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2021-10-14
New American Economy;
Farm workers are essential to America's critical food infrastructure. Despite abundant and fertile land, our food supply of fresh fruit and vegetables relies increasingly on imported produce as labor shortages in the crop production industry persist. To shed more light on this worrying trend, we analyzed data from the United States Department of Agriculture and American Community Survey on the U.S.' fruit and vegetable supply, on the workers who harvest these crops, and the trends affecting America's agriculture industry over the past decade. We find that immigrants play a crucial role in our nation's food supply chain, and they will continue to do so as essential workers harvesting America's fruits and vegetables.
2021-10-20
Tiny Beam Fund;
*This report highlights characteristics of global industrial aquaculture value chains. For example: Most producers are located in global South countries, but rely on input (e.g. feed, pest control agents) that are often in the hands of wealthy corporations in the EU and U.S. Global supply chains are buyer-driven, with massive grocery and retail food conglomerates based in the global North being the most powerful buyers. *Several key concerns related to feed are emphasized. For example: Social concerns of worker exploitation and forced labor to capture wild fish to feed farmed fish. Marine ecological concerns as wild fish stock suffers as a result of pressures to obtain "trash fish" as aquafeed. Concerns with impacts on terrestrial environment such as cutting down forests to cultivate soybean to feed farmed fish.*The prevalence of pests and diseases and the heavy use of antibiotics in industrial aquaculture operations is another concern. Intensive aquaculture also raises ethical concerns with regard to the welfare of the farmed aquatic animals.*The "displacement paradox" and the "Jevons paradox" in industrial aquaculture is explained.*The report cautions against the use of regulations that emphasize market mechanisms and new technologies as key solutions to industrial aquaculture with global value chains. It recommends instead the promotion of small-scale local supply chains, the production of species that are less reliant on intensive inputs, more in-tune with their ecological surroundings, and lower on the food chain (e.g. mussels, oysters).
2021-11-09
Tiny Beam Fund;
*Do laypersons, farmers, and professionals involved with livestock production in Brazil have different opinions about applying gene editing technology to farm animals?*A survey was conducted to better understand their opinions of this biotechnology's potential and perceived benefits (particularly on animal welfare, disease resistance, resilience to external stressors such as hot climate, productivity).* The survey found that the acceptability of gene editing in farm animals is lower for the public and higher in farmers and persons in professions involved with livestock. According to those surveyed, the main concerns are: Unknown side effects; unsure of who will benefit; ethical limits of this biotechnology's use. On the other hand, improvements in animal welfare, farmers' quality of life, and productivity are the chief perceived benefits.* This report highlights three key messages and recommendations: 1) Those closely associated with livestock production are open to using biotechnology to solve problems they face, but lay citizens prefer production systems that they consider to be more natural and animal-friendly. 2) Most stakeholders agree that animal welfare legislation is important in livestock production in Brazil, and labeling should be required for gene-edited products. 3) Decisions of policies and actual use of gene editing in farm animals must be based on the results of open, informed dialogues that truly allow all stakeholders' voices to be heard, and facilitated by parties trusted by stakeholders such as scientists in universities.
2021-11-23
Tiny Beam Fund;
* This report examines the rapid growth of agribusinesses and corporate food systems in the Arab region since the 1980s, especially the underlying political and economic factors. Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon are used as case studies.* The following characteristics are highlighted and explained: 1) The critical function of capital and investment funds that come from three main sources - Gulf region; Western multinationals; local companies. 2) Agribusinesses in the region must be understood as a system, relying on personal relationships and informal ties among the region's elites, organized as joint ventures and partnerships, with large companies monopolizing market shares, and exerting considerable power over consumers and smaller suppliers/producers. 3) The centrality of political connections and government support in the agribusinesses' smooth operation.* Companies discussed include: Savola, Al Marai, Danone, Nestle, Juhayna.* Understanding the roots and key features of these corporate industrial food systems is very important because of implications for policy discussions and for actions to address concerns. For example: How does government support for free market rather than smallholder farmers affect food sovereignty? How best to address avian flu outbreaks in Egypt that usually leave large intensive poultry agribusinesses in stronger positions? Instead of focusing activist actions on Gulf and local companies which are less likely to be swayed by publicity, it is more effective to lobby multinational companies headquartered in Europe and the U.S. that have entered markets in the Arab region.
2021-10-04
Benton Institute for Broadband & Society;
Innovation has long been a hallmark of American agriculture. American farmers have continuously adapted their operations to meet new demand and stay competitive in an increasingly globalized economy.Today, broadband is a necessary tool to innovate farming practices, allowing for more targeted and efficient resource use. Farmers need connectivity in the farmhouse and farm office, in the field, and in the community. But evidence shows that a majority of American farmers lack the connectivity required.How can we deliver the broadband that farmers need?As the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society interviewed farmers, rural service providers, equipment manufacturers, and other agricultural leaders and experts, broad consensus arose around several key outcomes for rural broadband, such as the need for robust upload speeds, accurate network deployment data, and scalable technologies. Farmers know what they need for sustainable, data-driven agriculture that can keep pace with the world's rising food demand. Now it's time to hear them and deploy the broadband networks and adoption strategies they require to continue to innovate and feed the world.
