Paul Weirich (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195326864
- eISBN:
- 9780199870325
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326864.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Many countries, such as countries in the European Union, require that food labels announce genetically modified (GM) ingredients. The United States does not require such labeling. Which labeling ...
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Many countries, such as countries in the European Union, require that food labels announce genetically modified (GM) ingredients. The United States does not require such labeling. Which labeling policy is best? An answer must explore a complex web of topics including the science of genetic modification, the benefits of agbiotechnology, and labeling's effects on commerce. This book surveys various labeling policies and the cases for them. It is the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment of the debate about labeling genetically modified food.When polled, consumers say that they want to know whether their food contains GM ingredients, just as many want to know whether their food is natural or organic. Informing consumers is a major motivation for labeling. Consumers who want GM-free products will pay a premium to support voluntary labeling. Labeling need not be mandatory.GM foods are tested to ensure safety and have been on the market for more than a decade. Still, many consumers, including some with food allergies, want to be cautious. Also, despite tests for environmental impact, some consumers may worry that GM crops will adversely effect the environment.GM food currently on the market comes primarily from plants. Meat and dairy products from GM animals are under development. These new foods make the welfare of animals an issue relevant to the debate about labeling. Labeling gives consumers an important voice concerning biotechnology's application to food production.Less
Many countries, such as countries in the European Union, require that food labels announce genetically modified (GM) ingredients. The United States does not require such labeling. Which labeling policy is best? An answer must explore a complex web of topics including the science of genetic modification, the benefits of agbiotechnology, and labeling's effects on commerce. This book surveys various labeling policies and the cases for them. It is the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment of the debate about labeling genetically modified food.
When polled, consumers say that they want to know whether their food contains GM ingredients, just as many want to know whether their food is natural or organic. Informing consumers is a major motivation for labeling. Consumers who want GM-free products will pay a premium to support voluntary labeling. Labeling need not be mandatory.
GM foods are tested to ensure safety and have been on the market for more than a decade. Still, many consumers, including some with food allergies, want to be cautious. Also, despite tests for environmental impact, some consumers may worry that GM crops will adversely effect the environment.
GM food currently on the market comes primarily from plants. Meat and dairy products from GM animals are under development. These new foods make the welfare of animals an issue relevant to the debate about labeling. Labeling gives consumers an important voice concerning biotechnology's application to food production.
Jean Drèze
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198286363
- eISBN:
- 9780191718458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198286363.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter focuses on the success stories of famine prevention in a number of African countries, such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, and Bostswana, that had received little attention from the ...
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This chapter focuses on the success stories of famine prevention in a number of African countries, such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, and Bostswana, that had received little attention from the international community. Public policy, by providing direct public support to the population in times of crisis, was key to this famine prevention success; neither higher economic growth, nor accelerated growth of agriculture, nor the rapid expansion of food production were by themselves adequate safeguards against famine. These African experiences offer ample lessons, including the importance of entitlement protection systems, initiative, and conduct of emergency operations by local or national institutions; the dependence of early response on political considerations, efficacy of cash support, interconnections between private trade and public distribution, and diversification of economic activities.Less
This chapter focuses on the success stories of famine prevention in a number of African countries, such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, and Bostswana, that had received little attention from the international community. Public policy, by providing direct public support to the population in times of crisis, was key to this famine prevention success; neither higher economic growth, nor accelerated growth of agriculture, nor the rapid expansion of food production were by themselves adequate safeguards against famine. These African experiences offer ample lessons, including the importance of entitlement protection systems, initiative, and conduct of emergency operations by local or national institutions; the dependence of early response on political considerations, efficacy of cash support, interconnections between private trade and public distribution, and diversification of economic activities.
Meghnad Desai
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198286363
- eISBN:
- 9780191718458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198286363.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
There exists a general consensus for the need of ‘early warning systems’ for policy makers' prompt response to impending famines. But since famines occur for a variety of reasons and a famine's ...
