Oriented towards Consumption, Discussed as Production

Swiss Agrarian Policy as Food Policy 1914/18–1960

Abstract

The First World War was a turning point for the agriculture in Switzerland. The once export oriented, dairy domi- nated sector was from now on guided towards responding to the need of the home market. The instrument to organise this shift from dairy to tillage was the agricultural policy which was basically shaped by the industrial elite and executed by the farming community. In between these two groups, with links to both, were the agricultural scientists, who played a crucial role in implementing the agricultural policy. This policy was made neither by the farmers nor their representatives, but it integrated the agricultural community into this nation-state project. This inclusion was one of the main reasons, why – in a sharp contrast to Germany and Austria – the farmers in Switzerland did not turn to the right politically in the crisis of the interwar-period.