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42. How farmers “repair” the industrial agricultural system
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Houser, Matthew (author), Gunderson, Ryan (author), Stuart, Diana (author), and Denny, Riva C.H. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-03-31
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12059
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Notes:
- 15 pages, via Online journal, Scholars are increasingly calling for the environmental issues of the industrial agricultural system to be addressed via eventual agroecological system-level transformation. It is critical to identify the barriers to this transition. Drawing from Henke’s (Cultivating science, harvesting power: science and industrial agriculture in California, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2008) theory of “repair,” we explore how farmers participate in the reproduction of the industrial system through “discursive repair,” or arguing for the continuation of the industrial agriculture system. Our empirical case relates to water pollution from nitrogen fertilizer and draws data from a sample of over 150 interviews with row-crop farmers in the midwestern United States. We find that farmers defend this system by denying agriculture’s causal role and proposing the potential for within-system solutions. They perform these defenses by drawing on ideological positions (agrarianism, market-fundamentalism and techno-optimism) and may be ultimately led to seek system maintenance because they are unable to envision an alternative to the industrial agriculture system.
43. ‘I will know it when I taste it’: trust, food materialities and social media in Chinese alternative food networks
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Martindale, Leigh (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-06
- Published:
- United States: Springer Nature
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12225
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- v. 38, iss. 2
- Notes:
- 15 pages, Trust is often an assumed outcome of participation in Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) as they directly connect producers with consumers. It is based on this potential for trust “between producers and consumers” that AFNs have emerged as a significant field of food studies analysis as it also suggests a capacity for AFNs to foster associated embedded qualities, like ‘morality’, ‘social justice’, ‘ecology’ and ‘equity’. These positive benefits of AFNs, however, cannot be taken for granted as trust is not necessarily an outcome of AFN participation. Using Chinese case studies of AFNs, which are characterised by a distinct form of trust pressure—consumers who are particularly cynical about small scale farmers, food safety and the organic credentials of producers—this paper highlights how the dynamics of trust are in constant flux between producers and consumers. I suggest that it is the careful construction of the aesthetic and multi-sensory qualities of food, which is often celebrated via social media, that human centred relations in Chinese AFNs are mediated. This leads to two key conclusions: first, that the key variable for establishing trust is satisfying the consumer’s desire for safe (i.e. "fresh") food; and second, the materiality of the food and the perception of foods materiality (especially through social media), must both be actively constructed by the farmer to fit the consumer’s ideal of freshness.
44. Impacts on food policy from traditional and social media framing of moral outrage and cultural stereotypes
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Small, Virginia (author) and Warn, James (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-06
- Published:
- United States: Springer Nature B.V. 2019
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12228
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- v. 37, iss. 2
- Notes:
- 16 pages, Food policy increasingly attempts to accommodate a wider and more diverse range of stakeholder interests. However, the emerging influence of different communities and networks of actors with localized concerns and interests around how food should be produced and traded, can challenge attempts to achieving more open, sustainable and globally-integrated food chains. This article analyses how cultural factors internal to a developed country can disrupt the export of food to a developing country. A framing analysis is applied to examine how activists using social media to interact with the traditional news media in Australia were able to inflame public opinion and provoke outrage to disrupt the policy agenda. The paper contains a case study analysis of the media controversy in 2011 around the slaughter of beef cattle in Indonesian abattoirs and the subsequent banning of live cattle exports to Indonesia by Australia. The analysis draws on the theory of binary cultural oppositions to examine how practices in relation to the slaughter of beef cattle in Indonesia were reframed, through extensive media coverage of moral outrage into a critique of the values and cultural practices of Indonesian society.
