Community food security: Practice in need of theory?

Practitioners and advocates of community food security (CFS) envision food systems that are decentralized, environmentally-sound over a long time-frame, supportive of collective rather than only individual needs, effective in assuring equitable food access, and created by democratic decision-making. These themes are loosely connected in literature about CFS, with no logical linkages among them. Clear articulation in a theoretical framework is needed for CFS to be effective as a guide for policy and action. CFS theory should delimit the level of analysis (i.e., what are the boundaries of community); show how CFS relates to individual, household, and national food security and explain emergent properties, which are important at the community level of analysis; point to the best indicators of CFS or its lack; clarify the determinants of CFS; and clarify the stages of movement toward CFS. This theoretical base would allow researchers to develop valid and reliable measures, and allow practitioners to weigh alternative options to create strategic plans. A theoretical base also would help establish common ground with potential partners by making the connections to anti-hunger work, sustainable agriculture, and community development clear.     

What difference does income make for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members in California? Comparing lower-income and higher-income households

In the U.S. there has been considerable interest in connecting low-income households to alternative food networks like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). To learn more about this possibility we conducted a statewide survey of CSA members in California. A total of 1149 members from 41 CSAs responded. Here we answer the research question: How do CSA members’ (1) socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds, (2) household conditions potentially interfering with membership, and (3) CSA membership experiences vary between lower-income households (LIHHs) and higher-income households (HIHHs)? We divided members into LIHHs (making under $50,000 annually) and HIHHs (making over $50,000 annually). We present comparisons of LIHHs’ and HIHHs’ (1) employment, race/ethnicity, household composition and education, use of food support, and enjoyment of food-related activities; (2) conditions interfering with membership and major life events; and (3) sources of information influencing decision to join, reasons for joining, ratings of importance of and satisfaction with various CSA attributes, gaps between importance of and satisfaction with various CSA attributes, valuing of the share and willingness to pay more, and impacts of membership. We find that LIHHs are committed CSA members, often more so than HIHHs, and that CSA members in California are disproportionately white, but that racial disproportionality decreases as incomes increase. We conclude by considering: (1) the economic risks that LIHHs face in CSA membership, (2) the intersection of economic risks with race/ethnicity and cultural coding in CSA; and (3) the possibilities of increasing participation of LIHH in CSA.     

Vegetation Community Convergence of Pastoralists’ Pasture at Different Economic Levels in Desert Steppe

Vegetation characteristics of pastoralist households’ pastures at different economic levels were quantiifed to compare the grassland conditions in Sunite Right Banner, Inner Mongolia, China in 2011 and 2012. The results showed that the heights of Stipa klemenzis and Cleistogenes songorica were similar among economic treatments. And the height of Allium polyrhizm had no signiifcant differences between high-economic-level （HEL） and low-economic-level （LEL） treatments. There were no signiifcant difference among treatments in the canopy cover of C. songorica. The densities of dominant species （S. klemenzis, C. songorica and A. polyrhizm） were signiifcantly similar among treatments. Aboveground community biomass in reference area （CK） was higher than that in other three treatments in 2011, but their biomass showed no signiifcant difference among three economic treatments;for 2012, biomass in HEL was higher than low-economic-level treatment （LEL）, while the biomass in middle-economic-level treatment （MEL） and CK was similar to that in HEL and LEL, respectively. Aboveground biomass of S. klemenzis and C. songorica was similar among treatments in both 2011 and 2012. Biomass of A. polyrhizum had no signiifcant difference between HEL and MEL. Households of LEL had rented out excess lands and those of HEL had leased their available lands thus resulting uniform utilization and convergence of pastoralist households’ pastures across all economic levels.     

