Perception and acceptance of agricultural production in and on urban buildings (ZFarming): a qualitative study from Berlin,Germany

Rooftop gardens, rooftop greenhouses and indoor farms (defined as ZFarming) have been established or planned by activists and private companies in Berlin. These projects promise to produce a range of goods that could have positive impacts on the urban setting but also carry a number of risks and uncertainties. In this early innovation phase, the relevant stakeholders’ perceptions and social acceptance of ZFarming represent important preconditions for success or failure of the further diffusion of this practice. We used the framework of acceptance to investigate the stakeholders’ attitudes and to identify the key factors that might hinder or promote the introduction of ZFarming. The results are based on an analysis of 38 qualitative interviews conducted with key stakeholders in Berlin. As the results show, major perceived benefits of ZFarming include improved consumer awareness, education, and the creation of experimental spaces. Stakeholders further perceive opportunities for resource savings, new business models, repurposing of abandoned buildings and improved aesthetics. Major perceived risks are associated with growing techniques that are considered “unnatural”, health risks (due to urban pollutants), conflicts with images of traditional agriculture, the rejection of animal production in urban areas, the risk of projects being too expensive and too complex or being implemented too early, i.e. before the mechanisms are fully understood. The analysis further reveals which contextual factors—political, legal, market-related, spatial or societal—might negatively or positively influence ZFarming acceptance.     

Resolving differing stakeholder perceptions of urban rooftop farming in Mediterranean cities: promoting food production as a driver for innovative forms of urban agriculture

Urban agriculture (UA) is spreading within the Global North, largely for food production, ranging from household individual gardens to community gardens that boost neighborhood regeneration. Additionally, UA is also being integrated into buildings, such as urban rooftop farming (URF). Some URF experiences succeed in North America both as private and community initiatives. To date, little attention has been paid to how stakeholders perceive UA and URF in the Mediterranean or to the role of food production in these initiatives. This study examines the promotion and inclusion of new forms of UA through the practice of URF and contributes to the nascent literature on the stakeholder and public perceptions of UA. It seeks to understand how those perceptions shape the development of new urban agriculture practices and projects. Barcelona (Spain) was used as a Mediterranean case study where UA and URF projects are growing in popularity. Through semi-structured interviews with 25 core stakeholders, we show that UA is largely perceived as a social activity rather than a food production initiative, because the planning of urban gardens in Barcelona was traditionally done to achieve leisure and other social goals. However, several stakeholders highlighted the potential to increase urban fertility through URF by occupying currently unused spaces. As a result, the positive valuation of URF depends on the conceptualization of UA as a social or food production activity. In turn, such conceptualization shapes barriers and opportunities for the development of URF. While most UA-related stakeholders (e.g., food co-ops, NGOs) preferred soil-based UA, newer stakeholders (e.g., architects) highlighted the economic, social and environmental opportunities of local and efficient food production through innovative URF.     

Gene technology,food production,and public opinion: A UK study

In this paper, dimensions of the debate surrounding the application of gene technology to food production are discussed and a study assessing perceptions of the technology among a sample of the UK public (n = 1499) is reported. The general picture that emerges from the study is one of people expressing low familiarity with the technology, with more people associating it with high risks than with low risks, and more people expecting it to provide low benefits than high benefits. Attitudes towards different applications vary significantly, as does trust in different potential sources of information about the technology. It is also shown that attitudes can be predicted not only by estimates of risks and benefits but also by perceptions of the involvement of ethical issues, by the perceived need for the technology, and by the perceived likelihood of improvements it is likely to bring to the quality of life in the UK. The results are discussed in the context of the need for greater public information about the technology and the realization that communication of risks takes place within a complex network of societal relationships.Paul Sparks is a social psychologist at the Institute of Food Research, Reading, UK. He has studied at the Universities of Kent (BA) and Oxford (DPhil). His research interests include attitude theory, social influences on food choice, and social and moral dimensions of attitudes towards food consumption and food production methods.     

