“Don’t mince words”: analysis of problematizations in Australian alternative protein regulatory debates
AbstractAlternative proteins, including plant-based and cell-based meat and dairy analogues, are discursively positioned as a new form of meat and dairy and as a solution to the myriad of issues associated with conventional animal agriculture. Animal agricultural industries across various nations have resisted this positioning in regulatory spaces by advocating for laws that restrict the use of meat and dairy terms on the labels of alternative proteins products. Underlying this contestation are differing understandings of, and vested interests in, desirable futures for animal agriculture. In Australia, this broader contest...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 3, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
David Meek: The political ecology of education: Brazil ’s landless workers’ movement and the politics of knowledge
(Source: Agriculture and Human Values)
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 3, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
‘Smallholding for Whom?’: The effect of human capital appropriation on smallholder palm farmers
This study explores how contract farming agreements between smallholder farmers of palm oil and futures traders of palm stocks impac t the long-term economic development of smallholder palm oil farming in Indonesia. We examined the relative impact of transnational palm oil corporations on smallholder assets in the Indonesian palm oil industry using annual financial data (2003–2019) from Indonesian commodities trading firms. Tem poral trends indicated that oligopolistic market conditions were strongly associated with a growing comparative advantage in palm oil, the asymmetric accumulation of land resources by transnationa...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 3, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
The adoption of conservation practices in the Corn Belt: the role of one formal farmer network, Practical Farmers of Iowa
This study complements existing ethnographic research on the benefits of organized farmer networking by examining farmers in one longstanding formal farmer network, Practical Farmers of Iowa. Using a nested, mixed-method research design, we analyzed survey and interview data to understand how participation and forms of engagement in the network are associated with the adoption of conservation practices. Responses from 677 farmers from a regular member survey disseminated by Practical Farmers of Iowa in 2013, 2017, and 2020 were pooled and analyzed. GLM binomial and ordered logistic regression results indicate that greater ...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 3, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
“Don’t mince words”: analysis of problematizations in Australian alternative protein regulatory debates
AbstractAlternative proteins, including plant-based and cell-based meat and dairy analogues, are discursively positioned as a new form of meat and dairy and as a solution to the myriad of issues associated with conventional animal agriculture. Animal agricultural industries across various nations have resisted this positioning in regulatory spaces by advocating for laws that restrict the use of meat and dairy terms on the labels of alternative proteins products. Underlying this contestation are differing understandings of, and vested interests in, desirable futures for animal agriculture. In Australia, this broader contest...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 3, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
David Meek: The political ecology of education: Brazil ’s landless workers’ movement and the politics of knowledge
(Source: Agriculture and Human Values)
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 3, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Something to eat: experiences of food insecurity on the farm
AbstractThe health of farm owners and farmworkers has significant impacts on farm businesses, farming families, and local rural communities where agriculture is an important driver of social and economic activity. Rural residents and farmworkers have higher rates of food insecurity, but little is known about food insecurity among farm owners and the collective experiences of farm owners and farmworkers. Researchers and public health practitioners have stressed the need for policies that target the health and well-being of farm owners and farmworkers while remaining sensitive to the nature of life on the farm, yet farm owne...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 2, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Antibiotic responsibility and agricultural publics: diverse stakeholder perceptions of antibiotic use in animal agriculture
AbstractThis paper examines diverse perspectives around the concept of responsibility concerning antibiotic use in animal agriculture. Antibiotic use in agriculture has been identified as a source of antimicrobial resistance, one of the largest public health threats today. In the United States, efforts to curb antibiotic use in farming draws on a diverse range of actors —including farmers, veterinarians, consumers, and public health advocates—and relies on a mix of industry standards and federal guidelines around responsible use. The paper selects a similarly diverse range of people and employs Q methodology to query t...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 1, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
As if you were hiring a new employee: on pig veterinarians ’ perceptions of professional roles and relationships in the context of smart sensing technologies in pig husbandry in the Netherlands and Germany
This study explores the meaning veterinarians attribute to the application of PLF in the context of public concerns related to pig production. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with pig veterinarians located in the Netherlands and Germany. By using an inductive and semantic approach to reflexive thematic analysis, we developed four main themes from the interview data: (1) the advisory role of the veterinarian, which is characterized by a diverse scope, including advice on PLF, generally positive evaluations and financial dependencies; (2) the delineation of PLF technologies as supporting tools, which are seen as ...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 1, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Cultivating intellectual community in academia: reflections from the Science and Technology Studies Food and Agriculture Network (STSFAN)
AbstractScholarship flourishes in inclusive environments where open deliberations and generative feedback expand both individual and collective thinking. Many researchers, however, have limited access to such settings, and most conventional academic conferences fall short of promises to provide them. We have written this Field Report to share our methods for cultivating a vibrant intellectual community within the Science and Technology Studies Food and Agriculture Network (STSFAN). This is paired with insights from 21 network members on aspects that have allowed STSFAN to thrive, even amid a global pandemic. Our hope is th...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 1, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
The resilience and viability of farmers markets in the United States as an alternative food network: case studies from Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic
AbstractThis paper examines the resilience of farmers markets in Michigan to the system shock of the global COVID-19 pandemic, questioning how the response fits into market goals of food sovereignty. Adapting to shifting public health recommendations and uncertainty, managers implemented new policies to create a safe shopping experience and expand food access. As consumers directed their shopping to farmers markets looking for safer outdoor shopping, local products, and foods in short supply at grocery stores, market sales skyrocketed with vendors reporting selling more than ever before, but the longevity of this change re...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 1, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Social science – STEM collaborations in agriculture, food and beyond: an STSFAN manifesto
AbstractInterdisciplinary research needs innovation. As an action-oriented intervention, this Manifesto begins from the authors ’ experiences as social scientists working within interdisciplinary science and technology collaborations in agriculture and food. We draw from these experiences to: 1) explain what social scientists contribute to interdisciplinary agri-food tech collaborations; (2) describe barriers to substantiv e and meaningful collaboration; and (3) propose ways to overcome these barriers. We encourage funding bodies to develop mechanisms that ensure funded projects respect the integrity of social science ex...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 1, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Farmer satisfaction and short food supply chains
AbstractIn response to a commentary on our research article (Azima and Mundler in Agric Hum Values 39:791 –807, 2022), we address the argument that increased reliance on family farm labor with low or no opportunity costs leads to higher net revenue and greater economic satisfaction. Our response provides a nuanced perspective on this issue in the context of short food supply chains. We also examine th e share of total farm sales from short food supply chains in terms of its effect size on farmer job satisfaction. Finally, we emphasize the need for further research into the sources of occupational satisfaction among farme...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 1, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
A genealogy of sustainable agriculture narratives: implications for the transformative potential of regenerative agriculture
AbstractThe agri-food system is facing a range of social-ecological threats, many of which are caused and amplified by industrial agriculture. In response, numerous sustainable agriculture narratives have emerged, proposing solutions to the challenges facing the agri-food system. One such narrative that has recently risen to prominence is regenerative agriculture. However, the drivers for the rapid emergence of regenerative agriculture are not well understood. Furthermore, its transformative potential for supporting a more sustainable agri-food system is underexplored. Through a genealogical analysis of four prominent sust...
Source: Agriculture and Human Values - May 1, 2023 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