Impact of Long-Term Fertilization on Cropland Soil Fauna Community at Loess Soil, Shannxi, China

The relationship between long-term fertilization and cropland network for soil fertility and fertilizers in Loess soil of Shannxi soil fauna was studied at the station＇s experiment research Provincefrom Jul. 2001 to Oct. 2002. Six types of long-term fertilizer were carried out for this study including non-fertilizer （CK）, abandonment （ABAND）, nitrogenous and phosphors and potassium fertilizers combined （NPK）, straw and NPK （SNPK）, organic material and NPK （MNPK） and 1.5 times MNPK （1.5MNPK）. 72 soil samples were collected and 5 495 species of cropland soil fauna obtained by handsorting and Cobb methods at 4 times, belonging to 6 Phyla, 11 Classes, 22 Orders, 2 Superfamilies, 61 Families and 35 Genera. The result showed that different fertilizer had significantly impacted on the cropland soil fauna （F = 2.24, P〈0.007）. The number of the cropland soil fauna was related to the soil physicochemical properties caused by long-term fertilization. The result by principal component analysis, focusing on the number of 15 key soil fauna species group＇s diversity, evenness of community and the total soil fauna individuals indicated that the effects of SNPK, NPK, MNPK and 1.5MNPK were significantly different from that of the cropland soil fauna, in which, SNPK and NPK had the positive effect on cropland soil fauna, and MNPK and 1.5 MNPK had the negative affect, others could not be explained. By principal component I, the synthetic effect of different fertilization on the total soil fauna individuals and the group was most significant, and the effect was little on evenness and diversity. By value of eigenvectors, the maximum one was 9.6248, and the minimum one was - 1.0904, that means the 6 types of fertilization did not affect evenly the cropland soil fauna.     

无情?有情?

正~~     

耞?耟?

<正>价的研究。在研究对象方面,班茂盛等从土地效益、土地利用效率和创新功能方面构建土地绩效评价模型,对北京高新技术产业区进行土地利用绩效评价。鲁春阳等从土地利用投入水平、土地利用程度、土地利用效益和土地利用可持续性四个方面对重庆市土地利用绩效进行评价,表明重庆市土地利用绩效1997-2007年间由低级向良好转变。桑翠翠等以陕南地区为研究区,在计算土地利用绩效基础上,利用障碍度诊断模型,对影响陕南县域土地利用绩效的因子进行了分析。王莹等通过构建结构、经济、公平和环境绩效的四维评价指标体系,对西安市建设用地绩效进行评价,发现“十二五”期间建设用地绩效水平呈波动式上升。在研究方法上,主要包括指标权重确定     

高学历? 保姆?

女研究生立志当高级保姆2004年2月8日,在成都市安位家政金牛基地的"川籍等级家政服务员开学典礼"现场,来自西南财经大学,正在读MBA的27岁山东女子丁南坦言,立     

酷刑?美味?

近年来,动物保护组织强烈呼吁善待动物,许多发达国家都制定了保护动物的相应法令法规。据调查,截止到目前,包括一些非洲国家在内的世界上一百多个国家都出台了反虐待动物法案。比如法餐传统高档美食鹅肥肝质地细嫩,口感鲜美浓腴,香味独特,被欧美消费者视为世界三大美味之首,而今,美国和欧盟一些国家正一个接一个的把鹅肥肝划入“黑名单”,禁止本国农户强迫喂食动物,生产鹅肥肝。就连一向以质量上乘著称的鹅肥肝第三大生产国以色列也制定法律,要求本国农户“以较温和的方式取代灌喂”。对于解决温饱问题不久的我国人民来说,眼下关注更多的是…     

天使?魔鬼?

正打开手机视频,千里之遥也会近在咫尺;打开手机网页,世界名著、名剧、名曲应有尽有;出门在外,无论你是买买买,还是乘车游玩,一个手机就可以应对自如,再也不用担心携大量的现金怕被盗怕丢了;拿起手机,你就是现场第一位记者……手机的出现,不仅带给我们空前的便利,满足我们无限的需求,还带来种种的烦恼和恶果手机让沉迷游戏变成随时随地,手机让人面对面的交流越来越少,手机也让不良信息与诱惑无处不在手机,你到底是天使还是魔鬼?对于那些对手机没有清醒的认识和意志力的人来说,手机就是魔鬼,他     

Changes in Transformation of Soil Organic C and Functional Diversity of Soil Microbial Community Under Different Land Uses

