Authors:Ishwari Bisht Pages: 1–4 - 1–4 Abstract: First paragraph: In India, traditional agriculture has historically been a subsistence-oriented, labor-intensive, closed-loop, and varied production system. Farming has long formed the foundation of the rural economy and served as a means of subsistence for local communities. Until a few decades ago, rural youth were actively choosing farming as a career, serving as the main workforce in a variety of agricultural enterprises. However, most of today’s youth do not want to work in low-value agriculture. Instead, they migrate to urban areas, within or outside of their home states where there are not many opportunities for quality work, social services, or protection. Responding to these constraints through more inclusive changes in rural areas and through the alignment of rural-urban linkages is a significant challenge. It is crucial to look at opportunities and address obstacles in order to ensure that agriculture is economically viable and provides year-round employment for young people in rural India. . . . PubDate: 2023-11-22 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.012 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Walter Goldstein Pages: 1–20 - 1–20 Abstract: This paper describes decades of research developing a new type of corn (maize) cultivar that utilizes partnerships with seed-borne, bacterial endophytes to create environmentally friendly, nutritious corn that is better adapted to organic farming. Over time the project engaged and formed multiple, evolving networks of corn breeders and other scientists, organic farmers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), private companies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), and state agricultural universities in several states. It addressed and partly resolved the need for developing (a) yield-competitive hybrids with greater nutrient density (methionine and minerals), (b) better adapted inbreds for organic production conditions, and (c) reduced pollution from nitrogen fertilizers. The partnership approach taken also differs from usual top-down mechanistic breeding approaches in that the methods of breeding entailed holistic attention, learning, and respect for what turned out to be corn plants evolving in symbiogenesis with beneficial microbial partners. Initial studies indicate that the resulting corn from the program is competitive in yield but has better nutritional value. It obtains more of its nitrogen from microbial biomass and organic matter and nitrogen fixation than does conventional corn. Its performance partially depends on seed-borne plant/microbial partnerships. This corn continues to be developed at the Mandaamin Institute but is also being commercially introduced for testing by farmers. PubDate: 2023-11-17 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.011 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Samuel Ikendi, Francis Owusu, Dorothy Masinde, Ann Oberhauser, Carmen Bain Pages: 1–7 - 1–7 Abstract: First paragraph: Nutritional health is a core aspect of sustainable development. Globally, progress has been made in reducing child stunting and promoting exclusive breastfeeding; nevertheless, anemia, malnourishment of mothers and children, and general food insecurity are still persistent, requiring multifaceted approaches to address those challenges (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO] et al., 2022). Uganda, the location of this case study, adopted both global and regional strategies. For example, Uganda is a signatory to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targeting an end to all forms of malnutrition by 2030 (United Nations, 2015). Regionally, Uganda is also a signatory to the 2014 Malabo Declaration, which aimed at enhancing food production and reducing malnutrition by 2025 (African Union, 2014). The Uganda Nutrition Action Plan I (UNAP) of 2011-2016 made gains in reducing child stunting from 33% to 29% and wasting from 5% to 4%. However, mothers and children’s malnourishment persists (Office of the Prime Minister [OPM], 2020). The UNAP II 2020-2025 targets reducing malnutrition by leveraging collaborations to improve the functionality of nutrition intervention programs (OPM, 2020). . . . PubDate: 2023-11-17 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.010 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Samuel Ikendi, Francis Owusu, Dorothy Masinde, Ann Oberhauser, Carmen Bain Pages: 1–31 - 1–31 Abstract: Food and nutrition security projections from global to household levels show that the future requires multifaceted approaches to achieve desired goals. In Uganda, the government has tried several strategies to promote food production, including a public-private partnership with Iowa State University through its Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods. In this comparative study, we surveyed 454 households to explore whether participation in livelihood education programs (LEPs) impact household food security. We also determine which LEPs and household characteristics influence food security. Overall, 46.3% of the surveyed households were food secure, while the remaining were insecure or extremely insecure. Significantly, 51.0% of LEP participants were more food secure, compared to 35.5% of nonparticipants. Specific LEPs including agronomy and postharvest technologies, and livestock integration significantly influence food security, but less so for programs on nutrition and infant feeding, water supply and public health, complementary services like therapeutic porridge and assistance with immunization, and income innovations. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that the household characteristics of keeping livestock and the number of meals eaten during periods of scarcity, influenced households having more food security than insecurity or extreme insecurity. Households participating in LEPs, having larger acreage of land, and having clean water and sanitation facilities were more food secure. The time taken to fetch water, days of illness of male adults, and belonging to community social groups, also influence the level of household food security. Based on these findings, we recommend that households should participate in LEPs to build their capacity to manage crop and livestock production, and also to acquire knowledge of nutrition and feeding, public health, and income innovations. PubDate: 2023-11-17 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.009 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Maria DeNunzio, Elena Serrano, Vivica Kraak, Melissa Chase, Sarah Misyak Pages: 1–19 - 1–19 Abstract: Underserved communities, including those of Black, Indigenous, and people of color, experience unequal access to food systems resources and programming. Community health workers are lay public health workers from underserved communities who provide basic health services and culturally sensitive education while bridging social services and community needs. The objective of this study was to determine if a community health worker model was feasible to deliver garden-based food systems programming with underserved Black, Indigenous, and communities of color for Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE). Twenty-nine individuals from different programming areas and positions within VCE participated in semi-structured interviews using video-conferencing (Zoom) in 2021. Interviews were coded and analyzed with thematic analysis. The study found that the community health worker model is feasible for garden-based food systems programming for VCE. Themes identified include the fit of the community health worker model for VCE, cultural humility, and logistics. The community health worker model has potential to expand culturally relevant food systems programming and increase inclusion in VCE. Garden-based food systems programming with a community health worker model may create opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. The community health worker model is fit to advance the community well-being values of VCE through inclusive food systems programming. Food systems community organizations can use this study as a template to evaluate potential new community health worker positions for expansion of inclusive food systems programming. PubDate: 2023-11-06 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.005 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Lianna Gomori-Ruben, Chantal Reid Pages: 1–22 - 1–22 Abstract: Agriculture models predicated upon producing monocultures for export have proven unsustainable. In response, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has called for nations to produce food agroecologically in alignment with natural ecosystems. The FAO identified women as critical yet underrepresented leaders in agroecology projects worldwide. Prior research about agroecology and women farmers has primarily been situated in low-income nations. This study examines women farming in the United States as a high-income nation to analyze if their practices align with agroecology using the FAO’s 10 Elements of Agroecology and the FAO’s Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE). A mixed-methods case study design was used to collect web-based survey and interview data from 87 participants. We found that the participating women farmers tended to lead agroecological farming projects that provide direct nutritional, environmental, educational, and social services to their communities in alignment with elements of agroecology. Ninety percent of participants operated farms at 100 acres (405 hectares) or less that mostly used direct sales models (farmers markets, community supported agriculture operations [CSAs], farm stands, and online sales), and half of participants offered opportunities for intergenerational engagement. These practices align with the FAO’s elements of Diversity, Co-creation and Sharing of Knowledge, Resilience, Human and Social Values, Culture and Food Traditions, and a Circular and Solidarity Economy. Environmentally, participants emphasized using practices for crop diversity, building soil health, and integrating animals in alignment with the FAO elements of Diversity, Synergies, Recycling, and Resilience. Farm size and region were significant in the prevalence of agroecological practices. Farms of 50–100 acres (202–405 hectares) were most likely to integrate animals, and farms in the Southeast were most likely to identify with conventional agricultural practices. Our data show that women-led farms in the U.S. align with sustainable agricultural practices as articulated by the FAO and, as in low-income nations, women play a valuable role in advancing a national agroecological transition. PubDate: 2023-11-06 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.003 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Natasha Bunzl Pages: 1–3 - 1–3 Abstract: First paragraph: In 2012, for the first time, two of Slow Food’s major events shared a single space and ticket: The Salone del Gusto, a large commercial food fair, and Terra Madre, a political conference that brings together a worldwide network of small farmers, food producers, activists, and scholars dedicated to biodiversity and “participatory democracy.” In the penultimate chapter of Valeria Siniscalchi’s monograph Slow Food: The Economy and Politics of a Global Movement, she uses the relationship between these two simultaneous flagship events to explore a dichotomy that her entire book grapples with: is Slow Food more about “the market” or “the community”' “Competition” or “mutuality”' “Politics” or “economics” (p. 203)' Siniscalchi’s answer is that Slow Food, the international organization that encompasses an events team, a publishing house, a university, a national and international political structure, and more, is about all of the above. In the case of Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre, she argues that if at first these two events seem contradictory, they are actually “complementary spaces presenting ways to create new economic forms, to imagine a new economic order and to determine new food policies” (p. 204). Slow Food is thus hard to pin down, and Siniscalchi argues that anyone trying to do so misses the point: Slow Food contains “two visions with different approaches