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There exists a general consensus for the need of ‘early warning systems’ for policy makers' prompt response to impending famines. But since famines occur for a variety of reasons and a famine's influence on the economic system is varied, a formal early warning is difficult. This chapter argues that famines develop from initial shocks and the underlying dynamic process can help to devise an early warning system. Past data on famine-prone regions can be used as a basis to build appropriate warning systems. An early warning system should be accompanied by a policy response system that considers factors such as institutional structure, national and international politics, and the recent history of the area.Less
There exists a general consensus for the need of ‘early warning systems’ for policy makers' prompt response to impending famines. But since famines occur for a variety of reasons and a famine's influence on the economic system is varied, a formal early warning is difficult. This chapter argues that famines develop from initial shocks and the underlying dynamic process can help to devise an early warning system. Past data on famine-prone regions can be used as a basis to build appropriate warning systems. An early warning system should be accompanied by a policy response system that considers factors such as institutional structure, national and international politics, and the recent history of the area.
Tamar Lasky (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195172638
- eISBN:
- 9780199865727
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195172638.001.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This book details the various ways in which epidemiologic methods can improve food safety. Starting with a history and background of food-borne illness, the book continues by describing the means of ...
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This book details the various ways in which epidemiologic methods can improve food safety. Starting with a history and background of food-borne illness, the book continues by describing the means of investigating an outbreak and measuring exposure, and concludes by looking at the regulatory context in the United States.Less
This book details the various ways in which epidemiologic methods can improve food safety. Starting with a history and background of food-borne illness, the book continues by describing the means of investigating an outbreak and measuring exposure, and concludes by looking at the regulatory context in the United States.
R. Ford Denison
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691139500
- eISBN:
- 9781400842810
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691139500.003.0002
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter considers some of the challenges that agriculture is facing now or will face in the near future, including resource-use efficiency and food security. It begins with a discussion of the ...
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This chapter considers some of the challenges that agriculture is facing now or will face in the near future, including resource-use efficiency and food security. It begins with a discussion of the goals of agriculture, such as improving productivity (yield per acre, to use no more land than necessary), efficiency in the use of scarce resources (to use no more water than necessary, for example), stability over years (to prevent even occasional famines), and sustainability (to maintain all of these benefits over the long term). It then examines the effects of agriculture on everyone, not just farmers, as well as agriculture's underlying long-term problems such as those relating to food supply, food production, and transportation. It also looks at threats to sustainability, particularly those farming practices that lead to long-term decreases in crop yield. Finally, it offers suggestions for limiting the negative environmental impact of agriculture.Less
This chapter considers some of the challenges that agriculture is facing now or will face in the near future, including resource-use efficiency and food security. It begins with a discussion of the goals of agriculture, such as improving productivity (yield per acre, to use no more land than necessary), efficiency in the use of scarce resources (to use no more water than necessary, for example), stability over years (to prevent even occasional famines), and sustainability (to maintain all of these benefits over the long term). It then examines the effects of agriculture on everyone, not just farmers, as well as agriculture's underlying long-term problems such as those relating to food supply, food production, and transportation. It also looks at threats to sustainability, particularly those farming practices that lead to long-term decreases in crop yield. Finally, it offers suggestions for limiting the negative environmental impact of agriculture.
Robert Wuthnow
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691146119
- eISBN:
- 9781400836246
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691146119.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter examines the changing face of agribusiness in the Middle West. It explains how agribusiness transformed large sections of the Middle West during the last third of the twentieth century ...
