Digital Commons Network^™

British Government Information Resources, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Creative Materials

Provides an overview of British Government information resources. Contents include basic British economic and political background and information from British Government websites including the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Brexit related material produced by British government agencies such as the Department for Exiting the European Union,, the Ministry of Defence, the National Museum of the Royal Navy, the Home Office Visas and Immigration Section, the Office of National Statistics, Her Majesty's Treasury, the British Parliament including parliamentary committees and research agencies, the website of Member of Parliament (MP) Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative-North East Somerset), a webcast of House …

Adjudication And The Adaptive Capacity Of Pecan Farmers In The Lower Rio Grande, Daniel R. Beene

Geography ETDs

Despite growing uncertainty of water availability in the future and popular understandings of water conservation in agriculture, a growing number of farmers in the Lower Rio Grande Basin are rapidly transitioning to pecan orchards, a long-term and highly water-dependent crop. Drivers of landscape change can be environmental, historic, socioeconomic, or institutional. Adaptation to change is understood as responses to external stimuli and is limited to a threshold by which an actor can meet their goals. Much of the current scholarship focuses on a given population’s adaptive capacity toward global climate change, however, most water policy in the western United States …

Local Knowledge And Climate Information: The Role Of Trust And Risk In Agricultural Decisions About Drought, Adam J. Snitker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change is projected to dramatically impact agricultural production across the world. Agricultural producers must adapt to changing conditions by implementing practices and utilizing knowledge that creates resilient operations. This study explores how Montana farmers and ranchers use of different types of knowledge during periods of drought and how risk perceptions and trust influence the use of knowledge. To understand the role trust and risk in producers’ use of local knowledge and climate information, I conducted five focus groups with 34 Montana agricultural producers. Producers explained that they encounter many agriculture-related risks, including uncertain forecasts, financial losses, and adverse weather. …

Through The Eyes Of Locals: A Changing Climate In Bolivia, Jacob D. Rex

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Deforestation and Agricultural Land-Use Change in Bolivia as a Function of Socio-Economic Realities.

This research combines semi-structured interviews of key informants and local participants, as well as field observations, which were conducted between January and April of 2019 in the Departments of Santa Cruz & Chuquisaca.

Following The Seed: Investigating Seed Saving And Network Creation In The Appalachian Region Of Southeastern Ohio, Molly Hicks

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Since the beginning of agriculture, seeds have been cultivated, saved, and exchanged by farmers each year to ensure the success of future crops adapted to local environments. Yet, over ninety percent of our diverse vegetable and fruit crop varieties have been lost due to the industrialization and commercialization of seeds. Industrial agriculture has caused a great homogenization of crop varieties, but locally adapted seeds and their seed savers do still exist on the fringe, and across the world. There is a small but growing body of research on agri-food networks in Western and developing countries where advocates are working to …

Why Csas Matter: (Re)Localizing For People-Based Food Networks, Gretchen Alexander

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis details the history of Claremont Market Shares, a Community Sourced Agriculture (CSA) project based out of Claremont, California. By using this project as a jumping off point for discussing local food networks, buzzwords such as "organic" and "local" are analyzed and re-defined. I argue for a people-based food network model over the currently popular 'place-based' that prioritizes producer-consumer relationships. The CSA functions as a sustainable model of this ideology.

Environmental Values Of California Winegrape Growers And The Use Of Barn Owls (Tyto Alba) As A Tool For Integrated Pest Management, Brooks R. Estes

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Landscape conversion and impacts of synthetic pesticides from agriculture pose threats to natural habitats critical to preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services. Pest management is a concern for all agriculture, and many conventional practices can negatively affect the environment through drift, runoff, and harming non-target species. Winegrapes are particularly at risk of damage from rodents, which can girdle vines and destroy root systems.

One alternative to reduce rodent numbers that has shown promise in agriculture is the use of barn owl (Tyto alba) boxes. The Johnson Lab at Humboldt State University has been researching barn owl behavior and ecology …

The Social Construction Of Understanding & Neoliberal Multiculturalism: Analysis And Critique Of The Peruvian Moratorium Gmos, T. W. Dondanville

Student Research – Stevenson Center

No abstract provided.

