Assessing the Potential Contribution of Vacant Land to Urban Vegetable Production and Consumption in Oakland, California

As urban agriculture grows in popularity, researchers are attempting to quantify its potential contribution to local food systems. We present the results of a vacant land inventory conducted in collaboration with the HOPE Collaborative, a multi-stakeholder, community-based initiative in Oakland, CA, USA. Vacant lots, open space, and underutilized parks with agricultural potential were identified using GIS and aerial imagery. Using visual interpretation, we identified 1201 ac (486.4 ha) of public land and 337 ac (136.4 ha) of private land that could potentially be used for vegetable production. Based on USDA loss-adjusted consumption data, we calculated the potential contribution of these sites to the city\u27s current and recommended vegetable needs. Calculations were based on average yields under three different management practices: conventional at 10 tons/ac (22.4 Mg/ha); low-biointensive at 15 tons/ac (33.6 Mg/ha); and medium-biointensive at 25 tons/ac (56.0 Mg/ha). Four different land use scenarios were considered: (1) all identified sites

Urban Livestock Ownership, Management, and Regulation in the United States: An Exploratory Survey and Research Agenda

As interest in urban agriculture sweeps the country, municipalities are struggling to update, code to meet public demands. The proliferation of urban livestock—especially chickens, rabbits, bees, and goats—has posed particular regulatory challenges. Scant planning scholarship on urban livestock focuses mostly on how cities regulate animals, but few studies attempt to characterize urban livestock, ownership and management practices in the US in relation to these regulations. Our study addresses this gap. Using a web-based survey distributed via a snowball technique, we received responses from 134 livestock owners in 48 US cities, revealing the following: why they keep livestock; what kind of, livestock they keep and how many; the proximity of their livestock to property lines and dwellings; the extent to which they raise animals for meat; how they manage waste and other possible nuisances or public health risks; and their interest in exchanging animal products through sale and barter. We also examine whether such practices conform to the regulatory context. Results suggest that urban livestock ownership is more akin to pet ownership and should therefore not be restricted under planning codes as if it were a commercial-scale agricultural activity. Given the diversity of livestock ownership practices and lot sizes, we recommend that planners consider the following when developing urban livestock codes: (1) more appropriate setbacks and animal limits per lot; (2), promotion of high standards for animal welfare; (3) addressing sales and slaughter; and (4), making regulations more visible to the public. We, conclude by laying out an agenda for future research on urban livestock regulation and management

Soil Fertility Management and Compost Use in Senegal‘s Peanut Basin

The Jó ó r (Dior) soils of Senegal's Peanut Basin are inherently low in organic matter, limiting yields of millet and other crops and threatening the food security of smallholders. Focus groups and interviews were conducted in eight villages to characterise the site-specific fertility management by farmers in the Peanut Basin. Results of the qualitative survey revealed that farmers base management decisions on a series of fertility indicators that include type, colour, and texture of soil, presence of vegetation, and productivity in previous years. In an effort to equalise fertility across the field, farmers amend areas they classify as less fertile with decomposed manure and household waste from the family sëntaare (traditional pile) or with compost from managed piles. On-site measurements of soil in areas of fields amended with compost or sëntaare material revealed significant increases in peanut and millet growth over unamended areas, but little difference between the effects of compost and manure. Similarly, chemical analysis revealed increased effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) and nutrient concentrations (K, Mg and Al) in soils amended with compost or manure. Similarities in the chemical characteristics of compost and sëntaare material suggest that development workers could emphasise improved pile management rather than promoting more labour-intensive composting

La tribalidad posmoderna dentro del festival “Rock por la Vida” en Guadalajara: emoción colectiva de los asistentes del año 2007 al 2014