45. Hashtag hijacking and crowdsourcing transparency: social media affordances and the governance of farm animal protection
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Rodak, Olga (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-06
- Published:
- Netherlands: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12240
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 37 Iss. 2
- Notes:
- 15 pages, The post-war Western world has seen a gradual shift from government to governance, a process that also concerned the issues related to agro-food sustainability, such as food quality, environmental impact, social justice, and farm animal welfare. Scholars believe that social media are a new site that reconfigures relations between various actors involved in the governance of these problems. However, empirical research on this matter remains scarce. This paper fills this gap by examining the case of Februdairy, a Twitter hashtag campaign to promote the British dairy industry, hijacked by animal protection activists. For this case, I employ the relational perspective on technology affordances—as operationalised by Faraj and Azad (in: Leonard et al. (eds), Materiality and organizing. Social interaction in a technological world, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012)—to highlight two distinct strategic modes of embracement of social media functionalities by the opposing groups: hashtag hijacking and crowdsourcing transparency. The analysis reveals also that a pre-existing social structure of the agro-food system conditions reconfiguration of social relations by technology in a way that actually strengthens the tendency to govern the issue of farm animal protection with market mechanisms.
46. Growing food, growing a movement: climate adaptation and civic agriculture in the southeastern united states
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Furman, Carrie (author), Roncoli, Carla (author), Nelson, Donald R (author), and Hoogenboom, Gerrit (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2014-03
- Published:
- Netherlands: Springer Science & Business Media
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12244
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- v. 31, iss. 1
- Notes:
- 15 pages, his article examines the role that civic agriculture in Georgia (US) plays in shaping attitudes, strategies, and relationships that foster both sustainability and adaptation to a changing climate. Civic agriculture is a social movement that attracts a specific type of "activist" farmer, who is linked to a strong social network that includes other farmers and consumers. Positioning farmers' practices within a social movement broadens the understanding of adaptive capacity beyond how farmers adapt to understand why they do so. By drawing upon qualitative and quantitative data and by focusing on the cosmological, organizational, and technical dimensions of the social movement, the study illuminates how social values and networks shape production and marketing strategies that enable farmers to share resources and risks. We propose a conceptual framework for understanding how technical and social strategies aimed to address the sustainability goals of the movement also increase adaptive capacity at multiple timescales. In conclusion, we outline directions for future research, including the need for longitudinal studies that focus on consumer motivation and willingness to pay, the effects of scale on consumer loyalty and producer cooperation, and the role of a social movement in climate change adaptation. Finally, we stress that farmers' ability to thrive in uncertain climate futures calls for transformative approaches to sustainable agriculture that support the development of strong social networks.
47. book review: patricia hill collins: intersectionality as critical social theory
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Whitley, Hannah T. (author)
- Format:
- Book review
- Publication Date:
- 2020-09
- Published:
- United States: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 203 Document Number: D12254
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 37, Iss. 3
- Notes:
- 2 pages, Moving beyond single-issue organizing, advocacy, and inquiry, intersectionality has become widely popular in academic and activist circles. Despite intersectional scholar/activists' best attempts to separate problems on the basis of factors like race, gender, sexuality, or class, Patricia Hill Collins cautions that "Intersectionality is one of those fields in which so many people like the idea of intersectionality itself and therefore think they understand the field as well" (4). Collins reasons that for intersectionality to fully realize its power, its practitioners must critically reflect on its assumptions, epistemologies, and methods. Placing intersectionality in dialogue with several theoretical traditions, Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory offers a set of analytical tools for those wishing to develop intersectionality's capability to theorize social inequality in ways that would facilitate social change. "Without sustained self-reflection," Collins writes, "intersectionality will be unable to help anyone grapple with social change, including change within its own praxis" (6). Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory introduces and develops Collins' core concepts and guiding principles that demonstrate what it will take to develop intersectionality as a critical social theory.