2021-07-28
Walton Family Foundation, Inc.;
For the last couple of decades, climate change has been a large, amorphous, existential threat to everything we hold dear. In more recent years, the threat has become increasingly clear and present in the lives of most Americans, who see the reality of the challenge reflected back at us in the most basic ingredient for life: water.Through water, many Americans experience the reality of climate change almost daily. Flooding, drought, record-breaking storms and even wildfires – each in their own way makes the presence of climate change and its impact on both water and everyday life inescapable.The Walton Family Foundation has a longstanding and deep commitment to protecting rivers, lakes and oceans. Our response to the water and climate challenges we face involves building broad coalitions around commonsense ideas.
2021-08-06
Tiny Beam Fund;
* Expansion and intensification of game meat production in South Africa is gathering momentum. This is primarily due to efforts by the South African game industry which views expansion and formalization of the game meat value chain to be a good way forward as it faces many challenges and is at a crossroad in 2020. Among the most significant challenges are the collapse in game prices and the economic shut-downs associated with COVID-19.* This report traces the efforts made by the South Africa game sector. It also explains the changes that lead to the challenges experienced by the sector and to an increase in game populations that needs to be dealt with. These reasons and changes are complex. They are related to and intersect with: Game breeding practices, farm conversions and new investment patterns, hunting norms, ecotourism, biodiversity loss, processed game products, and the emergence of community game farms through land reform.* An expanded game meat value chain raises serious concerns for socio-economic development and racial transformation, environmental sustainability, human health and animal welfare. And there are key gaps in the regulatory framework for game meat production. The report highlights these concerns and gaps. It provides six recommendations for front-line persons and policy makers who want to ensure that expansions in game meat production occur in an inclusive, sustainable, safe, and ethical manner.
2020-08-01
CEA Consulting;
In 2018, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and CEA Consulting (CEA) released the report, "Catalyzing the Growth of Electronic Monitoring in Fisheries." The report highlighted that many of the world's fisheries lack accurate data about what is happening on the water. Even in fisheries with human observers, low coverage rates, basic human limitations that prevent viewing everything happening onboard, and even threats and bribery can limit data quality. This progress update report revisits the original recommendations, assesses the progress and new innovations that have been made, identifies key remaining barriers, and updates the investment blueprint based on what has changed or been learned over the last year and a half.
2021-10-01
Tiny Beam Fund;
* This report reviews the trajectories of meat consumption shifting from the periphery to the center of human diets (i.e. "meatification") in six countries (two high-income - U.S., Germany; two upper middle-income - Brazil, China; two lower middle-income - India, Nigeria). It also suggests that plant-based ingredients that resemble meat (i.e. "plant-meats") could play an crucial role in reversing meatification although they should not be seen as a silver bullet.* These six countries are chosen as case studies to illuminate the highly uneven character of global livestock production and meat consumption. This unevenness indicates the need to prioritize certain countries in efforts to address the negative impacts of meatification.* The report also draws attention to some critically important points to bear in mind when trying to address meat consumption and production concerns: 1) A handful of huge transnational corporations dominate livestock slaughter and processing, and exert significant influence over meat production and consumption on a world scale. 2) The rise in global meat consumption is not only influenced by consumer preferences and demand, but also affected by agrarian changes and powerful actors in the agro-food system seeking to expand livestock production and absorb chronic grain and oilseed surpluses. 3) Meatification has triggered serious environmental problems.
2021-10-07
Heartland Alliance National Initiatives on Poverty & Economic Opportunity;
Growing Home is an urban farm that has run a subsidized jobs program in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood since 2005. The program serves individuals who face structural barriers to employment and engages them in immediate, wage-paid employment on the farm. This program spotlight discusses Growing Home's subsidized jobs model and its impact and calls for federal investments in subsidized jobs to support jobseekers facing structural barriers to employment. Growing Home is located in the 1st Congressional district of Illinois. The representative for this district is Bobby L. Rush (D).
2020-04-20
Tiny Beam Fund;
KEYWORDS: Chickens and eggs. Industrial production. Consumption. Guatemala. HIGHLIGHTS: *This report or Guidance Memo explains the major role played by: (1) a few powerful home-grown businesses and brands, (2) cross-border and international trade and policies, in flooding Guatemala with industrially-produced chickens in the last half century. *It brings to the fore public health, food justice, and other significant issues that should be emphasized in campaigns to defeat "industrial chicken" there. *The Guidance Memo also exposes assertions and myths that help to hold in place chickens' current popularity with consumers (e.g. the claim that producing chickens industrially is important to the country's economy, but the fact is that economic benefits accrue mainly to the country's most powerful families like the Gutiérrez-Bosches who own Pollo Campero and Pollo Rey). *Provides practical strategies and actions that one can take to turn things round (e.g. challenge industry claims through magazine articles and social media, valorize indigenous culinary knowledge and promote consumption of nutrient-rich native legumes, form alliance across permaculture and other food movements).
2020-04-20
Tiny Beam Fund;
HIGHLIGHTS: *Using information gathered from visits to field sites and interviews with farmers in 2019, the authors of this report or Guidance Memo document the challenges faced by socially and economically-marginalized women in the Northern Mountainous Region (NMR) of Vietnam who raise local or heritage pigs on small-scales to supplement their family income. *These women have been greatly affected by recent growth in industrial-scale pork production in Vietnam. *Moreover, the African Swine Fever crisis in northern Vietnam in mid/late 2019 threatens to put an end to raising local/heritage breeds on small scales in NMR. *But there is clear evidence that smaller-scale pork production in NMR is viable and is good socially, economically, environmentally, and for animal welfare. *A number of concrete, practical ways to support small-scale producers are suggested, from providing training in pig breeding to simple steps like teaching the small producers to use Facebook to attract customers.
