The greening of the “barrios”: Urban agriculture for food security in Cuba

Urban agriculture in Cuba has rapidly become a significant source of fresh produce for the urban and suburban populations. A large number of urban gardens in Havana and other major cities have emerged as a grassroots movement in response to the crisis brought about by the loss of trade, with the collapse of the socialist bloc in 1989. These gardens are helping to stabilize the supply of fresh produce to Cuba's urban centers. During 1996, Havana's urban farms provided the city's urban population with 8,500 tons of agricultural produce, 4 million dozens of flowers, 7.5 million eggs, and 3,650 tons of meat. This system of urban agriculture, composed of about 8,000 gardens nationwide has been developed and managed along agroecological principles, which eliminate the use of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers, emphasizing diversification, recycling, and the use of local resources. This article explores the systems utilized by Cuba's urban farmers, and the impact that this movement has had on Cuban food security.     

The first European congress on agricultural and food ethics and follow-up workshop on ethics and food biotechnology: A US perspective

The first European Congress on Agriculturaland Food Ethics was held at Wageningen University andResearch Center (WUR), Wageningen, The Netherlands, March 4–6, 1999. This was the inaugural conference forthe newly forming European Society for Agricultural andFood Ethics – EUR-SAFE – and around two hundredpeople from across Europe (and a handful of NorthAmericans) participated. Following theCongress/conference, a small (16 people), two-dayworkshop funded in part by the US National ScienceFoundation focused on similarities and differencesbetween the US and the EU regarding publicdiscourse/debate on food biotechnology. A briefoverview of the Congress and the follow-up workshopsuggests what lessons AFHVS and ASFS might learn fromEuropean experience of agricultural and food ethics.     

Increasing food sovereignty with urban agriculture in Cuba

Urban agriculture in Cuba has played an important role for citizens’ food supply since the collapse of the Eastern Block. Through the land reform of 2008 and the Lineamientos of 2011, the Cuban government has aimed to support agriculture in order to increase national food production and reduce imports. However, the implementation of the designed measures faced obstacles. Therefore, the research objective was to display how the government’s measures aiming to support domestic food production influenced urban agriculture. The qualitative research comprised semi-structured interviews with 15 urban farmers in Havana and revealed the respondents’ experiences with the land reform and the Lineamientos and the potential of the reforms to implement food sovereignty. Findings show that the land reform has facilitated access to land for newcomer and existing farmers. However, availability of agricultural inputs has been limited and they were often expensive. Thus, urban farmers frequently produced farm inputs at their plots and applied sustainable farming practices to minimize their dependence on external inputs. The reforms have generated private marketing opportunities and have stimulated urban farmers to increase production. At the same time, subsidies have been reduced and consumers have faced increasing food prices. In conclusion, the land reform and the Lineamientos have created framework conditions for food sovereignty. However, the challenge is to increase the coherence of the theoretic aim and the practical implementation of the reforms.     

Resilience in the US red meat industry: the roles of food safety policy

We use the case of red meat food safety to illustrate the need to problematize policy. Overtime, there have been numerous red meat scandals and scares. We show that the statutes and regulations that arose out of these events provided the industry with a means of demonstrating safety, facilitating large-scale trade, legitimizing conventional production, and limiting interference into its practices. They also created systemic fragility, as evidenced by many recent events, and hindered the development of an alternative, small-scale sector. Thus, the accumulated rules help to structure the sector, create superficial resilience, and are used in place of an actual policy governing safety. We call for rigorous attention to not only food safety, but also the role and effect of agrifood statutes and regulations in general, and engagement in policy more broadly.

Biodiversity,cultural diversity,and food equity

Biodiversity and genetic resources have become the focal point of major national and international biological and political debates regarding control, ownership, access, and erosion of critical resources. While these issues are key to environmental sustainability and food security, biodiversity and genetic resources must be seen in the broader context of their inextricable relationship to cultural diversity and to humans' view of nature. Nature is assumed to be constituted socially through a wide variety of human processes described collectively as culture. Three significant cultural factors, technology, science, and capitalism, are largely responsible for the secularization and homogenization of food and agriculture and the remaking of nature. These processes and forces may simultaneously and unwittingly create the problems of declines in biodiversity, cultural diversity, and food equity. Indeed, it may well be that the only way to conserve cultural biodiversity in the field is to conserve cultural diversity among peoples. This reunification of biodiversity and cultural diversity and food and agriculture will require new paradigms and institutional mechanisms that allow us to show our care for each other through our reverence for nature.Notes 1. This paper is based, in part, on the Presidential Address of the 1993 annual meeting of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society and on work to appear in a forthcoming bookBiodiversity/Cultural Diversity: The Plant Germplasm Controversy in Cultural Context by L. Busch, W. Lacy, J. Burkhardt, D. Hemken, J. Moraga, J. de Souza Silva, and T. Koponen. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. The research has been supported, in part, by grants from the National Science Foundations' Ethics and Values Studies Program and the USDA Cooperative State Research Service.     