48. Delivering too much, too little or off target—possible consequences of differences in perceptions on agricultural advisory services
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kraft, Jannica (author), Hockert, Jenny (author), Ljung, Magnus (author), Lundberg, Sara (author), and Lunner Kolstrup, Christina (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-04-01
- Published:
- United States: Springer Link
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12495
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- 39
- Notes:
- 15 pages, Advisory services are considered to play an important role in the development of competitiveness and sustainability in agriculture. Advisory services have been studied at policy level, structural level and within case studies, but there is still restricted knowledge about advisors’ and farmers’ view on advisory services in general. This paper presents the views of Swedish advisors and farmers on advisory services. In a survey-based study, perceptions of farm advisors and full-time farmers in commercial Swedish agriculture on advisory services were identified and statistically analysed, comparing differences between and within the groups. The results are structured around three main themes; motives for a farmer using or not using advisory services, preferred approach by the advisor and future demands on advisory services and their importance today. Possible consequences of differences in perceptions for on-farm service delivery were assessed. Similarities in perceptions on advisory services among advisors and farmers, were found in areas characterised by well-defined questions or production-related issues. Significant differences in perceptions of advisors and farmers emerged in less concrete areas and on topics connected to change, management and strategy. Consequences of discrepancies in perceptions are that advisors may deliver too much, too little or off target, especially when expectations on advisory services are not clearly expressed. A strong and proactive back-office supporting the advisors is needed to prevent these possible consequences.
49. Liberation extension: building capacities for civilizational transition
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Copeland, Nicholas (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-01-27
- Published:
- International: Springer Link
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12541
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- 2022
- Notes:
- 12pgs, COVID 19 has exacerbated and underscored structural inequalities and endemic vulnerabilities in food, economic, and social systems, compounding concerns about environmental sustainability and racial and economic justice. Convergent crises have amplified a growing chorus of voices and movements calling for new thinking and new practices to adapt to these shifts, mitigate their impact, and address their root causes through far reaching changes in social and economic life and values, including breaking with the free market paradigm. In the face of a historic choice between transition or multiple systems collapse that deepen injustice and threaten planetary survival, I make the case for expanding on liberatory tendencies in Extension programs to build capacities for response-ability to transition toward more just and sustainable futures.
50. All roads lead to the farmers market?: using network analysis to measure the orientation and central actors in a community food system through a case comparison of yolo and sacramento county, california
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Fuchs‑Chesney, Jordana (author), Raj, Subhashni (author), Daruwalla, Tishtar (author), and Brinkley, Catherine (author)
- Format:
- Online article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-08-18
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12600
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- Online
- Notes:
- 17 pages, Little is known about how farms and markets are connected. Identifying critical gaps and central hubs in food systems is of importance in addressing a variety of concerns, such as navigating rapid shifts in marketing practices as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and related food shortages. The constellation of growers and markets can also reinforce opportunities to shift growing and eating policies and practices with attention to addressing racial and income inequities in food system ownership and access. With this research, we compare network methods for measuring centrality and sociospatial orientations in food systems using two of America’s most high-producing agricultural counties. Though the counties are adjacent, we demonstrate that their community food systems have little overlap in contributing farms and markets. Our findings show that the community food system for Yolo County is tightly interwoven with Bay Area restaurants and farmers’ markets. The adjacent county, Sacramento, branded itself as America’s Farm-to-Fork capital in 2012 and possesses network hubs focused more on grocery stores and restaurants. In both counties, the most central actors differ and have been involved with the community food system for decades. Such findings have implications beyond the case studies, and we conclude with considerations for how our methods could be standardized in the national agricultural census.
51. How digital communications contribute to shaping the career paths of youth: a review study focused on farming as a career option
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Unay‑Gailhard, İlkay (author) and Brennen, Mark A. (author)
- Format:
- Online article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-08-01
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12601
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Notes:
- 18pgs, Can the power of digital communications create opportunities for overcoming generational renewal problems on farms? This interdisciplinary review explores the reported impacts of digital communication on career initiation into farming from a global perspective via the lens of career theories. Seventy-three papers were synthesized into two domains: (1) the impact of digital communication interactions on farming career initiation, and (2) the dynamics of digital communication initiatives that create opportunities to inspire youth into farming. The finding shows that the mainstream literature primarily aims to support the continuity of farming careers but pay little attention to the potential of digital communication to attract youth into farming. This review argues that career communications for farming receives insufficient attention, and could be better integrated into agricultural communications strategies by using the potential of digital communications. Study concludes that while economic and geographic factors, as well as societal and cultural norms, lead to negative perceptions on farming careers, there are three pathways that may contribute to breaking down these negative perceptions. Firstly, taking the changing nature of career motivations, such as the trend towards sustainable farming linked to self-fulfillment, among today’s youth into consideration is essential. Secondly, highlighting technological advances in digital agriculture practices, like geographical flexibility or innovation capacity of farming, for example, is important to increase awareness about new opportunities in the profession. Lastly, communication campaigns with targeted groups (e.g., young females) play a role to change the negative perceptions of the rural way of life and the farming profession.
