Microbe Hunters Revisited – Paul de Kruif and the Beginning of Popular Science Writing

Paul de Kruif is credited with being one of the first popular science writers for the general public. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1916 and worked at the Rockefeller Institute under Simon Flexner. After being fired in 1922 for publishing a scathing article on medical research, de Kruif caught the attention of Sinclair Lewis, who used his scientific background to write his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Arrowsmith. In 1926, de Kruif published Microbe Hunters which recounted the exploits and discoveries of 14 renowned microbiologists from von Leeuwenhoek to Pasteur, Ross, Paul Ehrlich and Walter Reed. Microbe Hunters became a best seller, was translated into 18 languages, and formed the basis of two Hollywood movies, Yellow Jack and The Magic Bullet. Generations of young readers were captivated by the vivid protrayal of these men and their discoveries

Contesting the food system in South Africa: issues and opportunities

This report widens the debate about food production and distribution in South Africa to consider some of the entrenched power dynamics that shape the way these happen, and to consider whether a more radical transformation of the agro-food system is required to ensure adequate access to food for all.It considers the structure of the South African agro-food system, and looks at points of possible intervention that could not only open the system to greater involvement by those who have been marginalised or passively incorporated into that system, but that also offer potential pathways to structural change that could deepen diversity in the agro-food system and reorient it to the needs of the poor, both as historically subordinated producers and as consumers.Norwegian Centre for Human Rights at the University of Oslo, and the source of the funds, the Norwegian government, through the Norway-South Africa Programme

Status report on land and agricultural policy in South Africa

A strategy that seeks to insert smallholders into the large-scale, industrial, export-oriented model can only succeed in broadening and diversifying the producer base slightly. The large-scale model also brings with it the deepening problems of concentration in the value chain, which, in turn, entrench the production model. The ANC in government has identified the major contours of the challenge, but its responses tend towards seeking to deracialise that model while keeping its core intact. An alternative has to confront the existing economic power of commercial agriculture and agro-industry with the aim of transforming it in the interests of the poor. Deracialisation is necessary, but is not sufficient to realise this. The logic of a smallholder strategy must be followed beyond the farm gate, to the institutions that support agriculture and the value chains that feed off it.The Norwegian government, through the Norway-South Africa Programm

Acute Care Bed Need in Maine: General Use Acute Care Facilities in Maine : Utilization, Occupancy Rates, and Bed Need Projected to 1990 and 1995

Acute Care Bed Need in Maine: General Use Acute Care Facilities in Maine : Utilization, Occupancy Rates, and Bed Need Projected to 1990 and 1995 by Stephen Greenberg, Planning and Research Associate, Office of Data, Research, and Vital Statistics. Prepared at the request of the Division of Planning, Bureau of Health, Maine Department of Human Services. Produced under Appropriations 1310.4, 1305.1065 and 2210.2950 (November, 1988). Contents: Overview and Discussion of Findings / Using the Data: An Example / List of Detailed Tables / Appendiceshttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/me_collection/1116/thumbnail.jp

Land reform, space and power in Makhado municipality, Limpopo, South Africa

This thesis explores the role of land reform in the production of space and relations of power in rural South Africa after 1994, based on a case study of a cluster of restitution farms in Makhado municipality in Limpopo province in northern South Africa. It uses Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space, which proposes that space is a dynamic social construction and that spatial and social – and hence power - relations are mutually constitutive. Land reform processes are considered using three components of the production of space identified by Lefebvre, namely the material, the conceptual and the lived. These components are applied to three core themes in land reform which emerged from the research: authority and land governance; property relations; and land use (production and settlement). The investigation was based primarily on interviews with inhabitants in the research area affected by land reform, with individuals with some historical knowledge of the area, and with various individuals from government and other support organisations with some relation to land reform in the area. The methods included an element of participant observation and some archival research. The research indicates that land reform had an uneven impact on the production of space and power relations in the area of study. Contradictions emanating from within the state in particular exacerbated this unevenness. The retention of the private property framework and the entrenchment of pre-existing forms of authority and relations of power – private landowners and traditional authorities – constituted limitations on the role land reform could play in altering rural spaces and power relations. However, land reform simultaneously facilitated openings for subterranean shifts through new practices, rooted in everyday activities at the micro-spatial level, which signalled potential broader shifts in spatial and power relations over time

Corporate power in the agro-food system and the consumer food environment in South Africa

This contribution maps the South African agro-food system with a focus on corporate ownership and power, inspired by value chain work applied to the food system as a whole. Corporations tend to dominate some nodes, for example input supply, grain storage and handling, and feedlots. Other nodes have a corporate core but with a wide number of smaller economic actors, for example agricultural production, food manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and consumer food service. This wide number of actors points to possible areas of intervention to boost livelihoods by supporting their economic activities. The paper considers the influence of corporations in structuring consumer perceptions on food quality and health, from input into apparently neutral dietary-based guidelines to advertising. Financialisation in the food system, including the institutionalisation of share ownership and the rise of agri-investment companies, and the multi-nationalisation of South African agro-food capital especially into Africa, have implications for the ability of the nation state to regulate activities in the agro-food system. The paper concludes with some recommendations for further work.IS

Enhancing food and nutrition security in a corporate-dominated food system

South Africa faces a ‘dual burden’ of malnutrition, with persistent under-nutrition coinciding with rising rates of diet-related NCDs (e.g. diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers). According to a recent national survey, 54% of households nationally reported experiencing either hunger or risk of hunger (Shisana et al., 2013:10). The South African food system is capable of supplying enough food either through production or trade. The main challenge is that many people cannot afford to purchase the food they need. Therefore the focus of efforts to improve food security is on increasing incomes, either through welfare (such as social grants), or through increasing employment or entrepreneurship

Corporate concentration and food security in South Africa: is the commercial agro-food system delivering?

Although the current agro-food system in South Africa has the technical and organisational capacity to meet domestic food needs, there are major problems with access to food and with the nutrient content of existing food supplies. The agro-food system is a product of apartheid and, as such, has social inequities built into it. This paper looks briefly at the main points of inequity and reflects on various attempts and proposals to alter the system to reduce social inequity