Juva, Finland - developing local food with common goals and projects

The intention of this chapter is to draw a picture of the municipality of Juva as a site for the production, processing and use of local and organic food. This case study is based on information drawn mainly from interviews with local actors and from different documents

Municipal support for local food

Kiuruvesi in Finland represents an example where the town has taken an initiative and made a conscious decision for the use of local and organic food. This has more or less been carried out in all the municipal kitchens

"Genuine know-how from Juva" - a label for local products that has made a difference

The local label from Juva is a positive example of self-organised cooperation around a clear need. All parties had a genuine interest in establishing the label. For farmers, processors and shopkeepers it meant help in marketing; for organisations and the municipality, PR and promoting the welfare in the region

Do carrots really have to travel 700 kilometres?

The transport question was a starting point for local food activities in Kauhajoki, in western Finland. Questioning this led to further activities in the area. In the Suupohja region there has been a whole series of projects to develop ordering systems, marketing, etc. All have had a common goal of promoting the use of local food

Trivial movements and redistribution of polyphagous insect herbivores in heterogeneous vegetation

The aim of this thesis was to study the interplay between movement patterns of polyphagous insect herbivores and vegetation heterogeneity within agricultural fields. I examined if and how 1) host plant species, 2) host plant quality, 3) vegetation architecture, and 4) trap crop physical design influence movement patterns of individuals and spatial distribution of populations. Foragers may aggregate in profitable areas by tactic movement, or by area-restricted search, i.e. by moving randomly but slowing down movement and increasing rate of turning after encountering a profitable patch. Movement patterns of polyphagous herbivores have a high potential for influencing their distribution among hosts differing in quality. However, information on the role random vs. non-random components in their movement behavior is scarce. The results of this thesis show that both host plant species and within species differences in host plant quality affect movement behavior of a polyphagous herbivore, the European tarnished plant bug nymphs. The host plant induced movement patterns also explained the distribution of nymphs in heterogeneous vegetation. Because redistribution was very fast, it appears that no tactic behavior is needed for the nymphs to locate preferred hosts in heterogeneous vegetation composed of small patches. Instead the nymphs may successfully locate superior hosts merely by random movement coupled with sensitivity to local host quality. The physical structure of environment influences redistribution of populations at several spatial scales. At small scale the architecture of vegetation may influence redistribution of insects that move on the plant surface. At large scale e.g. trap crop physical design may affect redistribution of pests. In this thesis I derive a model for predicting the impact of vegetation architecture on the rate of displacement by insects moving on the plant surface. I also present and explore models of the interplay between pest movement and trap crop physical design. The trap crop models suggest that considerable reduction in pest density may be achieved using small trap crop cover with trap crops that the pest distinctly prefers over the crop. It supports also the idea that trap crop placement may have a dramatic impact on the efficiency of the trap crops

Conclusions

One of the basic problems in local organic food systems seems to be connected to food chains. The range of creative initiatives covers all thinkable fields: information about ecology, farmers' own activities in creating brands and labels, associations, developing ordering and delivery systems, processing, municipal help, marketing campaigns and so on

Discussion

This report presents case studies of local initiatives that have overcome obstacles and successfully promoted local food. To start an initiative that is ecologically, economically and socially sustainable and combines organic food production with recycling and society may sound like a complicated task

Cause of Chirality Consensus

Biological macromolecules, proteins and nucleic acids are composed exclusively of chirally pure monomers. The chirality consensus appears vital for life and it has even been considered as a prerequisite of life. However the primary cause for the ubiquitous handedness has remained obscure. We propose that the chirality consensus is a kinetic consequence that follows from the principle of increasing entropy, i.e. the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Entropy increases when an open system evolves by decreasing gradients in free energy with more and more efficient mechanisms of energy transduction. The rate of entropy increase is the universal fitness criterion of natural selection that favors diverse functional molecules and drives the system to the chirality consensus to attain and maintain high-entropy non-equilibrium states.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Material and methods

This chapter introduces the cases and the disciplinary approaches and methods. The BERAS study had a case study approach, and this report presents the interdisciplinary synthesis of the multidisciplinary study. Ultimately, the BERAS study attempted to clarify the potential impacts of enhanced localisation and recycling rather than to compare the average status of the present local, organic food systems and organic farms with the dominant food systems and agriculture