中国大麦供需平衡及趋势分析

依据FAO统计数据和国家粮油信息中心发布的数据,运用食物供需平衡表的方法,分析了不同用途的大麦在中国的生产、消费和贸易状况。结果显示：中国大麦供给由国内生产和进口构成,且生产量和进口量相当,大麦进口依存度高;大麦消费以啤酒大麦为主,食用、饲用大麦消费数量相对较小;中国大麦贸易以进口为主,进口量对国内市场价格、国际市场价格和国内啤酒大麦需求量反应敏感,贸易环境和政策对大麦进口的影响较小。     

近期中国农产品贸易特点与展望

近期中国农产品贸易保持较快增长,进口增速反弹,出口基本平稳,贸易逆差扩大。谷物、油籽、乳制品等进口大幅增加,棉花、食糖、植物油等进口下降,但仍保持高位,水产品、蔬菜、水果等优势农产品出口小幅增加。进口大幅增加的主要原因是国内需求强劲增长和国内外农产品价差扩大。预计2014年中国大宗农产品进口将保持较高水平,需要妥善应对进口压力。     

广州食物氮足迹估算与分析

估算广州城镇居民食物氮足迹,探讨城镇化与食物氮足迹之间的演化趋势。结果表明:1980—2009年广州市人均食物消费氮足迹随消费模式变化,2009年回归至较合理水平,为3.75 kg(N)/年;目前广州人均食物氮足迹下降至25.98 kg(N)/年,低于美国、德国和荷兰等发达国家的平均水平;广州人均食物氮足迹已越过拐点(PGDP 10 560元),但食物不合理的消费结构仍然存在。氮足迹分析有助于评价食物消费对生态环境构成的压力,为指导转变人类不合理的、环境负荷过大的生产生活方式和制定区域农业可持续发展策略提供依据。     

2013年中国农产品贸易形势及2014年展望

2013年,中国农产品进口增速较前几年有所回落,但是农产品贸易继续保持增长,农产品贸易总额近1 900亿美元,其中农产品进、出口额分别约为1 200亿美元和700亿美元。就具体产品来看,谷物净进口量在2012年大幅增加的水平上继续增长,大豆、植物油进口高位稳中有涨,棉花、食糖在库存积压的同时继续大量进口,牛羊肉及奶粉等畜产品进口增势强劲。预计2014年中国农产品进口将继续增长,农业产业发展将面临较大进口压力。     

2013年中国农产品贸易发展特点及展望

2013年中国农产品贸易总额持续增长,进口增速首次在入世后低于出口增速。进口方面,继续保持增长但增速回落,国内外价差和国内供需缺口仍是大宗农产品进口持续高位的主要原因。出口方面,蔬菜和水产品等优势产品出口恢复增长,水果出口增速放缓。预计2014年中国农产品进口激增态势将得到缓解,但在价差的作用下进口压力仍较大,进口额增速可能恢复到两位数;出口形势有望好转,但增速相对缓慢。由于进口基数较大且仍快速增长,预计农产品贸易逆差将进一步扩大。     

2014年上半年中国农产品贸易发展特点及展望

2014年上半年中国农产品贸易总额保持增长,进口增长明显快于出口。进口方面,进口额继续保持增长,增速明显加快,国内外价差和国内供需缺口仍是大宗农产品进口持续高位的主要原因。出口方面,蔬菜和水产品出口均有增加,水果出口下降。未来中国农产品进口压力仍将继续加大,进口额增长可能保持两位数的增速;出口形势有望好转,但增速相对缓慢;在进口增速较快和基数较大的前提下,农产品贸易逆差将进一步扩大。     

中国谷物贸易演变趋势分析

【目的】 针对中国谷物贸易2000年以来呈现出的新特征,研究谷物贸易演变趋势,对谷物贸易进行展望,为我国调节谷物供需平衡、保障国家粮食安全的相关决策提供科学依据。【方法】 基于联合国贸易数据库(UN COMTRADE)中2000~2017年中国谷物贸易相关的数据,采用显性比较优势指数,研究中国谷物贸易格局的演变,分析谷物相关政策对贸易的影响。【结果】 中国谷物出口已由较强竞争力转为较弱竞争力,且竞争力在不断弱化;中国已经由谷物净出口国变为谷物净进口国;中国谷物进出口市场和进出口产品结构均发生明显变化;谷物支持政策经过一系列调整后有效的促进了谷物市场的正常运行,谷物进口受到农产品进口关税配额的限制,而谷物的出口由国家根据谷物生产情况进行调节。【结论】 我国谷物消费结构出现新特征,谷物的需求出现由“量”到“质”的提升,在资源与环境的约束下,我国谷物产量增加空间有限,进口进一步增加潜力巨大。     

