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Integrity in the fresh produce supply chain: solutions and approaches to an emerging issue
Get PDFFood fraud is the misrepresentation of food in terms of labelling or documentation. The fresh produce supply chain is global with fresh produce grown many thousands of miles from the point of purchase and consumption. Long supply and complex fresh produce supply chains provide opportunity for fraudulent activity to occur especially further processing or re-packing of products to mask opaque practice and non-compliant behaviour. Price premiums for products designated as ‘high-value’, for example, organic produce, produce of particular provenance, or geographical production area provides motivation for less scrupulous actors to present for sale, produce that is mislabelled or misrepresented. People integrity as well as data, product and process integrity are gaining wider attention in the horticultural sector. Types of fraud critiqued in this review paper include mislabelling, substitution or misrepresentation of origin (country or regional location), method of production (organic or conventional) or incorrect varietal declaration. These challenges and the existing and emerging technologies that are both used within a quality assurance programme and alternatively used by regulators when investigating potential instances of fraudulent behaviour are considered. New methodological solutions and approaches are emerging and suc techniques will develop rapidly to meet the growing challenge of fraud and to ensure consumer trust in the industry is maintained especially as types of food fraud evolve and become more sophisticated
Climate Change Perceptions and Attitudes to Smallholder Adaptation in Northwestern Nigerian Drylands
Get PDFAs climate change is projected to increase in vulnerable areas of the world, we examined
farmers’ perceptions of this change and their attitudes to adaptation in two communities (Zango and
Kofa) in northwestern Nigeria. A total of 220 arable farming households completed a livelihoods
survey preplanting. The perceptions survey was followed by a survey of 154 households post-harvest
for the attitudes questions based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). In addition to the positive
responses from the farmers towards climate change perceptions, TPB findings reveal that such
perceptions could lead to intentions to adapt as determinants of attitude were significant. Subjective
norm was a significant predictor of adaptation intention in Kofa, but not in Zango. Perceived
behavioural control, though useful, was not a determinant of climate change adaptation intention.
Most importantly, principal component analysis (PCA) of climate change perception variables allowed
us to discriminate smallholder farming households and can be used as a tool for segmentation into
climate change-perceiving and nonperceiving farming households. Efforts towards improving the
determinants of behavioural intention for the poorly perceiving group could lead to better decisions
to adapt to climate change and provide more targeted extension support in the future
Tackling bovine TB
Get PDFOn 18 December Defra revealed that during 2018, 32,601 badgers were killed, bringing the total number slaughtered under licence since 2013 to almost 67,000.1
‘Effectiveness’ claims relate not to the impact on cattle TB, but rather to the ability of the contracted shooters to kill sufficient badgers to satisfy their licence requirements, which they can hardly fail to reach given that target numbers are ‘adjusted’ by Natural England part-way through the culls according to the contractors’ progress.
Sixty per cent of the badgers have been killed by ‘controlled shooting’, a method rejected by both the government’s Independent Expert Panel2 and the BVA3 because of animal welfare concerns. During 2018 Natural England directly monitored just 89 (0.43 per cent) of controlled shooting events.
It is deplorable that the chief veterinary officer (CVO) continues to support the roll-out of a policy that permits controlled shooting, when veterinary organisations have condemned the method on animal welfare grounds. It is particularly concerning that the CVO appears to have deflected responsibility for humaneness to Natural England’s chief scientist who, as far as we are aware, has no background in animal welfare science.
It is also unacceptable for government to attribute reductions in herd bovine TB (bTB) incidents over the first four years of culling in the original ‘pilot’ cull zones to its badger culling policy.4 Independent analysis of this and more recent data from the Gloucestershire pilot cull zone5 indicate that new herd incidence is rising sharply, with 22 herd breakdowns in the 12 months to September 2017 (an increase of 29.4 per cent when compared to the 17 breakdowns reported by APHA for the previous 12 months). Analysis of the 2018 figures indicates that both incidence and prevalence are now rising even faster, with a further 24 herd breakdowns occurring between 1 January and 5 December 2018.
To date, the government and its officials cite data that are two years out of date, but have declined to comment on this emerging evidence that, far from resulting in a substantial disease control benefit, badger culls may be leading to a sharp increase in bTB in cattle.