Rescaling Drought Mitigation In Rural Sri Lanka, Emily Burchfield, Nicholas E. Williams, Amanda Carrico

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Smallholder farmers with limited governmental and institutional support often devise innovative strategies to mitigate the impacts of water stress on agricultural production. These drought mitigation strategies can be more culturally and ecologically suitable than top-down, “technocratic,” strategies. Top-down drought mitigation approaches, however, often link farmers with significant infrastructures, financial resources, and specialized knowledge. Successful rescaling of localized mitigation practices can integrate the benefits of localized mitigation with resources available at larger scales. This paper describes the rescaling of a Sri Lankan drought mitigation practice known as bethma. We focus on the process of rescaling, specifically what is lost and …

Subsidizing Climate Change: How The Agricultural Business Is Harming Our Planet, Caroline Berejka

Student Theses 2015-Present

In exploring the concept of environmental sustainability in the modern age, it is important to look at the practices of the agriculture industry and the role of agricultural production in the multifaceted issue of climate change. The agriculture industry's overwhelming power in the US government and its resistance to moving toward more sustainable practices is an issue that the average American has little awareness of. In order to push the movement of environmental sustainability forward, it is necessary to examine the economic reasons for the slow shift towards sustainable agriculture and possible incentives for industrial farmers to modify their practices. …

No Farms No Food? A Response To Baylen Linnekin, Joshua Ulan Galperin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

You have likely seen the bumper sticker, bold white text on a green background, reading “No Farms No Food.” The sticker is a product of, and in fact a tagline for, the American Farmland Trust. On the one hand, the point is obvious: As American Farmland Trust puts it, “[e]very meal on our plates [c]ontains ingredients grown on a farm. We all need farms to survive.” On the other hand, what seems like a plain statement on its face, “no farms no food,” is not so simple. Farms produce affordable food, they produce vast quantities of food, they produce healthy …

Proposal For The Expansion Of The University Of Richmond’S Campus Garden, Ganon Hingst

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

In today’s society the growing, buying and consuming of local foods is skyrocketing in demand. It provides for a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle that the University has stated its interest in promoting. This project to expand the current community garden on campus would not only promote the University’s strives in sustainable practices, but also draw the community and campus together. This garden could produce foods that could be sold to the current dining services, and to the local community generating some profit from this community garden while also reducing the University’s spending on food for the dining hall. Furthermore, …

Food Localization: Empowering Community Food Systems Through The Farm Bill, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Brian Fink, Alexandra Schluntz

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Our intent in this Article is not to delineate foods that are local or not local, nor is it to lionize one agricultural production method over another. Rather, we hope to build on the literature that for many decades has documented how local communities have emerged as influential actors on the American food system through establishing control over local supply chains often alongside national and global supply chains. We begin with Part I, which explores how some food-system scholars have conceptualized these democratic changes occurring. We look to Thomas Lyson’s concept of civic agriculture, which attempts to move corporation-oriented communities …

Producers' Opinions On What Makes Demonstrations Effective, Brian J. Macgowan, Ajay S. Singh, Bryan Overstreet, Michael O'Donnell

Journal of Extension

Despite the widespread and long-standing use of demonstration sites in Extension, there is little empirical evidence to inform how best to design them. We report data from 513 producers in three regions of Indiana whom we surveyed about sources of information for farm management decisions, the usefulness of demonstrations, and preferences and factors that influence their attendance at demonstrations. In general, respondents had positive opinions about demonstration events and high levels of agreement regarding their usefulness. Lack of awareness of demonstrations was the greatest single factor leading to nonattendance. We provide recommendations for organizing demonstration events based on the preferences …

Rain Rituals As A Barometer Of Vulnerability In An Uncertain Climate, L. Jen Shaffer

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Researchers and aid agencies, seeking to improve their understanding of local climate change responses, adaptation, and vulnerability, frequently interact with communities around the world who strongly emphasize their religious beliefs and practices. Dismissal and misunderstandings of these local perspectives can slow assessments of local climate vulnerability and development of adaptive capacity. In this paper, I show how analysis of rain ritual failure exposes the multiple stressors Ronga communities in southern Mozambique face, and as such, serves as a proxy measure for climate vulnerability at the local level. Oral histories and targeted interviews with participating elders, local chiefs, and community members …