Is HACCP Nothing? A Disjoint Constitution between Inspectors, Processors, and Consumers and the Cider Industry in Michigan

The transmission of a product or idea from one culture or point of origin to another and the maintenance of control outside the new locality has been referred to as the distribution and maintenance of “nothing.” This perspective has been used to describe the global marketplace and the influence of large multinational corporations on the politics and cultures of host countries. This paper uses this concept, but within a much smaller context. Using the sensitizing concept of a “disjoint constitution,” we interviewed health inspectors and apple cider producers in Michigan to determine if the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) program designed to ensure food safety was characterized by a power differential that would favor the inspectors. In addition, a larger survey of processors and an internet survey of apple cider consumers was conducted to supplement this data. It was found that HACCP had characteristics of both “nothing” and “something” and that better communication is needed between these groups to move it further along toward the something end of the continuum. Toby A. Ten Eyck is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and affiliated with the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center at Michigan State University. His work focuses on the development, dissemination, and interpretation of mass media risk messages. Donna J. Thede completed her Ph.D in Food Science partially through this research project and is now a Senior Scientist in Nutrition & Regulatory Affairs with the Kellogg Company.  Gerd Bobe conducts research on nutrition and cancer as a fellow in the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Maryland). Previously, he evaluated food safety policies for the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center at Michigan State University. Leslie D. Bourquin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and is affiliated with the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center and Food Safety Policy Center at Michigan State University. His research examines factors influencing the effective implementation of food safety standards and the ultimate impacts of these standards on public health.     

中国主要粮食产品进口贸易的资源效应和环境效应研究

本文运用2000—2019年的相关数据和虚拟资源测算方法,测算了大米、小麦、玉米、大豆的虚拟水土资源进口量,并测算了2000—2018年因进口这四种粮食产品而节省的虚拟化肥和虚拟农药的施用量,定量分析了中国粮食贸易中的虚拟水土资源进口对中国水土资源的节约和环境的改善效应。研究结果表明:①从资源效应看,2000—2019年中国虚拟水土资源进口在逐年增加,2019年中国进口的虚拟水资源为492.73亿米3,占当年农业用水总量的13.38%;虚拟土地资源进口为4830.50万公顷,占当年农作物播种面积的41.62%。②从进口来源看,大豆是中国虚拟水土资源进口的主要来源作物,巴西和美国是中国虚拟水土资源进口的主要来源国。③从环境效应看,2018年,中国因进口大米、小麦、玉米、大豆四种粮食而节省的虚拟农药和虚拟化肥分别为43.40万吨和646.72万吨,分别占当年中国农药、化肥施用总量的28.86%和11.46%。21世纪以来粮食贸易中虚拟资源的进口显著缓解了中国的水土资源短缺压力,减少了大量农药、化肥的施用量。为此,应在保障口粮绝对安全的同时,充分利用国内外市场来解决中国水土资源供需矛盾,畅通国际国内双循环,拓展多元化进口渠道,实现经济效益和生态效益的双赢。     

2012年中国农产品贸易形势分析及2013年趋势展望

在世界经济低迷、全球主要农产品供给相对宽松,国内需求不断增长以及政策调控等因素的综合作用下,2012年中国粮棉油糖等大宗农产品进口量激增,全面净进口态势得到强化;果蔬水产等优势农产品出口增长乏力,部分产品甚至出现明显下滑;农产品贸易逆差大幅增加。综合考虑国内外经济走势、农产品供求状况等因素,预计未来粮棉油糖等大宗农产品全面净进口局面将持续,但进口激增态势将得到缓解,农产品出口形势将有所好转。针对新形势、新问题,必须加强对农产品贸易形势的研究和判断,及时采取对策措施,努力确保中国农产品贸易和农业产业平稳健康发展。     

