Systemic sustainability characteristics of organic farming: a review

Agriculture for food production has come to crossroads: while conventional agriculture needs to improve environmental and social performance, organic agriculture needs to increase the production volumes and to re-establish the connctedness between producers and consumers. Through re-localising the food production there is an increasing convergence of the farming practices towards sustainable agriculture acknowledging the prospects, advantages and limitations of the different production systems. The aim is to find combination of production methods that is optimal in given circumstances and to adapt the production system accordingly. Assessment of the environmental impacts should be integrated into assessment of the overall sustainability. Formulation of the management strategies requires evaluation and integration of reaseach results from many different disciplines, and the focus of the interdisciplinary research should be on food systems bioregions rather than on the level of farms or farming systems. The present article is a review on today's discussion and research dealing with conventional, organic and local farming for food production. The future prospects of organic production to respond to the challenges of advancing global food security and to contribute to overall sustainable development are discussed. It seems that as a developing production mode organic agriculture has a role to play in the green global network of local food systems

Institutional consumers' views of GHG emission reduction by optional milk systems within sustainability frame

An on-going study examines how Green House Gas (GHG) emission information could be used to support consumption driven changes in production, leading to reduction of GHG emissions in agriculture. This paper presents a pre-study, looking for discursive grounds by which institutional consumers make choices when confronted with the knowledge of GHG emission characteristics of five optional milk systems. The milk systems to be compared in terms of agricultural GHG emissions were (Option I) conventional milk system based on imported soy protein feed, (Option II) conventional milk system using domestic protein source and (Option III) organic milk system, as well as vegetable milk systems based on (Option IV) imported soy and (Option V) domestic oat. The discursive turn to these optional milk systems was taken by five catering information professionals, who tried to respond to the idea of catering for sustainability. The results revealed four different discourses, with variable ability to make use of emission information when systemic change is to be approached in everyday productive activities. Regarding emission information, the least sensitive discourse was the one of modernization, emphasising the use of conventional, cheap products. Sustainability and ecological modernization discourses exhibited most imaginative and novel solutions in productive activities. Bioregionalism discourse joined other discourses connecting them with the idea of domestic production. The discourses identified in this pre-study were, however, very fine-grained and intermingled, offering rather lean support for novel choices. Additionally the market position of organic milk suffered due to emission information, stressing heavily the reliability of environmental information as a ‘change agent’ on the market

Towards sustainable food systems through innovative networks in public catering

Sustainability of food systems inherently implies food security, but in search for cost savings, the decision‐makers tend to belittle the significance of food security, to overlook the various aspects of sustainability in statutory catering and to ignore the environmental, societal and cultural aspects of food. An extensive survey on the present status of statutory public catering shows, that although the severe natural circumstances present great challenges for food production in Finland, municipal public catering is still today largely based on domestically produced food. Thus, even in extreme circumstances national food security is possible. However, because food security is not seen as constituting an essential part of sustainable development (SD), the situation may alter in future. There is also large variation among Finnish municipalities as to how those involved in catering understand the concept SD, how SD has been accounted for and how it can be promoted in practice. In addition, there is very little direct co‐operation between researchers, extension and practical actors of municipal catering. The results imply that in order to encourage sustainable food consumption, the concept of SD should be brought clearly into the context of public catering. The municipalities differ as to the foci and development needs. Therefore, there are no universal solutions, but the solutions need to be slotted to the prevailing local circumstances and reconciled in mutual understanding among the actors. Innovative networks involving municipal actors, researchers and an expert as a broker provide one promising channel for finding the local way to improve sustainability of public catering. This study aims at reconnecting people to the origin of food in their own surroundings and encouraging them to actively promote sustainable food systems and sustainability in public catering through empowerment of the actors within innovative local networks. The presentation captures the results from the survey and discusses future perspectives of increasing sustainability within public catering in light of first experiences from the actors’ innovative networks

Impact of consumers' diet choices on greenhouse gas emissions

This study explores the impacts on agricultural and total GHG emissions of Finnish consumption if the share of animal based food products was reduced and if the share of ecologically produced food was to increase in Finland. GHG emissions associated with production of basic food items were quantified (per capita per annum) for current food consumption, for national standard diet recommendations, for a diet with no milk and beef and for a vegan diet including an oat-based milk susbstitute. The major source of GHG in primary food production is the cultivated soil. For the present average food consumption the emissions from the soil comprise 62 %, the share of emissions due to enteric fermentation is 24 %, whereas energy consumption and fertilizer manufacture both contribute about 8 %. Because of the extensive production mode, regarding GHG emissions the environmental performance, of organic production is poor