52. Framing of sustainable agricultural practices by the farming press and its effect on adoption
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Rust, Niki A. (author), Jarvis, Rebecca M. (author), Reed, Mark S. (author), and Cooper, Julia (author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-02-21
- Published:
- United States: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12622
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- V. 38
- Notes:
- 14pgs, There is growing political pressure for farmers to use more sustainable agricultural practices to protect people and the planet. The farming press could encourage farmers to adopt sustainable practices through its ability to manipulate discourse and spread awareness by changing the salience of issues or framing topics in specific ways. We sought to understand how the UK farming press framed sustainable agricultural practices and how the salience of these practices changed over time. We combined a media content analysis of the farming press alongside 60 qualitative interviews with farmers and agricultural advisors to understand whether the farming press influenced farmers to try more sustainable practices. Salience of sustainable agricultural practices grew between 2009 and 2020. Many of the practices studied were framed by the press around economic and agronomic aspects, and farmer respondents said the most common reasons for trying sustainable agricultural practices were for economic and agronomic reasons. The farming press tended to use more positive rather than negative tones when covering sustainable agricultural practices. Respondents used the farming press as a source of information, though many did not fully trust these outlets as they believed the farming press were mouthpieces for agribusinesses. Whilst a minority of farmers stated they were motivated to try a new sustainable agricultural practice after learning about it in the farming press, this was rare. Instead, the farming press was used by respondents to raise their awareness about wider agricultural topics. We reflect on the role and power given to agribusinesses by the farming press and what this means for agricultural sustainability.
53. Means and ways of engaging, communicating and preserving local soil knowledge of smallholder farmers in central Vietnam
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Huynh, Ha T. N. (author), Lobry de Bruyn, Lisa A. (author), Knox, Oliver G. G. (author), and Hoang, Hoa T. T. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-03-03
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12624
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- V. 39
- Notes:
- 24 pgs, Increasing interest in farmers’ local soil knowledge (LSK) and soil management practice as a way to promote sustainable agriculture and soil conservation needs a reliable means to connect to it. This study sought to examine if Visual Soil Assessment (VSA) and farmer workshops were suitable means to engage, communicate and preserve farmers’ LSK in two mountainous communes of Central Vietnam. Twenty-four farmers with reasonable or comprehensive LSK from previously studied communes were selected for the efficacy of VSA and farmer workshops for integrating LSK into a well-accepted soil assessment tool (VSA). In field sites chosen by the farmers, VSA was independently executed by both farmers and scientists at the same time. Close congruence of VSA scores between the two groups highlighted that farmers could competently undertake VSA. Farmers’ VSA score was compared with their perception of field’s soil quality. For the majority of farmers’ perception of soil quality was consistent to their VSA score (62.5%), while the remainder perceived their soil quality was lower than their VSA score. For most farmers their assessment of soil quality using VSA valued their LSK, and the two measures were well aligned. Soil colour and presence or vulnerability to erosion were common soil characteristics mentioned by farmers and affected the final VSA score. Farmers’ participation in VSA and workshops strengthen farmers’ confidence in their LSK and provided guidance on the impact of their soil management on soil improvement and conservation.