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This chapter examines the changing face of agribusiness in the Middle West. It explains how agribusiness transformed large sections of the Middle West during the last third of the twentieth century and was reshaped as it became part of a global food production and marketing system. The transformation was particularly evident in the region's increasing emphasis on packaged-food production, ranging from frozen dinners for wholesale and retail markets to boxed beef and poultry for fast-food franchises. Commercial feedlots, animal-slaughtering facilities, and poultry-processing and meatpacking plants appeared with increasing frequency in southwest Kansas, western Oklahoma, central and eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, parts of Minnesota and South Dakota, and northwestern Arkansas. The chapter considers why small towns provided an attractive venue for large agriculture-related businesses in the Middle West. It looks at the case of Garden City, Kansas, to illustrate the long-term as well as recent developments in heartland agribusiness.Less
This chapter examines the changing face of agribusiness in the Middle West. It explains how agribusiness transformed large sections of the Middle West during the last third of the twentieth century and was reshaped as it became part of a global food production and marketing system. The transformation was particularly evident in the region's increasing emphasis on packaged-food production, ranging from frozen dinners for wholesale and retail markets to boxed beef and poultry for fast-food franchises. Commercial feedlots, animal-slaughtering facilities, and poultry-processing and meatpacking plants appeared with increasing frequency in southwest Kansas, western Oklahoma, central and eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, parts of Minnesota and South Dakota, and northwestern Arkansas. The chapter considers why small towns provided an attractive venue for large agriculture-related businesses in the Middle West. It looks at the case of Garden City, Kansas, to illustrate the long-term as well as recent developments in heartland agribusiness.
Tim Lang, David Barling, and Martin Caraher
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780198567882
- eISBN:
- 9780191724121
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567882.003.0006
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter explores the environmental impacts of food production and contemporary supply chains, and the policy responses that have emerged to address these impacts. These policy responses are ...
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This chapter explores the environmental impacts of food production and contemporary supply chains, and the policy responses that have emerged to address these impacts. These policy responses are still quite hesitant and the environmental impacts are still unfolding as we complete the first decade of the new millennium. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has warned that fifteen out of the twenty-four of the world's ecosystem services are being degraded or used unsustainably. Climate change is bringing in its wake sudden and unexpected variations in climate resulting in weather extremes in terms of severe drought or storms and flooding, which can decimate harvests and widen the spread of insect-borne animal disease dislocating upon food supply. The impacts of dislocated food supply affect the poorest nations and the poorest within individual national economies most severely.Less
This chapter explores the environmental impacts of food production and contemporary supply chains, and the policy responses that have emerged to address these impacts. These policy responses are still quite hesitant and the environmental impacts are still unfolding as we complete the first decade of the new millennium. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has warned that fifteen out of the twenty-four of the world's ecosystem services are being degraded or used unsustainably. Climate change is bringing in its wake sudden and unexpected variations in climate resulting in weather extremes in terms of severe drought or storms and flooding, which can decimate harvests and widen the spread of insect-borne animal disease dislocating upon food supply. The impacts of dislocated food supply affect the poorest nations and the poorest within individual national economies most severely.
Annalee Yassi, Tord Kjellström, Theo de Kok, and Tee L. Guidotti
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195135589
- eISBN:
- 9780199864102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195135589.003.0007
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter focuses on food and agriculture. Topics discussed include health and nutrition, foodborne diseases and food poisoning, food quality criteria, food quality assurance, global food ...
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This chapter focuses on food and agriculture. Topics discussed include health and nutrition, foodborne diseases and food poisoning, food quality criteria, food quality assurance, global food production capacity and food security, and environmental and occupational health hazards in agriculture.Less
This chapter focuses on food and agriculture. Topics discussed include health and nutrition, foodborne diseases and food poisoning, food quality criteria, food quality assurance, global food production capacity and food security, and environmental and occupational health hazards in agriculture.
R. Ford Denison
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691139500
- eISBN:
- 9781400842810
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691139500.003.0012
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter summarizes the book's main conclusions and cautions against exclusive reliance on any single approach. The book's central thesis is that nature's wisdom is found primarily in ...