Este documento tiene como objetivo analizar las expresiones de los asistentes al festival ¨Rock por la Vida¨ (RXLV) en Guadalajara, a partir del concepto de Michael Maffesoli sobre la tribalidad posmoderna. Se detalla cómo es que los asistentes definen su sensibilidad o emoción colectiva, cómo van construyendo la socialidad dentro de la masa, es decir, cómo se van generando estas tribus. Se describen las experiencias de estar-juntos y se identifican las coincidencias en las emociones colectivas que se generan dentro del RXLV. This document´s objective is to analyze the expressions of those attending the festival Rock for Life in Guadalajara. From Michael Maffesoli postmodern concept of tribalism . It details how to define their collective feeling or emotion, how they build sociality within the mass , that is, how it is generating these tribus. The experience of being together are described . Coincidences in collective emotions that are generated within the RXLV are identified

Forging Links Between Food Chain Labor Activists and Academics

Interest in food movements has been growing dramatically, but until recently there has been limited engagement with the challenges facing workers across the food system. Of the studies that do exist, there is little focus on the processes and relationships that lead to solutions. This article explores ways that community-engaged teaching and research partnerships can help to build meaningful justice with food workers. The text builds on a special roundtable session held at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in Chicago in April 2015, which involved a range of academic scholars and community-based activists. We present these insights through a discussion of key perspectives on collaborative research and teaching and learning as food-labor scholar-activists. We argue that despite significant gaps in the way that food movements are addressing labor issues, community-campus collaborations present an opportunity for building alliances to foster food justice. Building on our collective analysis and reflection, we point to five recommendations for fostering collaboration: connecting to personal experience; building trust; developing common strategies; building on previous community efforts; and, appreciating power differences and reciprocating accordingly. We conclude with some final thoughts on future research directions

Radical, Reformist, and Garden-Variety Neoliberal: Coming to Terms with Urban Agriculture’s Contradictions

For many activists and scholars, urban agriculture in the Global North has become synonymous with sustainable food systems, standing in opposition to the dominant industrial agri-food system. At the same time, critical social scientists increasingly argue that urban agriculture programmes, by filling the void left by the rolling back of the social safety net, underwrite neoliberalisation. I argue that such contradictions are central to urban agriculture. Drawing on existing literature and fieldwork in Oakland, CA, I explain how urban agriculture arises from a protective counter-movement, while at the same time entrenching the neoliberal organisation of contemporary urban political economies through its entanglement with multiple processes of neoliberalisation. By focusing on one function or the other, however, rather than understanding such contradictions as internal and inherent, we risk undermining urban agriculture\u27s transformative potential. Coming to terms with its internal contradictions can help activists, policy-makers and practitioners better position urban agriculture within coordinated efforts for structural change, one of many means to an end rather than an end unto itself

EDITORIAL: Stuck in motion? Reconnecting questions and tools in movement ecology

In this editorial for the Special Feature, I firstly briefly review the major milestones in tool development for movement ecology research, from the first mark–recapture techniques to the current techniques allowing users to collect high-frequency movement data and high-resolution environmental data, as well as the methods for statistical and mathematical analyses. I then briefly describe the methods covered in the Special Feature and conclude with a brief outlook on ongoing and future developments

Maize Inbreds Exhibit High Levels of Copy Number Variation (CNV) and Presence/Absence Variation (PAV) in Genome Content

Following the domestication of maize over the past ∼10,000 years, breeders have exploited the extensive genetic diversity of this species to mold its phenotype to meet human needs. The extent of structural variation, including copy number variation (CNV) and presence/absence variation (PAV), which are thought to contribute to the extraordinary phenotypic diversity and plasticity of this important crop, have not been elucidated. Whole-genome, array-based, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) revealed a level of structural diversity between the inbred lines B73 and Mo17 that is unprecedented among higher eukaryotes. A detailed analysis of altered segments of DNA conservatively estimates that there are several hundred CNV sequences among the two genotypes, as well as several thousand PAV sequences that are present in B73 but not Mo17. Haplotype-specific PAVs contain hundreds of single-copy, expressed genes that may contribute to heterosis and to the extraordinary phenotypic diversity of this important crop

Book Review of, California Cuisine and Just Food

Reviews the book, California Cuisine and Just Food, by Sally K Fairfax, Louise Nelson Dyble, Greig Tor Guthey, Lauren Gwin, Monica Moore and Jennifer Sokolove