Natural England’s chief scientist and the UK’s CVO continue to endorse a failing and inhumane policy, bringing their offices into serious disrepute. We urge them, and the BVA, to reconsider their support for further badger culling, and instead focus on the actual cause of bTB’s epidemic spread – a cattle skin test with a sensitivity of only 50 per cent,6,7 and the ongoing problems associated with cattle movements and on-farm biosecurity
From the hydrosocial to the hydrocitizen: Water, place and subjectivity within emergent urban wetlands
Get PDFThis paper argues that the expansion of corporate social responsibility initiatives within the English water sector, and in particular the opening up of privately owned public spaces (POPS) in urban settings, have generated spatially fixed forms of human-environment relationships that we have termed ‘hydrocitizenships’. Utilising empirical fieldwork undertaken within an emergent wetland POPS, we suggest that these novel modes of citizen agency are primarily enacted through the performativity of volunteering, in multiple civic roles such as landscapers, citizen scientists, stewards and storytelling guides. Members of the local community thus effectively curate new civic subjectivities for themselves in response to the site and its organisation, by producing for themselves new modes of ‘hydrocitizenship’. These hybrid intertwined forms of practice prompt us to ask questions about the extent to which these apparently new forms of environmental citizenship are self-directed, or manipulated. As access, control over, and use of, water resources are a synecdoche of structural power relationships within contemporary neoliberal economies, we can go further to suggest that these blue-green POPS are emblematic of a new iteration of hydro-social relations in which water, place and subjectivity become the collateral through which new POPS are secured. For water companies seeking to deploy corporate social responsibility there is, then, a subtle two step move to be made, by building brand loyalty and then developing new forms of resource management in which local communities accept heightened levels of responsibility for sites to which they are offered recreational access. These emergent ‘hydrocitizenships’ thus encapsulate very specific geo-spatial subjectivities and performativities which lock in access to waterscapes with closely scripted conditionalities regarding activity and behaviour
Economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services: a review for decision makers
Get PDFThere is increasing interest in the use of economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services for a wide variety of purposes. These include relatively familiar uses in project appraisal and more novel applications in advocacy, performance tracking and accounting in public and private settings. Decision makers who use valuation information need to understand the background, strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. The methods have a strong foundation in economic theory and offer a rapidly growing evidence base, improving ability to evaluate a broad range of ecosystem goods and services. Nevertheless, there are theoretical and practical limitations that need to be understood and kept in mind when interpreting results. In this paper, we briefly review the economic valuation methods and situate them in their historical and theoretical contexts. We assess the main critiques, attempts at resolving them, and implications for the usefulness of the methods in different contexts. We examine the main barriers and opportunities for wider uses of valuation evidence, and draw conclusions on the appropriate role of valuation in future, as a tool for aiding reflection and deliberation processes
Organic milk supply in Poland: market and policy developments
Get PDFPurpose
Global demand for organic milk products gives an opportunity to Polish organic farmers and dairies to supply national, European Union and international milk markets. The aim of this study is to review the historic and contemporary changes in organic milk production and processing in Poland, in order to identify the main factors of influence and to propose the direction of future market and policy development in the sector.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, secondary data from a range of literature sources and databases is analysed. The Lorenz’s concentration ratio is applied to the data derived to evaluate the degree of concentration of certified organic farms in the different regions of Poland and conclusions are drawn as a result.
Findings
Organic dairy farm operations in Poland are small scale and territorially dispersed. Although there is some evidence of growing supply concentration, Polish processors of organic milk face multiple barriers to development not least a lack of continuity of supplies. Whilst global markets are of interest, the development of alternative, innovative food networks in Poland that focus on provenance, integrity and promoting the special health benefits of organic milk would be of value to the sector, but further co-operation and integration is essential to take advantage of these market opportunities.