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This chapter summarizes the book's main conclusions and cautions against exclusive reliance on any single approach. The book's central thesis is that nature's wisdom is found primarily in competitively tested individual adaptations, in wild species and sometimes still in cultivated ones, rather than in the overall structure of natural ecosystems. It notes how some biotechnology advocates underestimate the perfection of existing individual adaptations and suggests that most near-term opportunities for genetic improvement of crops or livestock will involve tradeoffs that had constrained natural selection in the past. The chapter considers two basic approaches to the problem of varying environments: phenotypic plasticity and bet-hedging. It also discusses bet-hedging in food production, the bet-hedging benefits of organic farming and animal agriculture, and the use of diversity for bet-hedging in agricultural research. Finally, it describes traditional agricultural sciences that have been more receptive to input from evolutionary biology than biotechnology has.Less
This chapter summarizes the book's main conclusions and cautions against exclusive reliance on any single approach. The book's central thesis is that nature's wisdom is found primarily in competitively tested individual adaptations, in wild species and sometimes still in cultivated ones, rather than in the overall structure of natural ecosystems. It notes how some biotechnology advocates underestimate the perfection of existing individual adaptations and suggests that most near-term opportunities for genetic improvement of crops or livestock will involve tradeoffs that had constrained natural selection in the past. The chapter considers two basic approaches to the problem of varying environments: phenotypic plasticity and bet-hedging. It also discusses bet-hedging in food production, the bet-hedging benefits of organic farming and animal agriculture, and the use of diversity for bet-hedging in agricultural research. Finally, it describes traditional agricultural sciences that have been more receptive to input from evolutionary biology than biotechnology has.
Alan F. Wilt
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198208716
- eISBN:
- 9780191717024
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208716.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This introductory chapter describes the book's aim to attempt to recognize food and agriculture as significant factors in Britain during the 1930s, not as elements standing apart from identified ...
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This introductory chapter describes the book's aim to attempt to recognize food and agriculture as significant factors in Britain during the 1930s, not as elements standing apart from identified major issues. They also deserve to be part of the historical discourse. The relationship between food, agriculture and rearmament should be analysed as important in its own right because it provides additional insights into the decade. The end goal is to add to the understanding of the relationship between food production, processing, distribution, and consumption on the one hand, and rearmament as broadly conceived on the other. Knowing how the government planned to handle food and agriculture if war should break out as well as the extent to which the public was informed about these plans, should broaden the appreciation of many issues Britain faced in the 1930s.Less
This introductory chapter describes the book's aim to attempt to recognize food and agriculture as significant factors in Britain during the 1930s, not as elements standing apart from identified major issues. They also deserve to be part of the historical discourse. The relationship between food, agriculture and rearmament should be analysed as important in its own right because it provides additional insights into the decade. The end goal is to add to the understanding of the relationship between food production, processing, distribution, and consumption on the one hand, and rearmament as broadly conceived on the other. Knowing how the government planned to handle food and agriculture if war should break out as well as the extent to which the public was informed about these plans, should broaden the appreciation of many issues Britain faced in the 1930s.
Glenn Yago and Susanne Trimbath
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195149234
- eISBN:
- 9780199871865
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195149238.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
This chapter investigates industrial restructuring in the slow‐growing food industry in the USA, asking why an industry with a growth factor of less than 1% flourishes in a world in which companies ...