Germination: a means to improve the functionality of oat

The biochemical and physiological reactions of germination have long been utilised to produce barley malt for brewing and other purposes. Also some oat malt has been produced as raw-material of ale and stout production. The main goals of malting have been the degradation of grain storage components to soften the kernel structure, synthesis of amylolytic enzymes and production of nutrients for brewing yeast. Also flavour and colour attributes have been important. During the recent years interest has arisen also in the secondary metabolites produced during germination, which can have valuable health promoting properties and act as bioactive or functional compounds in foods. By using a tailored germination/malting process a desired combination of valuable properties may be obtained in germinating grains or seeds. All this requires knowledge and know-how of the germination process and the biochemistry behind it. This paper reviews the scientific knowledge about germination/malting of oat with special emphasis on changes in grain characteristics

Alchemy in the Vernacular: An Edition and Study of Early English Witnesses of The Mirror of Alchemy

The author defended her doctoral dissertation Alchemy in the Vernacular: An Edition and Study of Early English Witnesses of The Mirror of Alchemy at the University of Turku, Faculty of Humanities, on 27 May 2021. Professor Peter J. Grund (University of Kansas) acted as the opponent and Professor Matti Peikola (University of Turku) acted as the Custos. The dissertation is available at https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/15169

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From manuscript to digital edition: The challenges of editing early English alchemical texts

Alchemy, later considered a pseudo-science, was one of the first experimental sciences in the Middle Ages and influenced the development of chemistry. A multitude of English medieval alchemical manuscript texts survive, written in both Latin and the vernacular. However, the uncharted material vastly outnumbers the texts edited so far, especially in the case of vernacular texts. Indeed, according to Peter J. Grund (2013: 428), the editing of alchemical manuscript texts can be called "the final frontier" in Middle English (ME) textual editing. There are currently no digital editions of ME alchemical texts, although one is under preparation (Grund 2006). Indeed, there is to my knowledge only one digital edition of alchemical texts from any period: The Chymistry of Isaac Newton, presenting Newton’s alchemical manuscript material (Newman 2005). There are also very few print editions compared to the vast amount of manuscript material: currently, only nine scholarly print editions of ME alchemical manuscript texts exist (Grund 2013: 431–32, fn. 14–15). The lack of editions may be partly due to alchemical texts having been considered too ‘obscure’ and ‘difficult’ to merit editing; alchemical language has a reputation for being vague and laden with metaphors. In general, English-language early scientific texts have not been much edited until fairly recently (cf. Pahta and Taavitsainen 2004: 3–4), and disciplines such as alchemy, considered pseudo-scientific in the present day, have been especially neglected. However, alchemical texts present many intriguing research possibilities. In order for this branch of ME scientific writing to be used by e.g. historical linguists, more alchemical texts need to be edited – preferably in a digital form compatible with corpus search tools. This paper will discuss the challenges presented by ME alchemical texts and the ways in which a digital edition can address those challenges. A group of previously unedited and unresearched alchemical manuscript texts will act as a case study, with a focus on the issue of textual fluidity. </p

Alchemy in the vernacular: an edition and study of early English witnesses of The Mirror of Alchemy