54. Genome-edited versus genetically-modifed tomatoes: an experiment on people’s perceptions and acceptance of food biotechnology in the UK and Switzerland
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Bearth, Angela (author), Kaptan, Gulbanu (author), and Kessler, Sabrina Heike (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-03-22
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12625
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- V. 39
- Notes:
- 15 pgs, Biotechnology might contribute to solving food safety and security challenges. However, gene technology has been under public scrutiny, linked to the framing of the media and public discourse. The study aims to investigate people’s perceptions and acceptance of food biotechnology with focus on transgenic genetic modification versus genome editing. An online experiment was conducted with participants from the United Kingdom (n = 490) and Switzerland (n = 505). The participants were presented with the topic of food biotechnology and more specifically with experimentally varied vignettes on transgenic and genetic modification and genome editing (scientific uncertainty: high vs. low, media format: journalistic vs. user-generated blog). The results suggest that participants from both countries express higher levels of acceptance for genome editing compared to transgenic genetic modification. The general and personal acceptance of these technologies depend largely on whether the participants believe the application is beneficial, how they perceive scientific uncertainty, and the country they reside in. Our findings suggest that future communication about gene technology should focus more on discussing trade-offs between using an agricultural technologies and tangible and relevant benefits, instead of a unidimensional focus on risk and safety.
55. Alternative food networks in Latin America—exploring PGS (participatory guarantee systems) markets and their consumers: a cross-country comparison
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Kaufmann, Sonja (author), Hruschka, Nikolaus (author), Vildozo,Luis (author), and Vogl, Christian R. (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-08-25
- Published:
- USA: Springer Nature
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12628
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- Online
- Notes:
- 24 pages, Alternative food networks (AFN) are argued to provide platforms to re-socialize and re-spacealize food, establish and contribute to democratic participation in local food chains, and foster producer–consumer relations and trust. As one of the most recent examples of AFN, Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) have gained notable traction in attempting to redefine consumer-producer relations in the organic value chain. The participation of stakeholders, such as consumers, has been a key element theoretically differentiating PGS from other organic verification systems. While research on farmer participation in PGS is attracting interest, consumer participation is still widely overlooked. Using a mixed methods approach, this paper describes five PGS markets in Mexico, Chile and Bolivia. A survey was conducted with consumers in the PGS markets to explore their awareness of the PGS, how consumers participate in the PGS, and their level of trust in the respective PGS and its certified products. Results showed a low level of awareness of PGS among market consumers, few participation possibilities, and minimal consumer participation overall. Nevertheless, trust in organic quality was generally high. Consumers primarily relied on the direct relationship with producers and the PGS market itself as sources of trust. These results provide novel insight into PGS consumer-market interactions, and contribute to discussions concerning social embeddedness, awareness and participation within AFN.
56. Community financing for sustainable food and farming: a proximity perspective
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Behrendt, Gerlinde (author), Peter, Sarah (author), Sterly, Simone (author), and Häring, Anna Maria (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-03-22
- Published:
- USA: Springer Nature
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12629
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- V. 39
- Notes:
- 13 pages, An increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the German organic agri-food sector involves citizens through different community financing models. While such models provide alternative funding sources as well as marketing opportunities to SMEs, they allow private investors to combine their financial and ethical concerns by directly supporting the development of a more sustainable food system. Due to the low level of financial intermediation, community financing is characterized by close relations between investors and investees. Against this background, we apply the proximity concept from economic geography to explore spatial and relational aspects of community financing in the German organic agri-food sector. Based on a qualitative multiple case study approach, we find that the relevance of proximity is twofold. While different forms of proximity between SMEs and their potential investors are key success factors, proximity is also considered as one desired outcome of community financing. Furthermore, our results reveal that the extent to which SMEs rely on particular proximity dimensions distinguishes two different approaches to community financing.
57. Does direct farm marketing fulfill its promises? analyzing job satisfaction among direct-market farmers in Canada
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Azima, Stevens (author) and Mundler, Patrick (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-01-21
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12641
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- V. 39
- Notes:
- 17 pages, Short food supply chains have become the focus of considerable research in the last two decades. However, studies so far remain highly localized, and claims about the economic and social advantages of such channels for farmers are not backed by large-scale empirical evidence. Using a web survey of 613 direct-market farmers across Canada, this article explores the potential economic and social benefits that farmers derive from participating in short food supply chains. We used multivariate analysis to test whether a farmer’s degree of involvement in direct food channels is positively correlated with levels of work enjoyment, social satisfaction, and economic satisfaction. The results indicate that, overall, direct-market farmers report high levels of occupational satisfaction, although work-related challenges persist, such as stress, excessive workloads, and competition. Farmer participation in short food chains was also a positive predictor of work enjoyment and economic satisfaction, but not of social satisfaction, as measured by the share of total farm sales attributable to direct selling. Net annual farm revenue, the share of direct food sales involving a middleman, age, and gender also correlated with one or more dimensions of occupational satisfaction.
