Who’s the fairest of them all? The fractured landscape of U.S. fair trade certification

In recent years, consumers in the United States have been confronted by no fewer than four competing fair-trade labels, each grounded in a separate certification system and widely differing standards. This fracturing is partly a response to the recent split by the U.S. certifier Fair Trade USA from the international fair trade system, but also illustrates longstanding divisions within the fair trade movement. This article explores the dynamics of competition among nonstate standards through content analyses of fair trade standards documents from the four U.S. fair-trade certifications for agrifood products (Fair Trade USA, Fairtrade America, Fair for Life, and the Small Producer Symbol). It analyzes the differences among them, asking what kinds of social and labor relations are facilitated by each, and identifies how closely they correspond with key fair trade principles. We make two primary arguments. First, we contend that the case of fair trade challenges the dominant conceptual model used to analyze competition among multiple private standards in a single arena, in which newer challengers lower the rigor of standards. Second, we argue that the current fractured U.S. certification landscape illuminates divisions among different interest groups over which principles—and which labor and production forms—should be privileged under the banner of fair trade.     

Of couscous and occupation: a case study of women’s motivations to join and participate in Palestinian fair trade cooperatives

Economic opportunities and the status of women are mediated by socio-political structural factors, as well as cultural-specific norms and patterns of behavior. As consumers (and, in many cases, regulators) of resources at the household level, women are integral to the analysis of economic and political development. This paper examines the role of motivation and perception on women’s participation in Palestinian Fair Trade projects. In the occupied Palestinian Territories, Fair Trade projects have been recently introduced by both international agencies and local Palestinian associations as means through which women can earn income, participate in cooperative leadership, and engage at economic and political levels. Current scholarship largely focuses on measuring outcomes of Fair Trade initiatives or the experiences of members after the implementation of a project. However, there is less understanding about factors influencing the recruitment and retention of members into these initiatives. This ethnographic account explores both the motivations of members to join several couscous (maftoul) Fair Trade cooperatives and the members’ understanding Fair Trade goals and the cooperative structure. We examine four Palestinian women’s maftoul cooperatives and their unique challenges and opportunities. This project highlights the lack of detail most women have about the global Fair Trade market, which has a potential to result in decreased recruitment and retention rates. This paper also examines the tensions between product quality and market demands existing within couscous cooperatives and the competing demands of child-care needs, household pressures, and military restrictions on Palestinian movement enforced by the Israeli military within the occupied Palestinian Territories.     

张俊,廉勇,杨志刚,扈顺,胡拴红,杨树青,王永

在农业生产机械化的趋势下,植保无人机为内蒙古自治区农作物病虫害的防治提供了强有力的技术支持,因其独特的优势正在发挥越来越重要的作用,发展前景备受关注。该文通过植保无人机在全区部分农作物病虫害防治上的实践与应用,分析了植保无人机在实际作业过程中存在的优缺点,及影响植保无人机作业的环境因素,总结了植保无人机在全区的推广应用现状及发展趋势,并提出针对性的建议,以期促进全区现代农业的可持续发展。     

江立斌,张仙平,王琴霞,朱伟君,林友根,王宏辉

2019年温岭市引进杂交粳稻单晚品种19个,表现优秀的前三是春优41、浙优8810和甬优71,亩产量均较CK1增产3%以上,较CK2增5%以上,且达显著水平;春优41和甬优71播齐历期为100d,比CK1长5d,比CK2长2d;浙优8810则分别长4d和1d。全生育期甬优71为149d,春优41为154d,浙优8810为156d,较CK1分别短1d、长4d和长6d;与CK2比分别短8d、短3d和1d。3个品种田间生长整齐,剑叶较挺,后期熟色好,穗大粒多,无包茎,稻曲病发生较轻;缺点是3个品种株型较高,但抗倒性除浙优807后期部分倒伏外其余坚挺。     

杨崇城,张誉,郑妹,李润唐

从种质资源考察、林分空间结构分析、红树林湿地理化特性、红树林湿地生物多样性、种植养护技术5方面综述了广东湛江市红树林研究进展,对进一步研究红树林具有参考作用。     

付瑞滢,胡萍,杨秀勋,何历洪

国内许多专家对供给侧改革背景下气象服务高质量发展策略做过深入研究,但各地方实际情况不尽相同,适合铜仁市气象服务高质量发展的对策研究尚未见报道。本文基于铜仁市情从铜仁市气象服务的供给现状入手,就现阶段气象服务开展存在的供给能力薄弱,产品供需不平衡,科技支撑疲软等工作瓶颈提出未来高质量发展的建议,以期改善供给现状,提高气象预报和服务水平,提高气象服务质量和效益,更好地满足社会对气象服务的需要。     

徐晶1,邓璐2,孔鲁裔1,刘继宁2,韩嘉

地理标志作为知识产权的一种,在保护民族品牌、传承传统文化,发展特色经济、助力扶贫攻坚和发展地方经济等方面发挥了重要的作用。文章介绍了我国地理标志产品保护概况和黑龙江省地理标志产品保护的现状,从地理标志产品注册数量、产品类型、地域分布及地理标志使用情况等方面,分析了该省地理标志产品保护中存在的问题及发展对策。     

那年,那月,那些事,那些人

正在天山北麓,古尔班通古特沙漠南缘的新疆生产建设兵团第六师新湖农场,经过军垦儿女半个多世纪的艰苦创业,已经从亘古荒原变成现代化小城镇。如今的新湖农场,阡陌纵横、道路畅通、粮棉丰收、瓜果飘香,一座座楼房拔地而起,职工群众生活水平不断提高。半个多世纪之前,一批批激情满怀挺进新疆来到新湖农场的知青,用青春和生命续写了新湖农场的发展史。让我们走进那段激情燃烧的岁月,一起聆听知青讲述过去的峥嵘岁月……     

发展植物园旅游业,促进院校产,学,研,热一体化

探索植物园旅游资源开发和院校产、学、研、游一体化的途径。提出院校应抓住儋州市政府投资建云植路的机遇,把植物园旅游景点作为新的经济增长点的见解。