This study concerns an English-language alchemical work called The Mirror of Alchemy (MoA). I examine manuscript copies of MoA from the 15th to 17th centuries as well as a printed edition from 1597. The main aim of my study is to edit a previously unstudied manuscript version of MoA, making this work accessible for future research and contributing to developing editorial methods for early scientific texts. A central aim is to place MoA in its textual and historical contexts to clarify the edited text to readers. I employ theory and methods from the fields of scholarly editing and textual scholarship, and integrate the discussion of manuscript and printed witnesses. MoA is an English translation of the Latin work Speculum alchemiae. This is a well-known alchemical work, formerly attributed to Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1292?). The material for my study consists of the seven extant manuscript copies of MoA, as well as the 1597 printed edition. There is a previous edition of the 1597 witness, but all the manuscript copies were previously unstudied and unedited. My analysis uncovers the textual relationships between the witnesses as well as examining the witnesses as translations, focusing on the translation of specialised alchemical terminology into English. Based on detailed qualitative textual comparisons, my study shows that the witnesses of MoA can be divided into four textual groups. MoA is an example of the gradual shift from Latin to English, as the four Groups represent different translations of Speculum alchemiae. I examine these Groups both from the point of view of their textual relationships and that of the influence of the (potential) source texts on the translations. My analysis shows that a combination of linguistic strategies was used to translate Speculum alchemiae into English multiple times. The differences in the translations are explained by the translation strategies used and diachronic changes in the language of science. A major result of this study is also the best-text edition and its commentary and glossary, as well as transcriptions of the four Groups. The edition’s text also provides some previously unrecorded words and antedatings: these show that editing and studying early alchemical material is a valuable undertaking also from a lexicological perspective.--- Väitöstutkimuksessa tarkastelen englanninkielistä alkemistista teosta nimeltään The Mirror of Alchemy (MoA). Aineistoni koostuu MoA:n 1400–1600-luvuilta olevista käsikirjoituskopioista sekä vuoden 1597 painetusta editiosta. Tutkimukseni päätavoite on editoida MoA:n aiemmin tutkimaton käsikirjoitusversio, mikä tuo aineiston tutkijoiden käyttöön. Editio kehittää myös osaltaan editointimetodeja varhaisille tieteellisille teksteille. Tutkimuksen keskeinen tavoite on asettaa MoA tekstuaalisiin ja historiallisiin konteksteihinsa. Käytän tutkimuksessa tieteellisen editoinnin ja tekstuaalitieteiden teorioita ja metodeja, ja käsittelen painettua ja käsikirjoitusaineistoa yhdessä. MoA on käännös latinankielisestä teoksesta Speculum alchemiae. Tätä tunnettua alkemistista teosta pidettiin ennen Roger Baconin (n. 1214–1292?) kirjoittamana. Tutkimusaineistoni koostuu MoA:n seitsemästä säilyneestä käsikirjoituskopiosta sekä vuonna 1597 painetusta editiosta. Jälkimmäisestä on olemassa tieteellinen editio, mutta käsikirjoituskopioita ei ole tutkittu tai editoitu. Analyysini selvittää tekstien väliset suhteet sekä tarkastelee tekstejä käännöksinä keskittyen erityisesti siihen, miten alkemistista erikoisterminologiaa on käännetty englanniksi. Tutkimus osoittaa tekstikriittisen vertailun pohjalta, että MoA voidaan jakaa neljään tekstiryhmään. MoA on esimerkki tieteen kielen vähittäisestä siirtymästä latinasta englantiin, ja neljä tekstiryhmää edustavatkin eri käännöksiä Speculum alchemiaesta. Tarkastelen näitä käännöksiä tekstien välisten suhteiden näkökulmasta ja tutkin, miten (mahdolliset) lähtötekstit ovat vaikuttaneet käännöksiin. Analyysini osoittaa, että eri käännöksissä oli käytössä oli erilaisia kielellisiä strategioita Speculum alchemiaen kääntämisessä. Käännösten väliset erot selittyvät eri käännösstrategioilla sekä tieteen kielen diakronisilla muutoksilla. Merkittävä tulos on myös tutkimukseen sisältyvä best text -editio, johon kuuluu kommentaari ja sanasto, sekä transkriptiot kaikista neljästä ryhmästä. Edition teksti tuo myös esille joitakin aiemmin tuntemattomia sanoja sekä sanoja, jotka varhaistavat sanakirjojen ensiesiintymiä. Ne kertovat siitä, että varhaisen alkemistisen aineiston editointi ja tutkiminen on kannattavaa myös sanastontutkimuksen näkökulmasta

A Phenomenological Study: Marriage and Family Therapists\u27 and Clinician\u27s Perceptions of How Secondary Traumatic Stress Affects Them and Their Families

Multiple facets of clinicians\u27 lives are influenced by compassion fatigue including physiological well-being, the perspective of clinicians in relation to the world, and psychological and emotional reactions to trauma triggers (Figley, 1998). Work stress research considers the systemic effects of stress on workers\u27 relationships. Research also shows that romantic relationships are negatively influenced by work stress (Sanz-Vergel, Rodriguez, Bakker & Demerouti, 2012). This phenomenological study investigated the lived experience of three clinicians and how compassion fatigue was experienced in their relationships with their partners and children. Clinicians completed the Professional Quality of Life assessment and those with a score of 23 or higher on the secondary traumatic stress and burnout subscales participated in an interview. The major themes that emerged in this study were: (a) awareness of the effect of compassion fatigue on relationships; (b) awareness of clinician\u27s psychosomatic symptoms related to compassion fatigue; (c) awareness of the effect of compassion fatigue symptoms on the clinician\u27s social interactions; (d) awareness of the importance of clinician\u27s boundaries and self-care after the onset of compassion fatigue symptoms; (e) heightened awareness of spirituality or religiosity after the onset of compassion fatigue; and (f) awareness of the children\u27s presence mitigating compassion fatigue symptoms. This dissertation also addresses the implications of this study regarding self-care, the limitations of this study and future research