中国粮食综合生产能力的现状、问题及对策

中国人多地少,保证粮食安全与农民增收已成为各级政府和社会各界最关心的问题,为了寻求中国粮食安全的基本对策,通过对农业资源的调查和分析,评述了中国粮食生产的现状及现阶段面临的主要问题,指出了潜在的粮食危机,最后结合中国实际提出了促进粮食生产持续发展的对策.     

福建省农民农业经营收入趋势分析

总结了近年来福建省农民收入的变化趋势和变化原因,认为福建省农民的农业经营收入与工资性收入逐年提高;对福建省农民农业经营收入影响因素进行了回归分析、格兰杰因果关系检验和协整分析,认为城镇居民的食品支出是农业经营收入的格兰杰原因,且二者存在长期稳定的互动关系;最后对在以城镇带动农村、以工业反哺农业的新背景下,如何提高农民增收进行了思考。     

The rise of food banks and the challenge of matching food assistance with potential need: towards a spatially specific,rapid assessment approach

In the United States, food banks served an estimated 46 million people in 2015. A combination of government policy reforms and political economic trends contributed to the rising numbers of individuals relying on private food assistance in the US, the United Kingdom and other high-income countries. Although researchers frequently map urban food environments, this project is one of the first to map private food assistance and potential need at the census-tract scale. We utilize Geographic Information Systems, demographic data, and food assistance locations to develop a rapid assessment tool that could support food banks, pantries, soup kitchens, and government agencies that seek to answer the question of whether people with the greatest need have food distribution sites in close proximity. We define access based on distance and then calculate potential food insecurity using either poverty rates or a food insecurity index. We apply these methods in a case study analysis of Santa Clara County, California. Our findings suggest that food assistance distribution locations match the areas of potential need in more than 80% of urban census tracts. However, there are several potentially underserved locations and populations that could benefit from new food assistance operations. The poverty and index-based approaches show significant spatial overlap in mapped areas of high food insecurity and low access. The poverty only approach produces a higher estimate of food insecurity rates, is easier to calculate, and draws attention to the need to address poverty as a root cause of hunger.     

河北省粮食安全现状及草食家畜的节粮潜力

为了解河北省粮食安全现状以及草食家畜的节粮潜力,应用2008年河北省统计资料和相关文献的数据,计算了河北省粮食产量及消费量,并根据粗饲料产量,计算了河北省草食家畜的节粮潜力。结果表明：2008年河北省基本粮食需求占当年该省粮食总产量的45%,生猪和家禽饲养耗粮占粮食总产量的57%,粮食生产已不能满足粮食消费需求。加上工业用粮增加、人口增长、城镇化率上升和耕地面积减少,河北省粮食安全压力与日俱增。通过对河北省粗饲料供给量的统计和载畜量的计算,发现作物秸秆和饲草等粗饲料资源还有较大的开发空间。在粮食产量增幅有限的情况下,充分利用尚未开发的粗饲料资源发展草食家畜生产,每年可节约粮食近765万t,占河北省2008年粮食产量的26.32%,对缓解河北省粮食生产压力、优化城乡居民食物结构和确保粮食安全具有重要意义。     

Reweaving the food security safety net: Mediating entitlement and entrepreneurship

The American food system has produced both abundance and food insecurity, with production and consumption dealt with as separate issues. The new approach of community food security (CFS) seeks to re-link production and consumption, with the goal of ensuring both an adequate and accessible food supply in the present and the future. In its focus on consumption, CFS has prioritized the needs of low-income people; in its focus on production, it emphasizes local and regional food systems. These objectives are not necessarily compatible and may even be contradictory. This article describes the approach of community food security and raises some questions about how the movement can meet its goals of simultaneously meeting the food needs of low-income people and developing local food systems. It explores the conceptual and political promise and pitfalls of local, community-based approaches to food security and examines alternative economic strategies such as urban agriculture and community-supported agriculture. It concludes that community food security efforts are important additions to, but not subsitutes for, a nonretractable governmental safety net that protects against food insecurity.     