Atlas Of Maine: Water Bodies And Pesticide And Fertilizer Use In Maine, Rachel L. Benway

Atlas of Maine

This Atlas of Maine map displays the location of natural bodies of water - vernal pools, lakes, and ponds, and shows the relative amount of pesticide and fertilizer use on the farms in each county. By combining these sets of data, I hope to illustrate where aquatic freshwater ecosystems could have a higher potential for negative impacts resulting from run-off of these pesticides and fertilizers. The water bodies are dark blue and the vernal pools are indicated by lighter blue dots. The level of pesticide use in each county is indicated by a graduated color ramp of 6 classes, where …

Provision Of Climate Services For Agriculture: Public And Private Pathways To Farm Decision-Making, Tonya Haigh, Vikram Koundinya, Chad Hart, Jenna Klink, Maria Lemos, Amber Saylor Mase, Linda Prokopy, Ajay Singh, Dennis Todey, Melissa Widhalm

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Zoning And Complementary Incentives To Protect Farmland: A Case For Missoula County, Kaitlin Mccafferty

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Urban sprawl reflects an inefficient use of land that diminishes both rural landscapes and quality of life turning farms, ranches and open space into siloed suburban communities. This results in less walkable cities with more traffic and air pollution, among other negative consequences. Farmland constitutes a particularly important resource that often faces degradation or loss due to sprawl. Higher quality agricultural soils are particularly desirable for development because they are flat and well-drained. Farmland is also important for urban communities concerning food security, environmental health, and economic well being. As American cities continue to grow, farmland around urban areas has …

The Implications Of Group Norms For Adaptation In Collectively Managed Agricultural Systems: Evidence From Sri Lankan Paddy Farmers, Arielle Tozier De La Poterie, Emily Burchfield, Amanda R. Carrico

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

A growing literature seeks to explore the factors shaping adaptation to climate change. In collectively managed common pool resource systems, there is often a tension between behavior that benefits the individual and actions that benefit a larger group. Resource users in sustainable systems must therefore work together to ensure outcomes that are beneficial to the group as a whole. However, in the face of changing social, political, and environmental conditions, community norms may change, leading to the emerging of new behavioral patterns. Understanding when and why people decide to act in ways that benefit the group as a whole can …

Linkages Among Population, Food Production, And The Environment At Multiple Scales, Daniel Ervin Ph.D., Daniel López-Carr Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Human population, its number and distribution on our planet, has a seemingly direct linkage to how much food we consume and how we practice agriculture. How this population-foodenvironment interface manifests across the globe is complex, non-linear, and both local- and scale-dependent. This essay is an overview of the population-food-environment nexus, providing recent history and statistics on these processes at several crude scales. We include a discussion of theory, review different drivers of the population-food-environment processes, provide a global overview of population and agricultural statistics from 1970 to 2010, and discuss trends and implications for Latin America, as well as some …

Avian Diversity, Abundance, And Nest Success Among Managed Prairies And Agricultural Plots In Oklahoma And Texas, Phillip J. Leonard, Douglas R. Wood, Wayne E. Meyer

The Prairie Naturalist

Over the last 50 years, grassland birds experienced rapid declines due to habitat loss and degradation as a result of agricultural practices. Our objective was to document the diversity, abundance, and nest success of bird communities using managed prairie and agricultural plots at the Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in southern Oklahoma and Hagerman NWR in northern Texas. From April 1 to July 15, 2013–2014, point count surveys, nest searches, nest monitoring, and vegetation sampling were conducted among three habitat treatments: managed prairie, unharvested wheat, and fallow agricultural plots. Species richness values for potential nesting species were higher in managed …

Local Ag Research Published, Sally Jongsma

The Voice

No abstract provided.

Learning On The Ground: Seeing Agriculture Through The Eyes Of Farmers, Aleisa Dornbierer-Schat

The Voice

No abstract provided.

