9 pages., Via online journal., Intergenerational environmental communication (IGEC) was examined using pre- and post-survey research after child participation in a groundwater environmental education (EE) program. The EE program increased child knowledge, but did not significantly increase parent knowledge. There was also a significant difference between perceived levels of environmental communication (EC) between child and parent, with parents indicating higher levels of EC than their children. Participants reporting low EC levels had significantly less interest in, concern for, or knowledge about environmental issues. Several key factors initiated IGEC between children and their parents, including saving household money by changing environmental behaviors, exposure to media sources that reported environmental news, and school activities such as homework related to environmental issues. Environmental educators should be cautious when implementing EE programs, as additional considerations are essential to determine what influence, if any, child participants have beyond the classroom. Continued research is needed to increase EC between children and their parents with the hope of improving intergenerational approaches to environmental issues.
18 pages., via online journal., Drought is defined, experienced, and communicated about in multiple ways. This case study examines individual definitions of drought (timing, impacts, and severity) and attitudes about climate change. Household surveys (n = 120) were conducted in Cimarron County, Oklahoma and Union County, New Mexico using a stratified random sampling method to select farmers, ranchers, and town residents. Information about drought is primarily communicated between neighbors, friends, and family, as well as media and local governing agencies. Residents perceive the recent drought to be the worst drought on record, regardless of previous drought experiences. Residents reported widespread drought-related impacts on agriculture, environment, and society. Most residents see drought as cyclical and driven by natural causes, rather than human causes. We recommend adaptive drought communication engage more fully with identity, place, and history. Climate information should be presented in a relevant manner to diverse agricultural stakeholders with differing attitudes about climate change, management, and climate information.
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.
Mitloehner, Frank (author / University of California-Davis)
Format:
Commentary
Publication Date:
2016-04
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 114 Document Number: D11025
Notes:
Via online., "A white paper, defining the role animal agriculture and other sectors of societ play in their respective contribution of greenhouse gasses, as the societal concerns grow to seek a sustainable global future." ... "Now is the time to end the rhetoric and separate facts from fiction around the numerous sectors that contribute emissions and to identify solutions for the global food supply that allow us to reduce our impact on the planet and its resources."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 8 Document Number: D10310
Notes:
Online from the Center for Investigative Reporting, Emoryville, California., "Backing away from attempts at censorship, the National Park Service today released a report charting the risks to national parks from sea level rise and storms."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D09047
Notes:
Pages 251-255 in Tema Milstein, Mairi Pileggi, and Eric Morgan (editors), Environmental communication pedagogy and practice. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon, England. 277 pages.