城市建成区发展屋顶农业的必要性及可行性

通过对国内外屋顶农业发展现状的比较,分析了在城市中发展屋顶农业的必要性和可行性,并对现阶段建设屋顶农业存在的问题进行了探讨,以期为屋顶农业的发展提供参考。     

欧洲有机食品概述

通过对近年来欧洲有机食品的生产、消费、市场驱动因子、市场大小及趋势、销售渠道、市场细分及主要的市场障碍等进行了概括,认为影响欧洲有机食品发展的因素主要包括政治、经济和社会等,即消费者关心的食品安全、动物福利、环境,统一认证标准的制定及政府的支持等方面。按照消费者的消费特征和购买行为,将有机消费者分为五种类型包括青年人和老年人、受过良好教育者、城市居住者、有规律或偶然或不购买者及利益寻求者。此外,还指出了有机食品市场的主要障碍,并对我国有机食品经营提出了一些策略性建议,以更好地促进有机食品市场的发展。     

城市生态景观建设的指导原则和评价指标

在人口膨胀和快速城市化的全球化背景下,构建人与自然和谐的生态景观是城市景观规划和设计的基本美学观和价值观.缺乏统一的指导原则和评价标准使得城市生态景观建设出现了很多问题,也限制了生态景观的进一步推广和实践.基于文献调研和专家咨询的方式,归纳了城市生态景观的基本内涵和指导原则,并提出了针对性的评价指标.通过问卷调查的方式,获取了170余份有效问卷,据此分析公众对城市生态景观的理解和需求.可以依据该结果为城市生态景观的定量评价提供初步的权重值,为进一步完善生态景观建设的理论和方法提供了参考和依据.     

城市化、结构转变与中国都市农业发展战略

城市化的快速推进深刻地改变了我国的社会经济结构,这种改变又全方位的影响农业的发展,其中受影响最大的就是处在城市化最前沿的都市农业.城市化快速推进改变了社会食物需求数量和结构;城市化对传统生产要素的竞争提升了都市农业经营成本;城市化形成的先进生产要素又为都市农业现代化改造提供条件.有效应对发展过程中面临的各种挑战,充分利用大城市的特殊区位优势和良好发展机遇,使都市农业服务好城市居民,保护好农民利益,并在我国农业现代化发展中扮演好先行者和领导者角色,是我国未来10到20年中的重要战略任务.本文在分析都市农业发展背景的基础上,对我国都市农业发展的战略目标、战略任务与保障措施进行了系统论述.     

Food aid and international hunger crises: The United States in Somalia

International food aid has long been known to be motivated by domestic and foreign policy objectives as well as humanitarian concerns. The policy objectives sometimes complicate delivery of emergency food, and lead to situations that result in adverse effects on the economic and agricultural systems of recipient countries. Despite the long history and extensive documentation of such effects, they were observed to occur once again during the 1992 Somalia intervention. This intervention encountered many frequently described barriers to effective use of emergency food aid. It also set a new precedent; for the first time, troops were deployed to enforce the safe delivery of food. This action led to the creation of an army of occupation engaged in military conflict with the very people it had come to serve and, eventually, to further deterioration of the country's food economy. The Somalia intervention provided further evidence for the need to uncouple humanitarian food aid from other policy objectives, and to design and manage emergency and long-term food aid programs to maximize benefits, minimize adverse consequences, and strengthen local agricultural production and marketing systems.     

Contributing to food security in urban areas: differences between urban agriculture and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North

Food security is becoming an increasingly relevant topic in the Global North, especially in urban areas. Because such areas do not always have good access to nutritionally adequate food, the question of how to supply them is an urgent priority in order to maintain a healthy population. Urban and peri-urban agriculture, as sources of local fresh food, could play an important role. Whereas some scholars do not differentiate between peri-urban and urban agriculture, seeing them as a single entity, our hypothesis is that they are distinct, and that this has important consequences for food security and other issues. This has knock-on effects for food system planning and has not yet been appropriately analysed. The objectives of this study are to provide a systematic understanding of urban and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North, showing their similarities and differences, and to analyse their impact on urban food security. To this end, an extensive literature review was conducted, resulting in the identification and comparison of their spatial, ecological and socio-economic characteristics. The findings are discussed in terms of their impact on food security in relation to the four levels of the food system: food production, processing, distribution and consumption. The results show that urban and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North indeed differ in most of their characteristics and consequently also in their ability to meet the food needs of urban inhabitants. While urban agriculture still meets food needs mainly at the household level, peri-urban agriculture can provide larger quantities and has broader distribution pathways, giving it a separate status in terms of food security. Nevertheless, both possess (unused) potential, making them valuable for urban food planning, and both face similar threats regarding urbanisation pressures, necessitating adequate planning measures.     