Changes in soil biological and biochemical properties under different land uses in the subtropical region of China were investigated in order to develop rational cultivation and fertilization management. A small watershed of subtropical region of China was selected for this study. Land uses covered paddy fields, vegetable farming, fruit trees, upland crops, bamboo stands, and forestry. Soil biological and biochemical properties included soil organic C and nutrient contents, mineralization of soil organic C, and soil microbial biomass and community functional diversity. Soil organic C and total N contents, microbial biomass C and N, and respiration intensity under different land uses were changed in the following order: paddy fields (and vegetable farming) > bamboo stands > fruit trees (and upland). The top surface (0–15 cm) paddy fields (and vegetable farming) were 76.4 and 80.8% higher in soil organic C and total N contents than fruit trees (and upland) soils, respectively. Subsurface paddy soils (15–30 cm) were 59.8 and 67.3% higher in organic C and total N than upland soils, respectively. Soil microbial C, N and respiration intensity in paddy soils (0–15 cm) were 6.36, 3.63 and 3.20 times those in fruit tree (and upland) soils respectively. Soil microbial metabolic quotient was in the order: fruit trees (and upland) > forestry > paddy fields. Metabolic quotient in paddy soils was only 47.7% of that in fruit tree (and upland) soils. Rates of soil organic C mineralization during incubation changed in the order: paddy fields > bamboo stands > fruit trees (and upland) and soil bacteria population: paddy fields > fruit trees (and upland) > forestry. No significant difference was found for fungi and actinomycetes populations. BIOLOG analysis indicated a changing order of paddy fields > fruit trees (and upland) > forestry in values of the average well cell development (AWCD) and functional diversity indexes of microbial community. Results also showed that the conversion from paddy fields to vegetable farming for 5 years resulted in a dramatic increase in soil available phosphorus content while insignificant changes in soil organic C and total N content due to a large inputs of phosphate fertilizers. This conversion caused 53, 41.5, and 41.3% decreases in soil microbial biomass C, N, and respiration intensity, respectively, while 23.6% increase in metabolic quotient and a decrease in soil organic C mineralization rate. Moreover, soil bacteria and actinomycetes populations were increased slightly, while fungi population increased dramatically. Functional diversity indexes of soil microbial community decreased significantly. It was concluded that land uses in the subtropical region of China strongly affected soil biological and biochemical properties. Soil organic C and nutrient contents, mineralization of organic C and functional diversity of microbial community in paddy fields were higher than those in upland and forestry. Overuse of chemical fertilizers in paddy fields with high fertility might degrade soil biological properties and biochemical function, resulting in deterioration of soil biological quality.     

创业:加盟? 单干? 合伙?

案例一:张某打工多年,积累了一些资金,想自己创业,开一家干洗店。如今加盟创业可以说演绎得如火如荼,他想通过加盟来开店,但他又感觉到干洗加盟在我国还存在很多问题和不足,加盟欺骗也经常出现,所以有些担心,不知道是选择加盟创业,还是选择单干?     

道德何在?良心何在?

<正>2015年4月,对于江苏两家化工企业来说,纯属多事之月,都摊上大事儿了。一月两起大事,对于江苏安监部门来说,亦属多事之月,我已经懒得无病呻吟地追问与谴责了。云南导游陈春艳这几天麻烦大了,辱骂游客道德哪去了?良心哪去了?视频曝光后,她随即被推上舆论的风口浪尖。不管游客是否参加"一元团",骂人也不对。顺便也问问这些个企业领导,不注重安全监管,你们的道德何在?良心何在?4月27日下午3:03左右,位于江苏扬州市江都区沿江开发区江苏长青化工股份有限公司     

Household and Community Assets and Farmers＇ Adaptation to Extreme Weather Event： the Case of Drought in China

Under climate change, rising frequency and serious extreme weather events have challenged agricultural production. Designing appropriate adaptation measures to the extreme weather events require rigorous and empirical analysis. The overall goals of this study are to understand physical adaptation measures taken by farmers and the impacts of household and community assets on farmers＇ adaptation when they face drought. The analyses are based on a unique data set collected from a household survey in three provinces in China. The survey results show that though not common on annual basis, some farmers did use physical adaptation measures to fight drought. Regression analysis reveals that both household and community assets significantly affect farmers＇ adaptation behaviors. Improving households＇ social capital and wealth, communities＇ network and access to government＇s anti-drought service can facilitate farmers＇ adaptation to drought. Results indicate that community＇s irrigation infrastructure and physical adaptation taken by farmers can substitute each other. Further analysis shows that the households taking adaptation measures have higher crop yields than those without taking these measures. The paper concludes with several policy implications.