The Social Risks Of Agriculture

In a vast society where environmentally conscious nonfarming voters and consumers have grown to greatly outnumber those directly engaged in agriculture, what happens in agriculture becomes increasingly subject to control by the general society, as policies and laws cater to constituents and consumers. This book provides an overview of how Americans perceive and value farmers and examines public opinion with regard to a number of agricultural issues. Based on analysis of national survey data, the authors offer an empirically based discussion and interpretation of those views and perceptions that help to shape policy and social sustainability. This unique collection illustrates that in addition to its natural, biological, and economic risks, agriculture has social risks that reverberate through all levels of society. As the general population grows and the number of farms and farmers diminishes, the weight of public opinion becomes more important in the policy arena of society as well as in the market demands for food and fiber grown in safe and favorable environmental conditions. Setting the stage with a consideration of the larger society's interests in agricultural issues and of social and agricultural interdependence, the contributors cover a range of topics and issues affecting agriculture at the end of the 20th century. Chapters examine public perceptions of government's role in farming; support for an environmentally friendly agricultural system; views on pesticides and chemicals in foods; consumer attitudes on food safety; threats to clean drinking water, concerns over farm animal welfare; and the basic agrarian ethic of American society. The book concludes with a look to the future of the social risks of agriculture in the 21st century.

The development of sustainable agricultural systems is an imperative aspect of any country, but particularly in the context of developing countries. Lack of progress in these initiatives can have negative effects on the nation as a whole. Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Nations is a pivotal reference source for the latest scholarly material on promoting advancements in agricultural systems and food security in developing economies. Highlighting impacts on citizens, as well as on political and social environments of a country, this book is ideally designed for students, professionals, policy makers, researchers, and practitioners interested in recent developments in the areas of agriculture.

This innovative text provides a compelling narrative world history through the lens of food and farmers. Tracing the history of agriculture from earliest times to the present, Christopher Isett and Stephen Millerargue that people, rather than markets, have been the primary agents of agricultural change. Exploring the actions taken by individuals and groups over time and analyzing their activities in the wider contexts of markets, states, wars, the environment, population increase, and similar factors, the authors emphasize how larger social and political forces inform decisions and lead to different technological outcomes. Both farmers and elites responded in ways that impeded economic development. Farmers, when able to trade with towns, used the revenue to gain more land and security. Elites used commercial opportunities to accumulate military power and slaves. The book explores these tendencies through rich case studies of ancient China; precolonial South America; early-modern France, England, and Japan; New World slavery; colonial Taiwan; socialist Cuba; and many other periods and places. Readers will understand how the promises and problems of contemporary agriculture are not simply technologically derived but are the outcomes of decisions and choices people have made and continue to make.

Although formal social impact assessment of changing technologies in U.S. agriculture is still in its infancy, scholars have been documenting the effects of new technology throughout the twentieth century. In this collection, Prcfessors Berardi and Geisler bring together historically relevant research and a carefully chosen cross section of contemporary work. Their review of the literature is followed by an evaluation of the effects of mechanization on labor and production, written in 1904, which provides a backdrop for papers from the 1940s and 1950s examining the mechanization of agriculture in the South, in the Midwest, and in rural areas in general. Subsequent chapters offer present-day insights on such topics as the socioeconomic consequences of automated vegetable and tobacco harvesting, center-pivot irrigation, and organic and no-till cultivation. The authors also look at compensation and adjustment programs for displaced labor, the relationship between technology and agribusiness growth, and the effectiveness of university programs that prepare students to perform social impact assessments in agriculture. The edited proceedings of a spirited roundtable discussion on new directions for the study of the social impacts of farm technology and the political economy of agriculture provide the thought-provoking conclusion to this overview of the field.

This timely Handbook synthesizes and analyzes key issues and concerns relating to the impact of agriculture on both farmers and non-farmers. With a unique focus on humans rather than animals or the environment, the book is interdisciplinary and international in scope, with contributions from sociologists, economists, anthropologists and geographers providing case studies and examples from all six populated continents.

This book examines the current magnitude and characteristics of risk-related policies in agriculture and what is known about the quantitative size of agricultural risks. It also looks at the on-farm, off-farm, and market instruments available to manage risk.

Issues including climate variability, water scarcity, animal welfare and declining biodiversity have led to increasing demands on farmers to conduct and communicate their farming practices so as to protect their ‘social licence to farm’. Farmers are increasingly expected to demonstrate their social and environmental responsibility as a pre-condition to being allowed to carry out their preferred farming and commercial practices. Current examples include the live animal export trade, battles over protection of aquifers from mining, and contests over rural carbon emissions. In Defending the Social Licence of Farming, authors from Australia, the USA, Europe and Iceland document the diverse issues associated with the 'social licence to farm'. They provide examples of different sectors’ strategies and experiences, and give specific indications of what is involved in coping successfully with this political and legal dimension of farming. As resources become scarce and society’s expectations more diverse and demanding, farming can expect that social licence issues will become both more difficult and more important. The book suggests that the old models of response, largely focused on defensive positions, will often be insufficient to protect the interests of both farmers and the community. This book will provide a useful stimulus for innovation and proactive policies to defend the social licence of the farm sector.