58. Raj Patel: Stufed and starved: the hidden battle for the world food system
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Gallop, Kelley R. (author)
- Format:
- Book review
- Publication Date:
- 2022-02-24
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12642
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- V. 39
- Notes:
- 2 pages, Author, journalist, and food-policy expert Raj Patel's last edition of Stufed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System was written in 2012. It was and continues to be an essential contribution to the literature on the global food system. It serves as a jumping-of point for researchers, activists, or even the average reader.
59. The adoption problem is a matter of ft: tracing the travel of pruning practices from research to farm in Ghana’s cocoa sector
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Adomaa, Faustina Obeng (author), Vellema, Sietze (author), Slingerland, Maja (author), and Asare, Richard (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2022-01-11
- Published:
- USA: Springer
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 205 Document Number: D12650
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- Iss. 39
- Notes:
- 15 pages, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) are central to sustainability standards and certifcation programmes in the global cocoa chain. Pruning is one of the practices promoted in extension services associated with these sustainability efforts. Yet concerns exist about the low adoption rate of these GAPs by smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana. A common approach to addressing this challenge is based on creating enabling conditions and offering appropriate incentives. We use the concepts of inscription and afordance to trace the vertically coordinated travel of recommended pruning from research to extension and farming sites, and to describe how pruning is carried out diferently at each site. Our analysis suggests that enactments of pruning at the extension site reduce the number of options and space for interactions, and this constrains making the practice meaningful to farmers’ repertoires. The conventions guiding and legitimising actions at this site, reinforced by sustainability standards, certifcation schemes and associated inspections and audits, favour standardised recommendations and consequently narrow room for context-specifc diagnostics and adaptions. Therefore, we reframe the adoption problem as a matter of fitbetween different sites in the ‘agricultural research value chain’ embedded in the operational cocoa chain. Our contribution problematises the dominant framing of low adoption and highlights that the movement of pruning and the sequential enactment at different sites constrain the affordances available for rendering the practice meaningful to farmers’ repertoires. Consequently, addressing the low uptake of GAPs requires institutional work towards conventions that can construct a fit between sites along the agricultural research value chain
60. Using the ‘good farmer’ concept to explore agricultural attitudes to the provision of public goods. A case study of participants in an English agri-environment scheme
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Cusworth, George (author) and Dodsworth, Jennifer (author)
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Publication Date:
- 2021-05-11
- Published:
- England: Springer Nature
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12809
- Journal Title:
- Agriculture and Human Values
- Journal Title Details:
- Online
- Notes:
- 11pgs, Across the European Union, the receipt of agricultural subsidisation is increasingly being predicated on the delivery of public goods. In the English context, in particular, these changes can be seen in the redirection of money to the new Environmental Land Management scheme. Such shifts reflect the changed expectations that society is placing on agriculture—from something that provides one good (food) to something that supplies many (food, access to green spaces, healthy rural environment, flood resilience, reduced greenhouse gas emissions). Whilst the reasons behind the changes are well documented, understanding how these shifts are being experienced by the managers expected to deliver on these new expectations is less well understood. Bourdieu’s social theory and the good farmer concept are used to attend to this blind spot, and to provide timely insight as the country progresses along its public goods subsidy transition. Evidence from 65 interviews with 40 different interviewees (25 of whom gave a repeat interview) show a general willingness towards the transition to a public goods model of subsidisation. The optimisation and efficiency that has historically characterised the productivist identity is colouring the way managers are approaching the delivery of public goods. Ideas of land sparing and land sharing (and the farming preference for the former over the latter) are used to help understand these new social and attitudinal realities.