The poverty of sustainability: An analysis of current positions

A short time ago the idea of sustainable agriculture was accepted only at the extreme margins of the U. S. agricultural systems. Although sustainability has now become a major theme of many U. S. agricultural groups, there remains much under-explored terrain in the meaning of sustainable agriculture. A thorough examination of who and what we want to sustain and how we can sustain them is critical if sustainable agriculture is to be a practical improvement over conventional agriculture. In order to begin this effort, this article analyzes contemporary sustainable agriculture discourse and suggests alternatives for reconceptualizing sustainable agriculture. In particular we look at three arenas of sustainable discourse—family farm/rural community preservation, food safety, and agricultural science—and address issues of class, race/ethnicity, and gender found in current sustainability positions. We find that while advocates of sustainability have succeeded in pushing agricultural researchers and policy makers to address environmental issues, we need to go much farther both in theory and practice in order to deal with equally important issues of social equity.Patricia Allen is senior analyst with the Agroecology Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work concentrates on the political economic aspects of sustainability issues in food and agricultural systems. Her edited book,Food for the Future: Conditions and Contradictions of Sustainability, will be published this spring by John Wiley & Sons.     

2012年中国农产品贸易形势分析与2013年展望

2012年1—10月,中国农产品进口额和出口额分别为922．5亿美元和506．2亿美元,同比分别增长23．7％和4．5％。进出口增势减缓,出口呈低速增长,进口仍保持快速增长势头。主要出口市场明显萎缩,多数农产品出口量减价升,粮食、食糖和棉花进口量激增。展望2013年,受世界经济低速增长、贸易保护主义加剧等因素影响,中国农产品出口仍面临很大挑战。在国际粮价飙升的传导作用下,大宗农产品价格高位波动,国内部分农产品供求形势向好．进口快速增长势头将受到抑制。     

中美贸易摩擦对中国农产品价格的冲击 ——基于GTAP模型的价格传导机制分解

本文使用GTAP模型全面评估了中美贸易摩擦对中国农产品价格的冲击,并从进口品跨国价格传导、国内需求变动引致的价格冲击、国内中间投入品成本的价格传导以及国内生产要素成本的价格传导4个角度,系统剖析了中美贸易摩擦影响中国国内农产品价格的具体机制。研究发现:若中美两国严格执行第一阶段经贸协议,进口品的跨国价格传导机制会导致中国进口农产品价格小幅上涨,但国内中间投入品成本的价格传导机制会导致中国国内农产品市场价格下降2%~4%。因此,中国政府在制定应对中美贸易摩擦的农业和农村发展对策时,须重点考虑的问题是国内农产品价格下降所带来的“谷贱伤农”问题,而非进口品涨价导致的农产品价格上涨问题。     

中国粮食贸易中虚拟耕地进口的实证分析

基于2001—2014年的年度数据,通过多元线性回归模型,在国际环境和国内环境的大背景下,对中国粮食贸易中虚拟耕地进口量的影响因素进行实证分析。研究发现,人口对中国粮食虚拟耕地净进口量的影响最为显著;全球对中国粮食的需求量及中国谷物单产对粮食虚拟耕地净进口量的影响显著;中国国内生产总值对粮食虚拟耕地净进口量的影响较为显著;全球谷物平均单产、中国有效灌溉面积对粮食虚拟耕地净进口量的影响不显著。在此基础上,提出了利用耕地资源的相应措施,以确保中国的粮食安全。     

Rights-based food systems and the goals of food systems reform

Food security, health, decent livelihoods, gender equity, safe working conditions, cultural identity and participation in cultural life are basic human rights that can be achieved at least in part through the food system. But current trends in the US prevent full realization of these economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) for residents, farmers, and wageworkers in the food system. Supply chains that strive to meet the goals of social justice, economic equity, and environmental quality better than the dominant globalized food value networks are gaining popularity in the US. However, achieving important human rights has become conflated with other goals of food system reform over the past decade, such as being “community-based,” local, and sustainable. This conflation confuses means, ends, and complementary goals; and it may lead activists trying to help communities to regain control of their food system choices into less productive strategies. This paper introduces a new concept, rights-based food systems (RBFS), and explores its connection with localization and sustainability. The core criteria of RBFS are democratic participation in food system choices affecting more than one sector; fair, transparent access by producers to all necessary resources for food production and marketing; multiple independent buyers; absence of human exploitation; absence of resource exploitation; and no impingement on the ability of people in other locales to meet this set of criteria. Localization and a community base can help achieve RBFS by facilitating food democracy and reducing environmental exploitation, primarily by lowering environmental costs due to long-distance transportation. Sustainability per se is an empty goal for food system reform, unless what will be sustained and for whom are specified. The RBFS concept helps to clarify what is worth sustaining and who is most susceptible to neglect in attempts to reform food systems. Localization can be a means toward sustainability if local food systems are also RBFS.