Using biodiversity to link agricultural productivity with environmental quality: Results from three field experiments in Iowa

Liebman, Matt; Helmers, Matthew J.; Schulte, Lisa A.; Chase, Craig A.

doi:10.1017/s1742170512000300

Cited by 82 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…The new Green Revolution refrain of "doubling food to feed 9 billion by 2050" appears consistently in popular and scholarly work to argue that the need is too urgent to afford justice-oriented responses (see, for example, almost all the presentations at the 2014 World Food Prize dialogues). This techno-corporate position is countered by a diverse group of scholars, activists, NGOs, and farmers who point to increasing evidence that smaller scale and ecologically-oriented farming has had better outcomes for both societies and environments and is also able to 'feed the world' (Holt Giménez 2014; Kremen, Iles, and Bacon 2012;Lappé 2010;McMichael 2008), especially if granted the social and state support currently reserved for mainstream production agriculture in the global north (Carpenter 2013;De Schutter 2011a;De Schutter 2011b;De Schutter and Vanloqueren 2011;IAASTD 2009aIAASTD , 2009bLiebman et al 2013). Clarity over what constitutes food justice could promote more rigorous and transparent scholarship necessary to provide unassailable evidence against the capture of value across the food system by corporate agri-food science and business.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does it mean to do food justice?

Cadieux

Slocum

2015

Journal of Political Ecology

176

148

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Abstract'Food justice' and 'food sovereignty' have become key words in food movement scholarship and activism. In the case of 'food justice', it seems the word is often substituted for work associated with projects typical of the alternative or local food movement. We argue that it is important for scholars and practitioners to be clear on how food justice differs from other efforts to seek an equitable food system. In the interests of ensuring accountability to socially just research and action, as well as mounting a tenable response to the 'feed the world' paradigm that often sweeps aside concerns with justice as distractions from the 'real' issues, scholars and practitioners need to be more clear on what it means to do food justice. In exploring that question, we identify four nodes around which food justice organizing appears to occur: trauma/inequity, exchange, land, and labor. This article sets the stage for a second one that follows, Notes on the practice of food justice in the U.S., where we discuss attempts to practice food justice. Key words: food justice, food sovereignty, food movement, food security, alternative agri-food systems RésuméLa «Justice alimentaire» et «souveraineté alimentaire» sont devenus des mots clés dans les études universitaires et l'activisme de la nourriture et le système agroalimentaires. Dans le cas de «justice alimentaire», il semble que le mot est souvent substitué au travail associés aux projets typiques du mouvement alimentaire alternative. Nous soutenons qu'il est important pour les chercheurs et les praticiens soient claires sur la façon dont la justice alimentaire diffère des autres efforts pour trouver un système alimentaire équitable. Les chercheurs et praticiens doivent être plus clair sur ce que cela signifie de faire la justice alimentaire. Ils ont besoin pour assurer la responsabilité de la recherche et de l'action qui est socialement juste, ainsi que le montage d'une réponse tenable au paradigme « nourrir le monde » qui balaie souvent de côté la justice comme une distraction de problèmes «réels». En explorant cette question, nous identifions quatre noeuds autour desquels la justice alimentaire semble se produire: un traumatisme / inégalité, les échanges, la terre, et du travail. Cet article ouvre la voie à une seconde qui suit, Notes sur la pratique de la justice alimentaire aux États-Unis, où nous discutons de la pratique de la justice alimentaire. Mots clés: justice alimentaire, la souveraineté alimentaire, le mouvement de la nourriture, la sécurité alimentaire, les systèmes agro-alimentaires alternatifs Resumen "Justicia alimentaria" y "soberanía alimentaria" se han convertido en términos clave en el discurso académico y el activismo sobre el mundo alimentario. En al caso de la "justicia alimentaria" parece que la palabra a menudo se sustituye por el trabajo el trabajo asociado con proyectos típicos del movimiento alternativo o de alimentos locales. Arguimos que es importante que los académicos y activistas diferencien claramente la justicia alimentaria y los m...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does it mean to do food justice?

