Yoder, Landon (author), Chowdhury, Rinku Roy (author), and School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
Graduate School of Geography, Clark University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2018
Published:
Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10459
8 pages., Via online journal., Agricultural nonpoint source pollution remains a pressing environmental problem despite decades of policy and environmental initiatives. Cooperative local actions are a crucial element of effective multilevel governance solutions to such problems, but securing farmer participation for water quality protection remains challenging. Social capital—relations of trust, reciprocity, and shared social norms within and between key stakeholder groups—has been found to enable cooperation for environmentally desirable outcomes. However, the downsides of social capital remain under-examined in multilevel governance, where cooperation within one stakeholder group (bonding social capital) may undermine cooperation with other stakeholders (bridging social capital). Given this important gap, researchers need to examine how bonding and bridging social capital may be formed, maintained, or undermined through stakeholder interactions, and the corresponding environmental consequences.
In this paper, we address these gaps through a case study of south Florida’s sugar-producing region, whose drainage water flows south into the Florida Everglades. In contrast to persistent water quality impairment elsewhere, Everglades water quality has improved steadily over the past 20 years. These improvements have taken place under a complex set of governance arrangements that established a mandatory long-term numeric water quality target but which relies on shared compliance among farms. These dynamics encouraged interactions among three key groups of stakeholders—farmers, agricultural extension agents, and state regulators—to implement management changes. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, we find that bonding social capital among farmers encourages them to improve their management through a sense of shared responsibility, while also potentially limiting restoration by maintaining perceptions that the regulations are unfair. Bridging social capital helps to legitimize new management efforts, while court-mandated water quality targets incentivize farmers to draw on multiple forms of social capital. We also discuss the relevance of this case for governing agricultural nonpoint source pollution in similar settings elsewhere.
16 pages, via online journal, Buying local food has become an increasingly popular way for consumers to engage with those who grow their food; however, research has shown a specific audience tends to buy local food due to individual-specific barriers. To better understand what motivates consumers to buy local food the Theory of Planned Behavior was used as a way to potentially predict consumers’ behavior toward buying locally grown blueberries. Also, the variables of past experience and self-identity/moral obligation toward buying local food were introduced to the model since both variables may increase the predictability of the Theory of Planned Behavior model in certain food-related behaviors. This study used an online survey completed by 1,122 respondents, from a sample frame of all consumers in Florida. The study used a non-probability sample of an opt-in panel, and weighting procedures were applied to the data to account for coverage errors associated with using a non-probability sample. The interaction of consumers’ past experience and self-identity/moral obligation was found to help explain consumers’ intention to buy locally grown blueberries when added to the Theory of Planned Behavior. The Theory of Planned Behavior was shown to predict consumers’ intention to buy locally grown blueberries; however, their intent was better explained with the inclusion of the variables of past experience and self-identity/moral obligation toward buying local blueberries. Recommendations for future research and application include future research into other variables that may impact buying behavior and inclusion of these variables in future communication efforts focused on consumers buying and engaging with local food.