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This chapter investigates industrial restructuring in the slow‐growing food industry in the USA, asking why an industry with a growth factor of less than 1% flourishes in a world in which companies strive for growth rates of 10% or more. It first looks at the industrial composition (sectoral distribution) of the Fortune 500 [the largest 500 companies in the US as listed by Fortune Magazine, on the basis of publicly available data], and at the industrial restructuring that occurred in the 1980s in the US economy, showing a breakdown of consumer products into cyclical and noncyclical groups. The food industry is in the noncyclical group, which increased its share of revenues while decreasing its share of companies in the Fortune 500. Other sections of the chapter look at the following: consolidation through mergers and acquisitions; financial innovations – the ability to use public markets for leveraged financing and a possibly more heavy reliance (of noncyclical companies) on high‐yield bond financing (for which evidence is presented); the financing of biotechnology for food production and the associated structural change in production; the impact of the combination of high‐yield financing and high tech in the food industry; and foreign and international influences.Less
This chapter investigates industrial restructuring in the slow‐growing food industry in the USA, asking why an industry with a growth factor of less than 1% flourishes in a world in which companies strive for growth rates of 10% or more. It first looks at the industrial composition (sectoral distribution) of the Fortune 500 [the largest 500 companies in the US as listed by Fortune Magazine, on the basis of publicly available data], and at the industrial restructuring that occurred in the 1980s in the US economy, showing a breakdown of consumer products into cyclical and noncyclical groups. The food industry is in the noncyclical group, which increased its share of revenues while decreasing its share of companies in the Fortune 500. Other sections of the chapter look at the following: consolidation through mergers and acquisitions; financial innovations – the ability to use public markets for leveraged financing and a possibly more heavy reliance (of noncyclical companies) on high‐yield bond financing (for which evidence is presented); the financing of biotechnology for food production and the associated structural change in production; the impact of the combination of high‐yield financing and high tech in the food industry; and foreign and international influences.
E. WAYNE NAFZIGER and JUHA AUVINEN
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198297390
- eISBN:
- 9780191685323
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198297390.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter examines the results of econometric studies concerning the causes of humanitarian emergencies. The findings reveal that stagnation and decline in real gross domestic product (GDP), slow ...
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This chapter examines the results of econometric studies concerning the causes of humanitarian emergencies. The findings reveal that stagnation and decline in real gross domestic product (GDP), slow growth in average food production, high income inequality, and a tradition of violent conflict are sources of emergencies. This chapter discusses the political economy of complex humanitarian emergencies, multi-dimensional crisis characterised by warfare, disease, hunger, and displacement.Less
This chapter examines the results of econometric studies concerning the causes of humanitarian emergencies. The findings reveal that stagnation and decline in real gross domestic product (GDP), slow growth in average food production, high income inequality, and a tradition of violent conflict are sources of emergencies. This chapter discusses the political economy of complex humanitarian emergencies, multi-dimensional crisis characterised by warfare, disease, hunger, and displacement.
Tim Lang, David Barling, and Martin Caraher
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780198567882
- eISBN:
- 9780191724121
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567882.003.0005
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter explores how and why the food system has the shape it does, in order to assess whether and how the various food sectors are rising to the ecological public health challenge; and if not, ...
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This chapter explores how and why the food system has the shape it does, in order to assess whether and how the various food sectors are rising to the ecological public health challenge; and if not, how to encourage or make them do so. For decades, food producers have been locked into demands to increase output and to produce whatever they do more cheaply. Now, from health, environmental and societal interests, different urgent messages emanate, but can food businesses engage? Some argue that they can and must, which others claim that they cannot and are locked-in.Less
This chapter explores how and why the food system has the shape it does, in order to assess whether and how the various food sectors are rising to the ecological public health challenge; and if not, how to encourage or make them do so. For decades, food producers have been locked into demands to increase output and to produce whatever they do more cheaply. Now, from health, environmental and societal interests, different urgent messages emanate, but can food businesses engage? Some argue that they can and must, which others claim that they cannot and are locked-in.
Felicity Savage King and Ann Burgess
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780192622334
- eISBN:
- 9780191723643
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192622334.003.0023
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter discusses food paths. Food paths are the ‘paths’ travelled foods from the places they are produced to the people who eat them. Topics covered include factors that alter the amounts of ...
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This chapter discusses food paths. Food paths are the ‘paths’ travelled foods from the places they are produced to the people who eat them. Topics covered include factors that alter the amounts of food travelling along food paths, different stages of the food path, obstacles to food production by family farmers, increasing food production, and helping people buy enough food.Less
This chapter discusses food paths. Food paths are the ‘paths’ travelled foods from the places they are produced to the people who eat them. Topics covered include factors that alter the amounts of food travelling along food paths, different stages of the food path, obstacles to food production by family farmers, increasing food production, and helping people buy enough food.
