13 pages, via Online Journal, Indicators of food sovereignty and food democracy center on people having the right and ability to define their food polices and strategies with respect to food culture, food security, sustainability and use of natural resources. Yet food sovereignty, like democracy, exists on multiple and competing scales, and policymakers and citizens often have different agendas and priorities. In passing a ban on the use of genetically-modified (GMO) seeds in agriculture, Jackson County, Oregon has obtained some measure of food sovereignty. Between 2016 and 2017 ethnographic research was undertaken in rural Southern Oregon where local community and State of Oregon priorities regarding the use of GMO crops are in conflict. This article presents ethnographic research findings about the expression and negotiation of multiple food sovereignties by civil society in rural southern Oregon and the State of Oregon via democratic processes. In particular, these findings illustrate the effects of socio-political power dynamics on local and state acts of food sovereignty, democracy and agrifood policy by analyzing what the different expressions of food sovereignty reveal for its implementation at the local level.
4 pages, via Online journal, Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea sp.) plant inflorescence number will vary in response to multiple cues such as changes in temperature, water, light intensity, pruning, and photoperiod. Previous research reports that the application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) to bougainvillea grown under varying photoperiods improved inflorescence number, probably as a result of changes in gibberellic acid (GA) levels. There are many bioactive plant GAs, but we chose to investigate differences in gibberellic acid 3 (GA3) levels and inflorescence number in response to the application of ethephon (2-cholorethylphosponic acid) or abscisic acid (ABA) to ‘Afterglow’ bougainvillea (Bougainvillea ×buttiana) grown under 14-hour photoperiod [long-day (LD)] conditions. Plants were 5 inches tall with seven visible lateral nodes and were grown in a greenhouse in 4-inch pots filled with 5-mm coarse aquarium zeolite. Ethephon was applied as a foliar spray at 0.05, 0.07, 0.10, 0.15, or 0.20 mg/plant. ABA was applied as a soil drench at 1, 1.5, 3, 6, 8, or 10 mg/plant. Endogenous levels of GA3 were measured 1 and 48 days after treatment to calculate the change in GA3 (∆GA3). A short day (SD) control of 8 hours was included to measure differences in inflorescence number and ∆GA3 between photoperiods. ‘Afterglow’ plants grown under SD conditions had the greatest decrease in ∆GA3 (–1.09 µg·g–1) over 48 days and the most inflorescences (10.6) compared with LD control plants with a decrease in ∆GA3 of –0.09 µg·g–1 and fewer inflorescences (1.0). Plants grown under LD conditions and treated with 0.05 mg/plant ethephon had inflorescence numbers (9.6) and levels of ∆GA3 (–0.74 µg·g–1) similar to the SD control. As ethephon rate increased to more than 0.05 mg/plant, inflorescence number on LD plants decreased and ∆GA3 increased. Exogenous ABA rates of 1 mg/plant produced inflorescence numbers (1.4) and ∆GA3 (–0.10 µg·g–1) similar to the LD control. As the rate increased, ∆GA3 increased and inflorescence number decreased. Plants treated with ABA rates of 3 mg/plant and more were defoliated and had no inflorescences.
19pgs, Advocates of indoor vertical farming have pitched the enterprise as key to the future of food, an opportunity to use technological innovation to increase local food production, bolster urban sustainability, and create a world in which there is “real food” for everyone. At the same time, critics have raised concerns about the costs, energy usage, social impacts, and overall agricultural viability of these efforts, with some insisting that existing low-tech and community-based solutions of the “good food movement” offer a better path forward. Drawing from a mix of participant observation and other qualitative methods, this article examines the work of Square Roots, a Brooklyn-based indoor vertical farming company cofounded by entrepreneur Kimbal Musk and technology CEO Tobias Peggs. In an effort to create a market for what I refer to as “techno-local food,” Square Roots pitches its products as simultaneously “real” and technologically optimized. As a way to build trust in these novel products and better connect consumers with producers, Square Roots leans on transparency as a publicity tool. The company’s Transparency Timeline, for instance, uses photos and a narrative account of a product’s life-cycle to tell its story “from seed-to-store,” allowing potential customers to “know their farmer.” The information Square Roots shares, however, offers a narrow peek into its operations, limiting the view of operational dynamics that could help determine whether the company is actually living up to its promise. The research provides a clear case study of an organization using transparency–publicity as market strategy, illustrating the positive possibilities that such an approach can bring to consumer engagement, while also demonstrating how the tactic can distract from a company’s stated social responsibility goals.
USA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11770
Notes:
Online via AgriMarketing Weekly. 1 page., U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that more than 90 percent of corn, soybean, and cotton acreage involves herbicide-resistant varieties. Currently, 92 percent of U.S. cotton acres are planted with genetically-engineered, insect-resistant seeds and 83 percent of U.S. corn acres.
