest control advisors, Extension specialists, and regulatory officials, our study examines how potato growers navigate insect pest management decisions under these conditions. Our findings indicate that growers perceive neonicotinoid regulation as driven by environmental groups and corporate retail commitment to the moralization of agriculture. However, growers’ pest management decisions are not determined solely by these pressures. Instead, they emerge from a complex balancing of pest-control efficacy, economic risk, and institutional constraints. Many growers question the fairness of neonicotinoid restrictions, noting that bees do not forage on potatoes. This study challenges narratives portraying growers as resistant to change, demonstrating instead that they act as reflexive social actors navigating competing scientific, economic, and social pressures. Our findings contribute to broader sociological understandings of agricultural decision-making under conditions of contested environmental governance.