Sinan Koont
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813037578
- eISBN:
- 9780813042114
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813037578.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This book examines one of the first and most successful large-scale, organic, and agroecological urban agriculture efforts currently being attempted in the world, namely, in Cuba. This trailblazing ...
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This book examines one of the first and most successful large-scale, organic, and agroecological urban agriculture efforts currently being attempted in the world, namely, in Cuba. This trailblazing role was forced upon Cuba by historical circumstances. Cuba's food-production system, based on large State Farms, collapsed after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Eastern European socialism in the early 1990s. By 1994, Cuban food intake from all sources had fallen to 1863 calories per day per person. The Cuban response to this “food crisis” was to start producing food near cities to avoid transportation and storage costs (and without using petrochemicals). In vegetable production, for example, there was a thousand-fold increase in urban output in the decade following 1994. After examining the historical background of the Cuban turn to urban agriculture, the book considers the organizational, technical, political, scientific, educational, and policy-based foundations of this effort. Separate chapters address the government-guided organization of this sector; the research and development efforts in science and technology; the training, education, and input-provision processes; and the material and moral incentive structures that led to success. Further chapters discuss 1) some Cuban urban-agricultural examples, based on field visits by the author; and 2) overall production and distribution outcomes, as well as other effects in the community, the environment, and employment. A concluding chapter considers what lessons or conclusions can be drawn from the experience of the last fifteen years, not only for Cuba itself, but also for others interested in sustainable urban-food production.Less
This book examines one of the first and most successful large-scale, organic, and agroecological urban agriculture efforts currently being attempted in the world, namely, in Cuba. This trailblazing role was forced upon Cuba by historical circumstances. Cuba's food-production system, based on large State Farms, collapsed after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and Eastern European socialism in the early 1990s. By 1994, Cuban food intake from all sources had fallen to 1863 calories per day per person. The Cuban response to this “food crisis” was to start producing food near cities to avoid transportation and storage costs (and without using petrochemicals). In vegetable production, for example, there was a thousand-fold increase in urban output in the decade following 1994. After examining the historical background of the Cuban turn to urban agriculture, the book considers the organizational, technical, political, scientific, educational, and policy-based foundations of this effort. Separate chapters address the government-guided organization of this sector; the research and development efforts in science and technology; the training, education, and input-provision processes; and the material and moral incentive structures that led to success. Further chapters discuss 1) some Cuban urban-agricultural examples, based on field visits by the author; and 2) overall production and distribution outcomes, as well as other effects in the community, the environment, and employment. A concluding chapter considers what lessons or conclusions can be drawn from the experience of the last fifteen years, not only for Cuba itself, but also for others interested in sustainable urban-food production.
Denis J. Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207145
- eISBN:
- 9780191708893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207145.003.0017
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
This final chapter looks back at the impact of agriculture on human populations, and looks forward to a highly uncertain future for both farming and humanity. The relatively stable Holocene climate ...
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This final chapter looks back at the impact of agriculture on human populations, and looks forward to a highly uncertain future for both farming and humanity. The relatively stable Holocene climate enabled the development of farming and a forty-fold increase in human numbers by 2,000 BP. The recent dramatic increases in crop yields due to science-based agriculture have led to a further ten-fold population rise over the past two centuries. The world is now overwhelmingly dominated by complex techno-urban civilizations sustained by high-input farming regimes that rely on cheap and plentiful energy sources and a relatively stable climate. As energy becomes more expensive and the current period of climatic stability draws to a close, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain present levels of population and complex urban societies. As in previous eras, human populations may fall and undergo cultural simplification in response to such climatic uncertainties.Less
This final chapter looks back at the impact of agriculture on human populations, and looks forward to a highly uncertain future for both farming and humanity. The relatively stable Holocene climate enabled the development of farming and a forty-fold increase in human numbers by 2,000 BP. The recent dramatic increases in crop yields due to science-based agriculture have led to a further ten-fold population rise over the past two centuries. The world is now overwhelmingly dominated by complex techno-urban civilizations sustained by high-input farming regimes that rely on cheap and plentiful energy sources and a relatively stable climate. As energy becomes more expensive and the current period of climatic stability draws to a close, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain present levels of population and complex urban societies. As in previous eras, human populations may fall and undergo cultural simplification in response to such climatic uncertainties.
