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."
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.
9 pages., Online via Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)., An online survey among undergraduate and graduate university students in rural Pakistan revealed that the majority used social media for political awareness and information. Findings of the study suggested that "online political activities strongly correlate to political awareness and offline political participation. In rural areas of Pakistan, the younger generations are very active on social media to participate in online and offline political happenings."
Online from publication 8 pages., Article highlights findings of a Farm Futures post-election survey among U.S. farmers. They show that nearly 90 percent of farmers believe taxes will go up under the Biden administration, 71% believe WOTUS will be overturned, and 22% believe markets will stabilize with a new trade strategy. "And four of every five farmers believe there will be less government ad hoc funds going to agriculture."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 133 Document Number: D11393
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15 pages., Online research report., Reports findings of a survey of 3,627 U.S. adults, October 1-13, 2019. Democrats mostly agreed the federal government should do more on climate, while Republicans differed by ideology, age and gender
16 pages., via online journal., The expanding critical literature on Urban Agriculture (UA) makes links between the withdrawal of state services and the institutionalisation of volunteering, while observing that challenging funding landscapes can foster competitive environments between third-sector organisations. Where these organisations are forced to compete for survival at the expense of collaboration, their ability to collectively upscale and expand beneficial activities can be compromised. This paper focuses on a lottery-funded UA project and draws predominantly on observations and interviews held with project staff and growing group volunteers. Research conducted in Wythenshawe, Manchester (UK), highlights difficulties experienced by organisations attempting to function in an environment disfigured by depletion, illustrating conflicts that can arise between community groups and charitable organisations competing for space and resources. Inter-organisational dynamics are considered at two scales: at the grassroots level between growing groups, and at a structural level between project partners. In a landscape scarred by local authority cutbacks and restructures, a dearth of funding opportunities and increasingly precarious employment, external initiatives can be met with suspicion or hostility, particularly when viewed as superfluous interventions. The resulting ‘siege mentality’ reflects the need for organisational self-preservation but perhaps paradoxically results in groups with similar goals and complementary ideologies working against each other rather than in cooperation.