Food For Thought: Analyzing The Impacts Of Livestock Factory Farming In The United States, Mallory Russo

Student Theses 2015-Present

The practice of large scale factory farming in the United States has raised moral and ethical questions since its establishment in the mid twentieth century. Though a relatively modern development in the field of agribusiness, factory farming has already accounted for drastic damage to both public and environmental health. Factory farming requires the unsustainable use of resources, gives off toxic waste, and poses a serious threat to public health. This paper aims the further analyze those damages, as well as investigate the lack of transparency and political corruption carried out by factory farm industry leaders. Major factory farming companies have …

Financial Assessment Of Agricultural Lands At Risk To Coastal Salt Marsh Migration In Relation To Climate Change Induced Sea Level Rise In Dorchester County, Maryland, Jewell Porter

Sustainability and Social Justice

The increasing rate and effects of sea level rise is a major environmental concern in the Chesapeake Bay. This paper evaluates the impacts of rising sea level on coastal salt marshes and the surrounding agricultural lands at risk in Dorchester County, Maryland to build off existing environmental monitoring work performed by NOAA’s Sentinel Site Program. The results of the spatial analysis were used to estimate monetary benefits to incentivize farmers to protect these marshes by making their land available for marsh migration to occur. Looking at three scenarios of sea level rise and marsh migration, grain crops (corn, soybeans, and …

Home On The Market Range: A Land Feasibility Analysis For Large-Scale Bison Farming, Skylar Peyton

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

The current beef industry is unsustainable and destructive. Battling against increasing industrialization, new options are being assessed. Bison, being equal in carcass weight but different in land use, sustainability, and labor, seems like a positive option. However, is there enough land to support an equal number of bison? To answer this question, interviews and research materials were used to create a land feasibility analysis. It found that 69% of the focus area, mostly in the Dakotas, could convert and be as productive as current beef producers. Feedlots present an issue since they are acreage-efficient, but the final conclusion remains that …

Mapping A Home Where The Buffalo Roam, Skylar Peyton

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

The beef industry has increasingly become unsustainable, relying heavily on trucking and corn-based feed. Bison seems like a positive alternative due to labor, gestation, and carcass weight. This project explored the land usage, carrying capacity, and potential land barriers for large-scale bison farming in the Upper Midwest. The results found that almost 70% of the study area could switch to bison and maintain or increase productivity. North and South Dakota showed the most potential while Nebraska showed the least. This could be due to the acreage-efficiency found in feedlots. The final conclusion is that land is not a barrier for …

Soil Phosphorous Accumulation Following 12 Years Of Biosolids Application To Continuous Corn Cropping System In Cenral Minnesota, Skylar Peyton

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Since 2003, a small, private wastewater treatment facility for Saint John’s University located in Collegeville, MN has utilized a nearby agricultural field to routinely dispose of its Class B biosolids. The field soil textures range from sandy loam to loamy sand and have been managed under continuous corn (Zea mays L.) production since 2003. Repeated land applications of biosolids to this field has led to extractable phosphorus (P) (Bray-1) soil test values to accumulate beyond state-mandated levels for continued land application. The objective of this research was to quantify a general P budget in this cropping system based on previous …

The Relationship Between Urbanization And Eutrophication In Lake Dianchi Watershed In Kunming, China, Xiaoyu Yin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Due to the rapid economic growth in China, urban area in the City of Kunming has expanded overwhelmingly since 1970s along with dramatic population growth in Kunming. However, the source of drinking water that people of Kunming has depended on, Lake Dianchi, has been seriously polluted since 1990s. I looked at peer-reviewed literature and categorized them based on type of research method. After collecting and analyzing data from literature, the reverse relationship between urbanization and water quality in Lake Dianchi was concluded; the sources of phosphorus load to Lake Dianchi were mainly from human and agricultural activities.

Eating Is Not Political Action, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Graham Downey, D. Lee Miller

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Food and environment are cultural stalwarts. Picture the red barn and solitary farmer toiling over fruited plains; or purple mountains majesty reflected in pristine waters. Agriculture and environment are core, distinct, American mythologies that we know are more intertwined than our stories reveal.

To create policy at the interface of such centrally important and overlapping American ideals, there are two options. Passive governance fosters markets in which participants make individual choices that aggregate into inadvertent collective action. In contrast, assertive governance allows the public, mediated through elected officials, to enact intentional, goal oriented policy.

American mythologies of food and environment …