Kim Hill and Michael Gurven
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199262052
- eISBN:
- 9780191601637
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199262055.003.0013
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
It has been suggested that cooperative outcomes may be more ubiquitous in traditional hunter–gatherer societies, which are characterized by economic systems that more closely resemble those in which ...
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It has been suggested that cooperative outcomes may be more ubiquitous in traditional hunter–gatherer societies, which are characterized by economic systems that more closely resemble those in which most human psychological mechanisms behind economic choice, fairness, and cooperation probably evolved. This idea is examined by playing the Ultimatum Game and the Public Goods Game with the Ache Indians, a tribal group of recently contacted hunter–gatherers in Paraguay, who are well known in the anthropological literature for their extensive food sharing, although they now spend most of their time in permanent reservation settlements: two settlements were involved in the study – the large Chupa Pou settlement and the smaller Arroyo Bandera settlement. The chapter examines how individual choices in the two games are affected by methodological permutations of the game and how the choices on one game are associated with choices in the other. Consideration is also given to how choices in the games are associated with other relevant individual characteristics – age, sex (whether male), whether from a large settlement, game played in public (rather than anonymously), times game played, amount of food production, and food sharing pattern (how much kept by family). The results provide various insights into concepts of fairness in human societies and into the social forces behind the observed sharing patterns.Less
It has been suggested that cooperative outcomes may be more ubiquitous in traditional hunter–gatherer societies, which are characterized by economic systems that more closely resemble those in which most human psychological mechanisms behind economic choice, fairness, and cooperation probably evolved. This idea is examined by playing the Ultimatum Game and the Public Goods Game with the Ache Indians, a tribal group of recently contacted hunter–gatherers in Paraguay, who are well known in the anthropological literature for their extensive food sharing, although they now spend most of their time in permanent reservation settlements: two settlements were involved in the study – the large Chupa Pou settlement and the smaller Arroyo Bandera settlement. The chapter examines how individual choices in the two games are affected by methodological permutations of the game and how the choices on one game are associated with choices in the other. Consideration is also given to how choices in the games are associated with other relevant individual characteristics – age, sex (whether male), whether from a large settlement, game played in public (rather than anonymously), times game played, amount of food production, and food sharing pattern (how much kept by family). The results provide various insights into concepts of fairness in human societies and into the social forces behind the observed sharing patterns.
Sinan Koont
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813037578
- eISBN:
- 9780813042114
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813037578.003.0009
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
One obviously important outcome of urban agriculture is the production and distribution of foodstuffs to the population. By far the most successful subprogram of urban agriculture is in the ...
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One obviously important outcome of urban agriculture is the production and distribution of foodstuffs to the population. By far the most successful subprogram of urban agriculture is in the production of fresh vegetables, with rapid growth in output throughout the island. Other subprograms, although all active, continue to be less developed. The distribution to the population takes place through direct sales at thousands of points-of-sale and the MALs, self-provisioning, and the MAEs. Social consumption of urban agricultural output takes place at workplaces, hospitals, and educational institutions. Urban agriculture plays a significant role in improving Cuban diets, but has not led to food sovereignty. Other significant outcomes of urban agriculture include employment generation, environmental benefits, and community building.Less
One obviously important outcome of urban agriculture is the production and distribution of foodstuffs to the population. By far the most successful subprogram of urban agriculture is in the production of fresh vegetables, with rapid growth in output throughout the island. Other subprograms, although all active, continue to be less developed. The distribution to the population takes place through direct sales at thousands of points-of-sale and the MALs, self-provisioning, and the MAEs. Social consumption of urban agricultural output takes place at workplaces, hospitals, and educational institutions. Urban agriculture plays a significant role in improving Cuban diets, but has not led to food sovereignty. Other significant outcomes of urban agriculture include employment generation, environmental benefits, and community building.
