21 pages, Online via UI Library electronic subscription, Research identifies farmer doubts about fertilizer quality and reveals that farmer beliefs are inconsistent with reality. However, many fertilizers have degraded appearance.
Online from periodical., Report about pressure facing Cornell University officials by students and faculty over HCN's "Land-grab universities" investigation. Includes an acknowledgment by a University of California official that "...we must acknowledge how our history, including the Morrill Land Grant Act, impacts indigenous people. Now more than ever we, as a university, must take immediate action to acknowledge past wrongs, build trusting and respectful relationships, and accelerate change and justice for our Native Nations and Tribal communities."
Online from periodical., "Nick Tilsen was arrested for protesting President Trump at Mount Rushmore. Now, his legal troubles are part of a legacy. ... Long revered by many Indigenous peoples, the Black Hills are now also at the center of NDN Collectives LandBack campaign."
"From the Editor" column online from this periodical. 2 pages., Addresses the question of why "communication" is so difficult to pin down. Suggests that it boils down to learning the fundamentals of grammar and writing - striving for perfection with the understanding that you will fall well short of it. And continuing to learn, including being involved with CCA.
16 pages, via Online Journal, Crop genetic resources constitute a ‘new’ global commons, characterized by multiple layers of activities of farmers, genebanks, public and private research and development organizations, and regulatory agencies operating from local to global levels. This paper presents sui generis biocultural community protocols that were developed by four communities in Benin and Madagascar to improve their ability to contribute to, and benefit from, the crop commons. The communities were motivated in part by the fact that their national governments’ had recently ratified the Plant Treaty and the Nagoya Protocol, which make commitments to promoting the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities and farmers, without being prescriptive as to how Contracting Parties should implement those commitments. The communities identified the protocols as useful means to advance their interests and/or rights under both the Plant Treaty and the Nagoya Protocol to be recognized as managers of local socio-ecological systems, to access genetic resources from outside the communities, and to control others’ access to resources managed by the community.
12 pages, via Online Journal, Current, prevalent models of the food system, including complex-adaptive systems theories and commodity-as-relation thinking, have usefully analyzed the food system in terms of its elements and relationships, confronting persistent questions about a system’s identity and leverage points for change. Here, inspired by Heldke’s (Monist 101:247–260, 2018) analysis, we argue for another approach to the “system-ness” of food that carries those key questions forward. Drawing on Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, we propose a model of the food system defined by the relational process of feeding itself; that is, the food system is made of feeding and only feeding, and system structures are produced by the coupling of that process to its various contexts. We argue that this approach moves us away from understandings of the food system that take structures and relations as given, and sees them instead as contingent, thereby helping to identify leverage points for food system change. The new approach we describe also prompts us as critical agrifood scholars to be constantly reflexive about how our analyses are shaped by our own assumptions and subjectivities.
2 pages, via Online source, Purchasing organic food in today’s world likely means taking a trip to Whole Foods, owned by one of the richest men in all of history, Jeff Bezos. Although it is hard to imagine organic foods as something other than a luxury item targeted towards affluent demographics, the origin story of the organic foods market is vastly different. Written by Winona State University associate professor of sociology Craig B. Upright, Grocery Activism: The Radical History of Food Cooperatives in Minnesota dives back into the 1970s to paint a vivid image of the subversive world of organic groceries and food co-ops before the era of Whole Foods.
15 pages, via Online journal, Critical food scholars have argued that activists’ political ideologies and environmental values are important influences on their food justice projects. However, this body of work has given little attention to religion and spirituality even though religious studies scholars maintain that religious values affect environmental and social action. Bringing together these perspectives considers the way religious values and meaning making intersect with actions toward food justice outside of traditionally religious spaces. This paper draws on qualitative research, including a dozen interviews and 11 months of participant observation, at Franklinton Farms, a nonprofit urban farm in Columbus, Ohio. I demonstrate that Franklinton Farms team members reference diverse religious values and practices when explaining the meaning and significance of their farming. In addition, I argue that they renegotiate their religious values in light of the injustices they see in the food system. By examining religion and spirituality within a secular food space, this paper sheds light on an underexplored influence on whether and how alternative food spaces realize food justice.
Online from publisher., Brief report and analysis of research published by the National Academy of Sciences showing a strong positive relationship between meatpacking plants and local community transmission. "...the risk of excess death primarily came from large meatpacking plants operated by industry giants." Communities that shut down slaughterhouses reduced spread.
Online from publication. 16 pages., "History and the growing power of right-wing extremism point to a volatile future for the West during the Biden presidency."
Online from publisher. 2 pages., Announces a new series of stickers placed on individual bananas. These stickers feature a combination of vitamins and nutrients found in Chiquita bananas.
Online from publication. 2 pages., Report on retail grocers using retail display sleeves to capture the attention of shoppers seeking a suitable side dish for their prepared, at-home meals. Cited as specially effective for secondary display at the meat counter or in the seafood department. "MountainKing's display sleeves present images of various meal possibilities with the company's different potato varieties."
Online from publisher. 3 pages., President of AAEA - the Ag Communicators Network comments on meaning of the recent political violence at the U.S. Capitol and threats against legislative leaders. "To me...reasoning together and reporting facts through tough but fair coverage is one way our industry can respond during this troubled time."
Online from publication. 2 pages., Report about the experience of NAFB member Ben Nuelle in performing as pianist at two occasions in the White House during the recent Christmas season.
Online from publication. 3 pages., Article features experiences and perspectives of crime novel writer Jeff Gould, a former reporter for the Linder Farm Network in Minnesota.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12076
Notes:
Online from publisher. 4 pages., Summarizes benefits of objectively-sourced data from sources like the USDA, public and private data firms, geospatial insights and analysis, and more. Cites weaknesses of farmer surveys, promotions, registration forms and other similar sources.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12077
Notes:
Online via AgriMarketing Weekly. 2 pages., Summary of findings from a poll conducted recently by the American Farm Bureau Federation. "The results of a new poll clearly demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic is having broad-ranging impacts among rural adults and farmers/farmworkers." Findings also identified main obstacles to seeking help or treatment for mental health condition, the most trusted sources for information about mental health, impressions of the importance of mental health in rural communities and the importance of reducing stigma surrounding mental health.
USA: National Association of Farm Broadcasting, Platte City, Missouri.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12078
Notes:
2 pgs., Online from the publisher. 2 pages., Obituary involving a former farm broadcaster who served as NAFB president in 1984 and as NAFB Historian for nine years.
Online from publisher. 12 pages., Set of photographs taken by Jim Patrico, 2020 AAEA Photo of the Year winner. "...a superb example of visual storytelling. There isn't a weak photo in the bunch."
Online from publisher. 4 pages., "Building trust in food begins with empowering farmers through one of the largest and most diverse conservation- and sustainability-focused pulic-private partnerships in our nation's history."