Cadieux

Slocum

2015

Journal of Political Ecology

176

148

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Another limitation is that not all potentially cost-effective conservation actions were simulated in our analysis, including some promising new approaches to retain nutrients on the landscape (e.g., bioreactors, saturated buffers, and cover crops) (22,23). Likewise, the options we considered were only "working land" options, i.e., cropland conservation scenarios that are consistent with maintaining current crop production levels, because the practices modeled do not require changes in the cropping systems (11)(12)(13)(14)(15).…”

Section: Discussion and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cost-effective targeting of conservation investments to reduce the northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone

Rabotyagov

Campbell

White

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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A seasonally occurring summer hypoxic (low oxygen) zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico is the second largest in the world. Reductions in nutrients from agricultural cropland in its watershed are needed to reduce the hypoxic zone size to the national policy goal of 5,000 km 2 (as a 5-y running average) set by the national Gulf of Mexico Task Force's Action Plan. We develop an integrated assessment model linking the water quality effects of cropland conservation investment decisions on the more than 550 agricultural subwatersheds that deliver nutrients into the Gulf with a hypoxic zone model. We use this integrated assessment model to identify the most cost-effective subwatersheds to target for cropland conservation investments. We consider targeting of the location (which subwatersheds to treat) and the extent of conservation investment to undertake (how much cropland within a subwatershed to treat). We use process models to simulate the dynamics of the effects of cropland conservation investments on nutrient delivery to the Gulf and use an evolutionary algorithm to solve the optimization problem. Model results suggest that by targeting cropland conservation investments to the most cost-effective location and extent of coverage, the Action Plan goal of 5,000 km 2 can be achieved at a cost of $2.7 billion annually. A large set of costhypoxia tradeoffs is developed, ranging from the baseline to the nontargeted adoption of the most aggressive cropland conservation investments in all subwatersheds (estimated to reduce the hypoxic zone to less than 3,000 km 2 at a cost of $5.6 billion annually).waters are proliferating worldwide, impacting more than 400 coastal marine systems (1, 2). A major cause of their formation and persistence is nutrient pollution (from agricultural, urban, and other sources) delivered from their watersheds. Excess nutrients threaten not only coastal waters (3), but also pose problems within the watersheds (4), diminishing the quantity and quality of the ecosystem services they provide (5-7). For example, 55 percent of US streams are in "poor" condition (4), drinking water supplies are compromised by high nitrate concentrations, harmful algal blooms risk human health, and commercial fisheries are threatened. The second-largest hypoxic zone in the global ocean is in the northern Gulf of Mexico and covers an area averaging more than 14,500 km 2 in the summers of 2004 through 2013 (8). The documentation of this pervasive phenomenon led to the 2008 Action Plan for Reducing, Mitigating, and Controlling Hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico (9). The Action Plan, a joint federal-state effort, set the goal of reducing the size of Gulf hypoxia to less than 5,000 km 2 over a 5-y period.Current analysis of the sources of nutrient loads from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (hereafter referred to as the Mississippi Basin) into the Gulf indicate that agricultural sources in the watershed contribute 80% of the delivered nitrogen (N) and more than 60% of the delivered phosphorus (P) (10).A number of cr...

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“…Much of the dysfunction of industrial agriculture in the Corn Belt derives from the low levels of biological diversity now present across landscapes and within farming systems in the region (Broussard and Turner, 2009;Liebman et al, 2013;Asbjornsen et al, 2014). Of particular importance is the fact that shallow-rooted, short-season crops like corn and soybean have replaced native, perennial species whose deep roots and long growth period from early spring to late fall are much more effective in holding soil in place, promoting water infiltration into soil and transpiration into the atmosphere, fostering carbon sequestration and nutrient retention, and providing habitat for pollinators, biological control agents, and a host of other organisms .…”

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confidence: 99%

“…As shown in Figure 2, there was a 95% reduction in sediment export, a 90% reduction in total phosphorus export, and an 85% reduction in total nitrogen export from watersheds containing 10% prairie when compared to 100% row-crop watersheds managed without tillage (Helmers et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2014 Ratio of performance indicators in watersheds with prairie strips (10% prairie strips and 90% rowcrops) to performance indicators in watersheds without prairie strips (100% row-crops). Soil sediment data are from Helmers et al (2012); phosphorus, nitrogen, and rainfall runoff data are from Zhou et al (2014); crop data are unpublished; bird data are from MacDonald (2012); and plant data are from Hirsh et al (2013) for biodiversity conservation of plants and birds have been documented in these experimental watersheds (Figure 2; Hirsh et al, 2013;Liebman et al, 2013). The average annual cost of treating a farm field with prairie conservation strips ranges from $60 to $85 per treated hectare, making it one of the least expensive conservation practices available to landowners and farmers .…”

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confidence: 99%