Helen Zoe Veit
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781469607702
- eISBN:
- 9781469612751
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9781469607719_Veit
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
American eating changed dramatically in the early twentieth century. As food production became more industrialized, nutritionists, home economists, and so-called racial scientists were all pointing ...
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American eating changed dramatically in the early twentieth century. As food production became more industrialized, nutritionists, home economists, and so-called racial scientists were all pointing Americans toward a newly scientific approach to diet. Food faddists were rewriting the most basic rules surrounding eating, while reformers were working to reshape the diets of immigrants and the poor. And by the time of World War I, the country's first international aid program was bringing moral advice about food conservation into kitchens around the country. This book argues that the twentieth-century food revolution was fueled by a powerful conviction that Americans had a moral obligation to use self-discipline and reason, rather than taste and tradition, in choosing what to eat. It weaves together cultural history and the history of science to bring readers into the strange and complex world of the American Progressive Era. The era's emphasis on science and self-control left a profound mark on American eating, one that remains today in everything from the ubiquity of science-based dietary advice to the tenacious idealization of thinness.Less
American eating changed dramatically in the early twentieth century. As food production became more industrialized, nutritionists, home economists, and so-called racial scientists were all pointing Americans toward a newly scientific approach to diet. Food faddists were rewriting the most basic rules surrounding eating, while reformers were working to reshape the diets of immigrants and the poor. And by the time of World War I, the country's first international aid program was bringing moral advice about food conservation into kitchens around the country. This book argues that the twentieth-century food revolution was fueled by a powerful conviction that Americans had a moral obligation to use self-discipline and reason, rather than taste and tradition, in choosing what to eat. It weaves together cultural history and the history of science to bring readers into the strange and complex world of the American Progressive Era. The era's emphasis on science and self-control left a profound mark on American eating, one that remains today in everything from the ubiquity of science-based dietary advice to the tenacious idealization of thinness.
Craig Hanson, Tim Searchinger, Richard Waite, Betsy Otto, Brian Lipinski, and Kelly Levin
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781447335702
- eISBN:
- 9781447335740
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447335702.003.0016
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter considers the food security challenge to 2030 and its implications for the sustainable development agenda. It first outlines three proposed food security targets that integrate ...
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This chapter considers the food security challenge to 2030 and its implications for the sustainable development agenda. It first outlines three proposed food security targets that integrate sustainability and must be achieved by 2030: reduce the rate of food loss and waste by 50 per cent; reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from food production by 25 per cent; reduce the water-intensity of agricultural production by 30 per cent. It then discusses the grand challenge as well as opportunity at the nexus of food security, economic development and the environment and proceeds by introducing six core propositions aimed at meeting the food security challenge and how this challenge affects the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Finally, it explains how proposed food security targets would help feed the growing global population in a manner that results in poverty alleviation and economic development while reducing pressure on natural resources.Less
This chapter considers the food security challenge to 2030 and its implications for the sustainable development agenda. It first outlines three proposed food security targets that integrate sustainability and must be achieved by 2030: reduce the rate of food loss and waste by 50 per cent; reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from food production by 25 per cent; reduce the water-intensity of agricultural production by 30 per cent. It then discusses the grand challenge as well as opportunity at the nexus of food security, economic development and the environment and proceeds by introducing six core propositions aimed at meeting the food security challenge and how this challenge affects the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Finally, it explains how proposed food security targets would help feed the growing global population in a manner that results in poverty alleviation and economic development while reducing pressure on natural resources.
