Green Path

PoemA poem celebrating the relationship between plants and people

Free seeds and food sovereignty: anthropology and grassroots agrobiodiversity conservation strategies in the US South

Neoliberal economic frameworks threaten the ability of marginalized people worldwide to grow, harvest, and access sufficient healthy food because they deny traditional collective seed ownership and preclude subsistence as a viable livelihood. Many internationally-oriented counter-responses work to reframe intellectual property law in favor of traditional farmers. In the United States, various grassroots agricultural biodiversity conservation projects designed to re-establish the control of open-pollinated seeds within communities have emerged with similar intent. This article situates and explores the role of open-pollinated seeds and agricultural biodiversity conservation strategies in local food sovereignty. The authors direct applied research projects that collaboratively document and disseminate open-pollinated seed varieties throughout the Southeastern United States with a specific focus on the Ozark Highlands and Appalachian Mountains. The research methods represent an activist anthropology—participant observation and ethnographic interviewing while collaboratively growing and sharing seed varieties with local farmers, gardeners, seed-savers, and activists—with the explicit purpose of forging more sustainable, integrated, and sovereign local food systems. Keywords: agricultural anthropology, agrobiodiversity, grassroots strategies, in situ conservation, seed savin

UNT Speaks Out

This presentation is part of the faculty lecture series UNT Speaks Out on the Food We Eat. This presentation discusses heirloom seeds and covers information about the Foundation of Local Food Systems

Down deep in the holler: chasing seeds and stories in southern Appalachia

This article is the third in a series "Recollections, Reflections, and Revelations: Ethnobiologists and their First Time in the Field" and is a personal reflection by the researcher on his experience and involvement in kinship and friendship networks while conducting agrobiodiversity research in southern Appalachia, USA

Applying anthropology to what? Tactical/ethical decisions in an age of global neoliberal imperialism

This article introduces the Journal of Political Ecology Special Section on ‘towards a political ecology of applied anthropology.’ We provide a brief overview and analysis of the history and application of applied and practicing anthropology. Examining moral and ethical issues related to the application of anthropology, we assess current endeavors and make suggestions for future directions from a political ecology perspective. Introducing five articles that exemplify our approach, we identify common themes and particular contexts that both unify and distinguish each of the contributions. Throughout this introduction, we propose a potential guidepost for a political-ecology informed applied anthropology: any applied anthropology that engages, documents, promotes, and supports cultural diversity, social justice and environmental sustainability is just. Conversely, any applied anthropology that threatens cultural diversity and environmental sustainability is unjust. © 2015. All Rights Reserved

Historical Ecology and Ethnobiology: Applied Research for Environmental Conservation and Social Justice

Historical ecology provides a research program and toolkit for applied interdisciplinary research in ethnobiology. With a focus on long-term changes in built environments and cultural landscapes, historical ecology emphasizes the need for scientific collaboration between disciplines for more relevant and applied academic research—particularly in service to environmental conservation and social justice.</p

Perceiving Patagonia - An assessment of social values and perspectives regarding watershed ecosystem services and management in southern South America

Research on human dimensions of ecosystems through the ecosystem services (ES) concept has proliferated over recent decades but has largely focused on monetary value of ecosystems while excluding other community-based values. We conducted 312 surveys of general community members and regional researchers and decision-makers (specialists) to understand local perceptions and values of watershed ES and natural resource management in South America’s southern Patagonian ecoregion. Results indicated that specialists shared many similar values of ES with community members, but at the same time their mentalities did not capture the diversity of values that existed within the broader community. The supporting services were most highly valued by both groups, but generally poorly understood by the community. Many services that are not easily captured in monetary terms, particularly cultural services, were highly valued by community members and specialists. Both groups perceived a lack of communication and access to basic scientific information in current management approaches and differed slightly in their perspective on potential threats to ES. We recommend that a community-based approach be integrated into the natural resource management framework that better embodies the diversity of values that exist in these communities, while enhancing the science-society dialog and thereby encouraging the application of multiple forms of ecological knowledge in place-based environmental management.Fil: Zagarola, Jean Paul A.. University Of North Texas; Estados Unidos. Third Stream Consulting LLC; Estados UnidosFil: Anderson, Christopher Brian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego; ArgentinaFil: Veteto, James R.. University Of North Texas; Estados Unidos. Appalachian Institute for Mountain Studies; Estados Unidos. Botanical Research Institute of Texas; Estados Unido

Seeds and Songs: co-creating participatory contexts in seed-saving and old-time music.

Old tunes and seeds have much in common. Heirloom seeds, like old-time music, have been handed down and re-transmitted through generations within particular family circles. Some are localized, while others are universival. Some have been replaced by newer, more efficient, homogenized versions of the old––trademarked and packaged for large scale use and monetary gain. Still others are known only to the communities that created and sustained them. This roundtable will explore the connection between old-time music and heirloom seed-saving. Furthermore, we will consider how seed-savers, musicians, and practitioners of Appalachian folkways can co-create, and re-create, participatory contexts that maintain the face-to-face nature of seed-saving and traditional music in an era of increased access to material culture (through internet recordings, how-to’s, and seeds via catalogs). Participants are invited to contribute to the conversation by sharing relevant ruminations, poems, songs and (of course) seeds

Introduction: The Collection and Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources, Past and Present

The articles in this special issue contribute to our understanding of the historical emergences (Curry, Peres) and present-day functionings (Chacko, Jones) of various modes of conserving plant genetic diversity in seed banks. Exploring both crop plant and wild species conservation at different times and scales, the papers examine how various actors have articulated their role in stewarding plant life for the future as seeds, whether vegetable gardeners, seed bank curators and volunteers, restoration ecologists, or standard-setting agencies. They reveal seed banking and its corollary, seed saving, as a response to uncertainty, one which does not resolve this condition but instead generates new ambiguities and new uncertainties.Wellcome Trust 109337/Z/15/