to the social reproduction of the movement” (p. 222) and the coexistence of these visions is the point. From the start, she is interested in exploring the “opacity of this object” (p. 1), and from her unique position of access, she is able to respect its unknowable quality while still bringing the inner dynamics to light. . . . PubDate: 2023-11-02 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.006 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Meagan Shedd, Rachel Kelly Pages: 1–21 - 1–21 Abstract: Although there is a wealth of research on farm-to-school programs (FTS), less has been published about farm to early care and education programs (ECE). This paper examines the results of participating in a farm-to-ECE procurement pilot program on provider practices across the three core elements of farm to ECE: (1) purchasing, (2) gardening, and (3) nutrition and education activities. In order to address the geographic and funding constraints of an existing procurement pilot, Michigan offered an expansion of this model so that ECE sites could take part in a learning collaborative. They did this by examining the effectiveness of evidence-based practices in obtaining locally grown foods from a variety of sources among ECE sites, for statewide replication. Participation included self-assessment of learning environments using a nationally available, validated instrument to determine pre- to post-test changes in farm-to-ECE practices and what, if any, changes in practices might have occurred for those participating in the procurement pilot, with the goal of sharing what was learned statewide. Key findings include improvements of statistical significance from pre-test to post-test and changes in best practices among participants using Go NAPSACC, with the top three most improved practices involving garden-based practices. The role of self-assessment, funding, and limitations are discussed, along with implications for practice and further research. PubDate: 2023-10-26 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.007 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Sheridan Rabbitt, Ian Lilley, Simon Albert, Joelle Albert, Ian Tibbetts Pages: 1–17 - 1–17 Abstract: Feeding a growing global population is one of the most significant challenges currently facing society. Global malnutrition rates remain high, and tackling this problem in the context of global population growth and ecosystem declines will require concerted effort across many sectors. Fish has been suggested as key to addressing high rates of malnutrition in the South Pacific region, given that it is a rich source of highly bioavailable micronutrients and is common in traditional diets. Unfortunately, there are predictions that fish catch in this region may decline by more than 20% in the coming decades, threatening food and nutritional security. Women are key to breaking the cycle of malnutrition and play important roles in small-scale coastal fisheries in the South Pacific. This study assessed women’s dietary diversity and the importance of fresh fish to women’s diets in a rural coastal community in Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands, over four sampling periods. We found that women’s dietary diversity in the community was low (mean MDD-W = 3.03 ± 0.06) and that fresh fish was consumed by more than 70% of the women surveyed in three of the four sampling periods. Our results showed some seasonal differences in dietary diversity, highlighting the importance of sampling across seasons to better capture true nutrition. We consider these results in the context of community-based fisheries management and argue for the need to improve fisheries management by including consideration of women’s fishing and promoting the importance of fish to human health. PubDate: 2023-10-23 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.004 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
Authors:Chelsea Rozanski, Michael Gavin Pages: 1–20 - 1–20 Abstract: The food landscape of Calgary, Canada, is sown with an abundance of polycultures. Alongside place-specific Indigenous foodways are food rescue, banking, and hamper programs, food studies scholars, a City of Calgary food resilience plan, and a growing number of alternative food network producers. Within the local alternative food network, there has been a boom in advancing indoor growing for our colder climate, including container, aquaponic, vertical hydroponic, and greenhouse growing. Situated as an agrarian ethnographer and an urban regenerative farmer, we seek to highlight the viability of agricultural techniques that are in relation with the land to grow more socially and ecologically sustainable food and farm systems in and around Calgary. From this position, we formed a collaboration between the University of Calgary, Root and Regenerate Urban Farms, and the Young Agrarians to document the cultivation process for a production urban farm. Over the course of one growing season—May to September, 2021—we harvested approximately 7,000 lbs (3,175 kg) of produce across nine urban spaces totaling 0.26 acres. The 48 vegetable varieties were distributed to 35 community supported agriculture shareholders, weekly farmers market customers, restaurant chefs, and members of the YYC Growers and Distributors cooperative. Moreover, we donated 765 lbs (347 kg) of surplus produce to the Calgary Community Fridge, Calgary Food Bank, and the Alex Community Food Centre, which work to mitigate food insecurity. Through a reflexive practitioner approach, our reflective essay discusses the benefits and limitations of Small Plot Intensive Farming methods and urban land-sharing strategies, as well as the viability of land-based urban agriculture in a rapidly changing socio-ecological climate. Our paper also demonstrates the potential for transcending siloed approaches to knowledge-making vis-à-vis experiential learning partnerships between graduate student researchers, farmers, and agricultural organizations. PubDate: 2023-10-09 DOI: 10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.002 Issue No:Vol. 13, No. 1 (2023)
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