Agriculture and environment: friends or foes? Conceptualising agri-environmental discourses under the European Union ’s Common Agricultural Policy
This study tries to expla in these differences by demonstrating differences between policy levels in the understanding of the relationship between nature and farming. To compare constructs and values of the respective policy communities, their discursive construction as it appears in the main strategic EU and MS agricultural policy documents is analysed. The theoretical framework integrates elements from existing frameworks of CAP and environmental discourse analysis; specific agri-environmental discourses, their elements and interplay, are identified. The six discourses suggested here are ‘Productivism’, ‘Classi cal...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 26, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Re-enchanting meat: how sacred meaning-making strengthens the ethical meat movement
This article draws on ethnographic research among Southern Wisconsin butchers, farmers, and customers as well as public discourse analysis to trace meaning-making strategies that powerfully counter the commercia l meat industry by re-enchanting meat. (Source: Agriculture and Human Values)
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 22, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Crafting the wild: growing ginseng in the simulated wild in Appalachia
AbstractAmerican ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is a slow-growing medicinal root native to eastern North America. Though it is possible to farm, wild ginseng can sell for twenty (or more) times as much as cultivated ginseng. Declining wild ginseng populations due to habitat loss and overharvesting has led to harvest restrictions, but strong demand for wild ginseng remains. One potential solution is “wild-simulated” ginseng, where ginseng is grown under conditions crafted to mimic a wild forest with the goal of producing roots that look wild. I contend, however, that despite the fact that wild-simulated ginseng grows in ...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 21, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
More bytes per acre: do vertical farming ’s land sparing promises stand on solid ground?
AbstractVertical farming is a rapidly expanding type of indoor controlled environment agriculture whose promises have attracted widespread praise and considerable early-stage capital in recent years. Among vertical farming ’s many claimed benefits, per-area productivity is frequently mentioned, proposing crop yields at least two orders of magnitude higher than outdoor field agriculture. These extremely high yields form the basis for a theory of land use change whereby yield-increasing technologies reduce or reverse the expansionary demands of lower-yielding farms, retaining or returning those areas to “wild nature”. ...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 21, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Crafting the wild: growing ginseng in the simulated wild in Appalachia
AbstractAmerican ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is a slow-growing medicinal root native to eastern North America. Though it is possible to farm, wild ginseng can sell for twenty (or more) times as much as cultivated ginseng. Declining wild ginseng populations due to habitat loss and overharvesting has led to harvest restrictions, but strong demand for wild ginseng remains. One potential solution is “wild-simulated” ginseng, where ginseng is grown under conditions crafted to mimic a wild forest with the goal of producing roots that look wild. I contend, however, that despite the fact that wild-simulated ginseng grows in ...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 21, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
More bytes per acre: do vertical farming ’s land sparing promises stand on solid ground?
AbstractVertical farming is a rapidly expanding type of indoor controlled environment agriculture whose promises have attracted widespread praise and considerable early-stage capital in recent years. Among vertical farming ’s many claimed benefits, per-area productivity is frequently mentioned, proposing crop yields at least two orders of magnitude higher than outdoor field agriculture. These extremely high yields form the basis for a theory of land use change whereby yield-increasing technologies reduce or reverse the expansionary demands of lower-yielding farms, retaining or returning those areas to “wild nature”. ...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 21, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Conflicts between being a “Good Farmer” and freshwater policy: A New Zealand case study
AbstractStrategies that motivate agrifood producers to adopt more sustainable practices are a critical component for a sustainable future. This case study examines farmer attitudes to a recently released New Zealand agricultural policy aimed at improving freshwater quality by restricting agricultural activities. Our study interprets interviews of nine individuals managing a range of dairy and sheep farming operations to explore how these farmers manage societal expectations of being a ‘good farmer’ in the context of the new regulations. Four themes were developed to capture perceptions of participants: the vested inter...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 20, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Labour relations and working conditions of workers on smallholder cocoa farms in Ghana
This article focuses on smallholder farm workers in Ghana ’s cocoa sector, drawing on insights from qualitative interviews and the concept of bargaining power. We review the labour relations and working conditions of two historical and informally identified labour supply setups (LSSs) in Ghana’s cocoa sector, namely, hired labour and Abusa, a form of l andowner–caretaker relations, and identify an imbalance of horizontal power. Further, we analyse the labour relations and working conditions of an emerging and formal LSS in Ghana’s cocoa sector: private labour providers (PLPs). We argue that PLPs are likely to addre...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 16, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
A one-sided love affair? On the potential for a coalition between degrowth and community-supported agriculture in Germany
This article therefore undertakes a systematic analysis of the potential for a coalition between CSA and degrowth in Germany. We draw on social movement theories to compare both movements ’ ideological and strategic alignment, as well as the conducive and/or hindering factors for coalition building. We find that the ideologies and political strategies of the two movements are not aligned, which manifests in their main frames and action repertoires, among other areas, which are arti culated at different levels of abstraction; CSA has a practical focus on the safeguarding of smallholder agriculture, while degrowth more abs...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 15, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
An immersive, comparative approach to experiential learning in food studies education
AbstractExperiential learning in food and agricultural higher education takes many different forms. This paper highlights an immersive, comparative approach to a graduate food studies course in the dairy sector. It explores how students in this class experience a particular combination of field trips, culinary workshops, hands-on activities, and classroom discussions, and explores how the structure and combination of these course elements contributes to reflection, critical thought, and a more nuanced and complex understanding of food systems (or not). Results suggest that this intensive compare/contrast approach to field ...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 15, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
A one-sided love affair? On the potential for a coalition between degrowth and community-supported agriculture in Germany
This article therefore undertakes a systematic analysis of the potential for a coalition between CSA and degrowth in Germany. We draw on social movement theories to compare both movements ’ ideological and strategic alignment, as well as the conducive and/or hindering factors for coalition building. We find that the ideologies and political strategies of the two movements are not aligned, which manifests in their main frames and action repertoires, among other areas, which are arti culated at different levels of abstraction; CSA has a practical focus on the safeguarding of smallholder agriculture, while degrowth more abs...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - June 15, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
