This paper analyzes the strategies employed by growers to overcome seed sourcing challenges, and the resultant implications for the seed systems to which they belong. Vermont growers' adaptability, as ascertained through a mixed-methods approach involving online surveys (n=158) and semi-structured interviews (n=31), displayed varying strategies contingent on their commercial or non-commercial positionality within the agri-food system. Even so, systemic roadblocks surfaced in regards to the lack of access to assorted, region-specific, and organically-harvested seeds. The study's findings underscore the significance of establishing links between formal and informal seed systems within the U.S., thereby empowering growers to address various hurdles and cultivate a resilient and sustainable planting material base.
Vermont's environmentally vulnerable communities are the subject of this study, which investigates cases of food insecurity and food justice issues. Employing a structured door-to-door survey (n=569), semi-structured interviews (n=32), and focus groups (n=5), our findings highlight the prevalence of food insecurity in Vermont's environmentally vulnerable communities, intersecting with socioeconomic factors such as race and income. (1) The study further demonstrates the need for improved access to food and social assistance programs, which must actively combat the cycles of multiple injustices. (2) (3) Addressing food justice in these environmentally vulnerable communities requires an intersectional strategy that extends beyond simple provision. (4) Recognizing broader contextual and environmental elements offers a more insightful perspective on the nature of food justice.
Cities increasingly contemplate a vision for sustainable future food systems. In the planning of such futures, the contribution of entrepreneurial ventures is frequently underestimated and excluded. Almere, a city in the Netherlands, exemplifies a noteworthy case. Urban agriculture is mandated, requiring residents of Almere Oosterwold to dedicate half their plot space to this practice. Within Almere, the municipality's plan involves gradually increasing Oosterwold's food production share to 10% of the total food consumed. Our investigation of urban agriculture in Oosterwold assumes it is an entrepreneurial endeavor, characterized by a creative and continuous (re)structuring that permeates daily routines. This research analyzes the urban agriculture residents' preferred and potential futures in Oosterwold, exploring how they are currently structured and how this entrepreneurial process impacts the realization of sustainable food futures. Futuring allows us to investigate plausible and preferred representations of the future, and then to map those depictions back to the current time. Residents' perspectives on the future, as our data demonstrates, vary. In the same vein, they are capable of creating specific actions to attain their preferred futures, yet face challenges in unwavering commitment to those actions. We maintain that a temporal incongruity, a form of limited vision that hinders residents' comprehension of realities extending beyond their own, is responsible for this outcome. The lived experiences of citizens must be considered integral to the realization of any imagined future. To achieve urban food futures, careful planning and entrepreneurial endeavors are essential, as these social processes are mutually supportive.
Peer-to-peer farming networks have demonstrably impacted farmers' decisions on adopting novel agricultural practices, as substantial evidence affirms. Distinctly structured farmer networks are emerging, combining the advantages of farmers freely exchanging knowledge with a formalized organizational structure providing a variety of informational and interactive resources. Defined by a specific membership, a structured organizational model, farmer-led direction, and an emphasis on peer learning, formal farmer networks are identified as such. The benefits of organized farmer networks, as documented in existing ethnographic research, are investigated further with a focus on the farmers participating in the long-standing, formal Practical Farmers of Iowa network. We analyzed survey and interview data using a nested mixed-methods approach to ascertain the relationship between participation levels and varied engagement forms within a network and the adoption of conservation strategies. Data from the 2013, 2017, and 2020 surveys of 677 Practical Farmers of Iowa members were aggregated and subsequently examined. Greater network participation, notably through in-person interactions, displays a considerable and statistically significant connection to a more substantial embrace of conservation practices, as evidenced by binomial and ordered logistic regression results using GLM. The logistic regression model indicates that the formation of relationships within the network is the most significant predictor of a farmer's reported adoption of conservation practices subsequent to participation in PFI. In-depth interviews with a sample of 26 farmer members revealed that PFI helps farmers adopt practices by providing comprehensive support, including information, resources, encouragement, confidence building, and consistent reinforcement. PacBio Seque II sequencing Farmers found in-person learning formats more beneficial than independent ones because they facilitated valuable exchanges, question-and-answer sessions, and the direct observation of practical outcomes. Formal networks appear to be a promising pathway to the wider implementation of conservation techniques, specifically through focused efforts to cultivate relationships within the network, capitalizing on the value of hands-on, face-to-face learning encounters.
The critique of our research (Azima and Mundler in Agric Hum Values 39791-807, 2022) suggested a link between increased dependence on family farm labor with minimal opportunity costs and higher net revenue and economic satisfaction. We offer a counter-argument in this response. Our response offers a comprehensive viewpoint on this matter, particularly within the context of short food supply chains. In terms of its influence on farmer job satisfaction, the percentage of total farm sales generated by short food supply chains is examined. Ultimately, the exploration of the foundation of professional contentment for farmers engaged in these sales avenues warrants substantial research efforts.
High-income nations have embraced the use of food banks as a common solution to food insecurity, with this practice gaining traction since the 1980s. Neoliberal policies, especially those drastically reducing social welfare support, are widely acknowledged as the primary cause for their establishment. Subsequently, a neoliberal critique was applied to the issues of foodbanks and hunger. Tenapanor clinical trial Nonetheless, our argument posits that criticisms targeting food banks are not solely a product of neoliberal thought, but are rooted in a far more extensive historical trajectory, thereby obfuscating the precise contribution of neoliberal policies. Gaining a historical perspective on the development of food charity is critical for comprehending the normalization of food banks within society, increasing our understanding of hunger, and assessing potential solutions to this important issue. We present a historical overview of food charity in Aotearoa New Zealand, focusing on the cyclical patterns of soup kitchen use during the 19th and 20th centuries and the rise of food banks in the 1980s and 1990s, in this article. Examining the historical context of food banks, we analyze the profound economic and cultural transformations that have enabled their establishment, highlighting the recurring patterns, parallels, and deviations, thereby offering a novel perspective on the nature of hunger. This analysis allows for a subsequent discussion of the broader ramifications of historical food charity and hunger, to understand the influence of neoliberalism on food banks, and advocating for approaches that go beyond a neoliberal framework in finding solutions for food insecurity.
The prediction of indoor airflow distribution is often contingent on high-fidelity, computationally expensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. While AI models trained on CFD data enable fast and precise estimations of indoor airflow, current methods only predict certain aspects, failing to account for the complete flow field. Furthermore, standard AI models aren't consistently structured to predict a range of outputs corresponding to a continuous input sequence, but rather to predict outcomes for a small set of discrete inputs. By applying a conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN) model, inspired by current top-tier AI for synthetic image generation, this project addresses these deficiencies. We construct a Boundary Condition CGAN (BC-CGAN) model, an extension of the original CGAN, designed to generate 2D airflow distribution images based on a continuous parameter, such as a boundary condition. We also create a novel feature-driven algorithm for the strategic generation of training data, intending to reduce the volume of computationally costly data while ensuring the training quality of the AI model. quality use of medicine Applying the BC-CGAN model to two benchmark airflow cases, an isothermal lid-driven cavity flow and a non-isothermal mixed convection flow with a heated box, serves as an assessment tool. We likewise investigate how the BC-CGAN models perform when the training procedure is curtailed based on varying validation error criteria. The 2D velocity and temperature distribution prediction accuracy of the trained BC-CGAN model is within 5% of the reference and is remarkably faster, achieving up to 75,000 times the speed of CFD simulations. The feature-driven algorithm, as proposed, demonstrates promise in minimizing both data volume and training epochs, without compromising prediction accuracy, especially when input-driven flow exhibits non-linear patterns.