The Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society and the journal _Agriculture and Human Values_ provided a crucial intellectual space for the early transdisciplinary critique of the industrial agrifood system. This paper describes that process and presents the concept of “The Doctors of Agrifood Studies” as a metaphor for the key role critical agrifood social scientists played in documenting the unsustainability of conventional agriculture and working to create an alternative, ethical, sustainable agrifood system. After the introduction, the paper details the “Critical (...) Turn” in agrifood studies, followed by a reconsideration of my “Four Questions” framework, focusing on the current tension between the food security and food sovereignty discourses and movements. (shrink)

This study examines the food flow in Tianjin, divided into three areas (urban, suburban, and rural), as a case study to gain a better understanding of local and regional food flows and ecosystem performance. The study has the following objectives: (1) to evaluate the capacity for self-sufficiency within Tianjin’s administrative boundary by estimating a self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) using statistical data at both the city and local scales, (2) to estimate food flow at the city scale from field surveys of the (...) local markets and statistics provided by the local government, and (3) to examine the real flows of the two primary types of arable crops (cereal grains and vegetables) at the local level by conducting semi-structured household interviews. The results of this study show that Tianjin has experienced a rapid increase of self-sufficiency capacity since the 1980s, and it appears to have the capacity to support the citizens within its borders. Rural areas have had a surplus in all of the studied food categories since the 1980s, and suburban areas have a history of high estimated SSR for vegetables, poultry, and fish. However, a low degree of locally sourced product flow was observed in this study. Most of the local cereal crops were consumed in the agricultural production areas, but 70 % of the vegetables produced in the rural areas flowed outside of Tianjin and did not support Tianjin local consumption. To reduce its vulnerability to food security issues and to promote a more environmentally desirable local food system, Tianjin needs to recognize the high productivity of its local ecosystem and reduce its dependence on other remote ecosystems for its food needs. A stronger relationship between urban and rural areas should also be established. (shrink)

We attempt to quantify and qualify the preferences of consumers for beef with a number of environmental and food quality attributes. Our goal is to evaluate the viability of a proposed food co-operative based in the Wood River watershed of southern Saskatchewan, Canada. The food co-operative was designed to provide a price premium to producers who adopted alternative management practices. In addition, the study evaluated the acceptance of a proposed food co-operative by consumer that had environmental interests as compared to (...) the general population. Conjoint analysis was used to determine the trade-off and relative value of beef with the following production and purchasing characteristics: (a) use of hormones, antibiotics and vaccination in production; (b) method of obtaining the beef including monthly or yearly purchase contracts or a local market; (c) price relative to beef purchased from the local grocery store; and (d) impact on the river ecosystem. Consumers from environmental groups had stronger environmental and food quality preferences than individuals from the general population. However, consumers from both groups expressed a willingness to pay higher prices for food that had these attributes. It was uncertain whether the magnitude of the premium, in combination with a desire not to enter a long-term purchasing commitment, would be large enough to encourage farmers to adopt the alternative management. (shrink)

Since 1984, the AHV journal has provided a key forum for a community of interdisciplinary, international researchers, educators, and policy makers to analyze and debate core issues, values and hopes facing the nation and the world, and to recommend strategies and actions for addressing them. This agenda includes the more specific challenges and opportunities confronting agriculture, food systems, science, and communities, as well as broader contextual issues and grand challenges. This paper draws extensively on 40 years of AHV journal articles (...) and reviews and begins with a focus on a limited number of key grand challenges (climate change and global warming; threats to democracy and the growing neo-nationalism, populism, and authoritarianism; and increasing national and international inequality). With these challenges as the underlining context, the remainder of the paper addresses core journal themes of sustainable agriculture and local food systems, citizen and public science, and empowered communities. Highlighted are numerous important journal contributions to the analyses and recommendations to address these hopes and themes. I conclude that these themes and hopes not only deserve to live but are essential for changing and redirecting an unsustainable and destructive environmental, economic, political and social agenda to a viable, livable and just democratic society. (shrink)

Up to now, several scientific works have noted that the organic sector resembles more and more conventional farming’s structures, what is widely known as the “conventionalization” thesis. This phenomenon constitutes an area of conflict between organic farming’s original vision and its current reality and raises ethical and social questions concerning the structure of agricultural systems of production and their interactions with the socio-economic and natural environment. The main issue of this dialogue is the concept of sustainable agriculture, which for scientists (...) and policymakers is a means to express their vision of a better agriculture. In this article we focus on agricultural sustainability in the context of capitalist production as conducted by the two subsystems of agro-industrial system. As we have proposed in this article, the relationship between organic agriculture, defined by two essential components (prevention and direct marketing), and the agro-industrial complex, defined by two subsystems, indicates the degree of agricultural sustainability. The investigation of this relationship can be extremely useful as it may lead those involved in the discussion of sustainability to identify the key aspects of sustainable agriculture. In order to investigate the interaction of organic farming with the agro-industrial complex, a survey was conducted in Central Macedonia, Northern Greece, involving local organic farms. The results of our study indicate that a large proportion of organic producers did not differ substantially from their counterparts in conventional agriculture in so far as their relationship with the agro-industrial complex is concerned. Finally, this research highlights two scenarios for the evolution of organic farming. The first is the full absorption of organic farming to the existing economic system and the second one is the development of organic farming in a radically opposite direction to conventional farming. (shrink)

When Thomas Lyson developed the concept of Civic Agriculture, he provided a useful framework for considering a range of distinct but related professional areas. One such profession is dietetics. Registered dietitians work in a broad range of professional settings, including academic, clinical, administrative, hospitality, food service, and consulting. Dietetic practice has traditionally and primarily been informed by advances in understanding of the role nutrients and food play in enhancing health and reducing chronic disease risk. With support from the American Dietetic (...) Association (ADA), the largest credentialing organization for nutrition practitioners, an increasing number of dietetic professionals consider food and agricultural sustainability issues relevant to their training and practice. Longstanding organizational structures, practices, and alliances characterizing the association, however, may limit the extent to which the organization and its members unify around a concept of civic dietetics. Recent developments within the ADA indicating an emergence of civic dietetics. This paper suggests ways the civic agriculture concept may be applied to dietetic practice, and how civic dietetics may help further civic agriculture and sustainable food systems. (shrink)