Originality
This research underpins the need for appropriate national policies in Poland for the development and actualisation of a dynamic organic milk supply system that delivers value to local, regional and international markets
Assessment of the physical characteristics and stormwater effluent quality of permeable pavement systems containing recycled materials
No full textThis paper evaluates the physical characteristics of two recycled materials and the pollutant removal efficiencies of four 0.2 m2 tanked permeable pavement rigs in the laboratory, that contained either natural aggregates or these recycled materials in the sub-base. The selected recycled materials were Crushed Concrete Aggregates (CCA) and Cement-bounded Expanded Polystyrene beads (C-EPS) whilst the natural aggregates were basalt and quartzite. Natural stormwater runoff was used as influent. Effluent was collected for analysis after 7–10 mins of discharge. Influent and effluent were analysed for pH, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Electroconductivity (EC), turbidity, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Nitrate-Nitrogen (NO3-N), reactive phosphorous (
PO
4
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) and sulphates (
SO
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). Both CCA and C-EPS had suitable physical properties for use as sub-base materials in PPS. However, C-EPS is recommended for use in pavements with light to no traffic because of its relatively low compressive strength. In terms of pollutant removal efficiencies, significant differences (p < 0.01) were found in pH, EC, TDS, DO,
PO
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and
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across all rigs whereas no significant differences (p > 0.05) were found with respect to TSS, turbidity, COD and NO3-N. Effluent from rigs containing CCA and C-EPS saw significant increases in pH, EC and TDS measurements whilst improvements in DO, TSS, turbidity, COD,
PO
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and
SO
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were observed. All mean values except pH were, however, within the Maximum Permissible Levels (MPLs) of water pollutants discharged into the environment according to the Trinidad and Tobago Environmental Management Authority (EMA) or the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). In this regard, the CCA and C-EPS performed satisfactorily as sub-base materials in the permeable pavement rigs. It is noted, however, that further analysis is recommended through leaching tests on the recycled materials
Ecoliteracy and the trouble with reading: ecoliteracy considered in terms of Goethe's 'delicate empiricism' and the potential for reading in the book of nature
No full textThis article has its roots in both literacy studies and environmental education. Beginning with a critical consideration of what it might mean to be ‘literate’ I argue that a re-evaluation of what it means to be ecoliterate is in order. I challenge current articulations of ecoliteracy, both in their relation to foundational literacy practices (such as reading and writing) as well as in how ecoliteracy has tended to be ‘bounded’ by the science of ecology. Wedding ‘ecoliteracy’ to ecological science
restricts its potential—I argue—to be realized as a bone fide literacy practice. Historically the concept ‘reading in the book of nature’ had greater currency than it does today, evident in—for instance—the work of J.W. Goethe. Goethe’s ‘delicate empiricism’ and his attention to the cultivation of ‘exact sensorial imagination’ warrant greater attention
where ecoliteracy is being discusse
Should farmers apply fertiliser according to when their daffodils are in flower? Utilising a ‘farmer‐science’ approach to understanding the impact of soil temperature on spring N fertiliser application in Wales
Get PDFPerennial ryegrass starts growing when soil temperatures reach 5.5°C for five consecutive days; applying N fertiliser before this risks environmental losses. To test whether daffodil flowering signified when to apply N fertiliser, farmers volunteered to take part in a citizen‐science study. The PROSOIL project used a ‘citizen science’, participatory approach to create farmer‐informed science, aiming to increase awareness of the importance of soil health. In 2014, over 300 farmers completed a “How do you manage your soil” survey. The survey included a question on the use of daffodils (Narcissus spp) to indicate the best time to apply the first nitrogen fertiliser of the season, based on anecdotal feedback from farmers involved in the PROSOIL project. The survey recorded 7% of farmers based their first fertiliser application on when daffodils flowered. To increase farmer awareness of soil temperatures, we provided them with soil thermometers, held workshops and hosted interactive stands at agricultural events in 2014. In autumn 2014, farmers planted daffodil bulbs of the same variety, across Wales, and monitored soil temperatures. Farmers returned postcards once their daffodils were in flower, noting the soil temperature. An assessment of whether daffodil flowering date could indicate when to apply N fertiliser was made. Overall, in spring 2015, daffodils flowered when soil temperature was 6.4(±0.35)°C, suggesting daffodil flowering date is a more reliable indicator for fertiliser application, than first hypothesised. Findings show a scientific validation of local knowledge, regarding the use of daffodils to indicate the “not‐before” date for the first N fertiliser application
Factors influencing plate waste in a university setting
Get PDFThe aim of this research is to consider the factors that influence food plate waste in a United Kingdom (UK) university food service setting and the insinuated intention to waste food among staff and students.
The study conducted empirical research using an online questionnaire (n=260) at the university. The data was analysed descriptively and inferentially by IBM SPSS Statistics version 22. Multiple factors influence the level of food plate waste including gender, different categories of food, plate size, portion size, and palatability. Two recommendations to reduce plate food waste in the university food service setting include providing a variation in plate size and pricing strategy by portion rather than a whole meal, and communicating with staff and students in the food service setting. The research contributes along with previous studies by focusing here on participants’ food waste intention in food service settings and evidencing the factors of influence. The research contributes to understanding on participants’ food waste intention in food service setting