粟类作物植物化学物研究进展

我国拥有丰富的粟类作物资源。粟类作物中富含的植物化学物具有潜在降低慢性疾病发病率的功能特性,是开发功能性食品或作为健康食品配料的良好资源。文章介绍了植物化学物的分类,综述了粟类作物中植物化学物在籽粒中的分布、种类、含量及功能特性,系统分析了不同加工方式对植物化学物的影响规律。     

中国农业技术类型对粮食综合生产能力影响的实证分析

经过改革开放三十多年的生产发展,粮食产量实现了历史突破性的"十连增",但由于受到了资源禀赋限制和快速的工业化、城镇化影响,未来中国粮食产业增产潜力并不容乐观。选取水土资源、劳动力资源作为影响粮食综合生产能力的主要制约因素,而打破约束实现粮食持续增产的唯一手段是必须依靠农业技术进步来支撑农业发展。通过实证分析结果表明,由于受到生物化学型技术和机械型技术的干扰型影响,在目前资源禀赋不断恶化的情况下,未来依然能够实现粮食可持续的增产可行路径是增加两类技术的要素投入,其中生物化学型技术投入在粮食生产中起主要影响作用,应作为农业科技投入的重点以及近几年农业技术进步的主要方向,尤其是以农业生物技术为代表的技术创新与应用将为中国粮食产业带来革新。     

都市菜园生产结构与模式的实践探索

都市菜园生产结构与模式的调整与创新,为都市蔬菜的安全稳定供给提供了有力保障。本文在分析都市郊区特定生态区域蔬菜种群、茬口类型及栽培方式等生产结构调整的基础上,阐述了高效集约型、有机生态型、休闲观光型等都市菜园的主要生产模式,总结了植物工厂、家庭农场、移动菜园等都市菜园的特殊生产方式。对都市蔬菜发展所面临的劳动力资源匮乏、土地资源紧缺、水资源污染和环境压力增大等挑战,提出了所需要的政策扶持、知识创新和技术要素。     

Producing space,cultivating community: the story of Prague´s new community gardens

This paper aims to fill the gap in literature concerning community gardens in post-communist countries by focusing on the situation in Prague, Czechia. It introduces Prague′s newly emerged community gardens and presents the results of a first representative survey of these gardens. Information was gathered about eleven of the sixteen larger community gardens and the data were collected by semi-structured interviews with the managers of the particular gardens. The paper compares the Czech community gardens as representatives of civic agriculture forms in post-communist countries with their counterparts (mainly those in the North America) and stresses their similarities and differences. The results show that the new community gardens reflect much of what can be seen elsewhere in terms of spatial and organizational design, as well as reasons for starting them, motivations for participation and some of the challenges experienced. However, in contrast to many community gardens in the USA, Canada and UK that focus on food and nutrition provision, in Prague the community is more of a priority than food and the other mentioned benefits. The paper shows that different activities, events and functions make gardens important hubs of their communities and potential tools of further community involvement and social change.     

山东农业大学图书馆实践营销的分析研究

高校图书馆迎接时代的挑战,赢得发展空间,要实践营销。山东农业大学图书馆积极实践营销,宣传推广图书馆的信息资源和信息服务。山东农业大学图书馆多种方式开展营销,取得一定的宣传推送效果,同时也有不足之处,需要进一步提升图书馆营销的战略地位,根据学校和图书馆自身的情况,改进图书馆营销策略。     

2007-2008年度小麦测土配方施肥田间示范

推广测土配方施肥技术是保障国家粮食安全的重大举措,是提高耕地综合生产能力的必然选择,是实现资源高效利用,保护生态环境的有效途径,为避免农民盲目施肥,提高小麦产量及经济效益,有着十分积极的意义。