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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (64 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Davis Previously Published Works (2009)
    Cover page: The personal is political (ecological): some reflections on five days to, in, and from Las Vegas, March, 2009
    • Article
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    UC Davis Previously Published Works (2009)
      • Article
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      UC Davis Previously Published Works (2016)
      The region as a concept continues to hold promise as a way of breaking through the many binaries that often divide political ecology. Operationalizing a regional political ecology approach allows the researcher to generate a large number of insights and conclusions that a more narrow disciplinary (disciplined) focus and non-scalar approach would miss; this is because important biophysical and social processes intersect with each another and work together to produce and/or mediate important outcomes for human and environmental well-being. The article draws on a number of cases to examine what comparison of political ecological research between regions could look like. I argue for a reinvigorated relationship between regional political ecology as an approach and agrifood systems as the object of study, and pose questions that can help shape this endeavor.
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Davis Previously Published Works (2015)
          Cover page: Vegetables in Costa Rica: reduced pesticide use through agroecological techniques
          • Article
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          UC Davis Previously Published Works (2013)
          In this paper, I review recent political ecological scholarship on first world agrifood systems and advocate for further development of the field. To do so, I first briefly examine the themes of first world political ecology and argue that food systems is an underdeveloped topic in first world political ecology relative to other themes because of the existence of agrarian political economy, a strongly allied field. This requires interrogating and teasing apart the relationship between political ecology and agrarian political economy. I then turn to review the current "political ecology of first world food systems" literature, which is both in line with established political ecological contours - examining global-local connections, conservation and degradation, and the utility of ecological metrics - but also recently extending analysis to alternative food networks and to the body-consumption nexus. In the conclusion, I outline an agenda for political ecological research praxis focused on increased interdisciplinary work with biophysical and technical scientists; the spatial, social, economic margins; the "invisible middle" of the food industry and the "end" of the food system in human waste and the necessity of mending the metabolic rift; and the need for increased societal engagement by political ecologists. © 2013 The Author(s) Geography Compass © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
            Cover page: Placing Food Systems in First World Political Ecology: A Review and Research Agenda
            • Thesis
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            UC Davis Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2024)

            This dissertation stems from a seven year action-research project aimed at supporting the adaptive capacities of California’s farmers and ranchers to climatic disasters, with a particular focus on wildfires. Guided by the principles of participatory action research, this dissertation features community collaboration throughout all stages of the research process, from problem diagnosis and research design to data collection, analysis, and interpretation, as well as to the dissemination and utilization of findings. This study contributes to the fields of socioecological resilience, action-research, and agricultural extension education by co-creating knowledge with farmers, ranchers, and agricultural service providers. Moreover, it offers insights into the critical, and often overlooked, role of agricultural producers, who have emerged as key allies in building wildfire resilience in California and around the world. The research was completed in four iterative cycles. The goal of this design was to address the evolving needs of farmers and ranchers through the co-development of research and educational materials in collaboration with community partners. In the first cycle, the farming and ranching community identified wildfire resilience as a major priority. They emphasized in particular the need to identify critical gaps in knowledge and resources for confronting wildfire threats. The second cycle involved the co-design and implementation of educational initiatives, including an innovative online learning platform and online course that facilitated farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange. The newly formed learning network later supported the timely exchange of agricultural knowledge during multiple disasters, such as information around evacuation experiences and aid. The third cycle—a central component of the research—was a statewide survey of 505 California farmers and ranchers impacted by wildfires between 2017 and 2023, which documented: the diverse impacts of wildfires on agricultural operations, the varying capacities of farmers and ranchers to recover and adapt, and the social fabric that sustains them. In the fourth cycle, research findings were disseminated through various multimedia outputs that prioritized, in turn, accessibility and utility for farmers and ranchers, data democratization and collaborative authorship for non-academic community partners, and policy engagement for involved parties. Regression and correlation analyses of the research results revealed ecological, diversified, direct-to-consumer, and multigenerational farmers and ranchers to be at the forefront of wildfire adaptation—well-positioned to contribute to long-term, landscape-wide resilience. The findings also revealed smaller and new-entry farms to be particularly at risk of failing to recover after a wildfire and quitting farming altogether. Yet at the same time, these farms were found to be key allies in building future landscape-level resilience. Their decline threatens not only local ecosystems but also the broader social fabric that helps agricultural communities respond to climate disasters. This dissertation finds that the resilience of rural communities is deeply intertwined with the strength of its social networks and community ties, which are shown to be crucial to effective disaster response and recovery and are themselves woven by local farmers and ranchers with strong connections to place. As the agricultural landscape continues to evolve under the pressures of economic consolidation, biodiversity loss, and increasing climate disasters, targeted support for the most vulnerable farms will be essential in maintaining an equitable and resilient food system. Our path to a fire-resilient future hinges on reimagining how we support and sustain the very farmers who stand at the forefront of climate adaptation.

            • 1 supplemental ZIP
            Cover page: Farming and Ranching through Wildfire Season: Fostering Socio-ecological Resilience Through Action-Research and Education
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            • Peer Reviewed
            UC Davis Previously Published Works (2008)
            Understanding the factors that influence the adoption of synthetic pesticides has to date overshadowed explanations of variation in pesticide intensity. I conducted a survey of vegetable farmers in Northern Cartago and the Ujarrás Valley, Costa Rica, in 2003-2004 with the goal of explaining differences in pesticide intensity with reference to socioeconomic, political economic, and agroecological characteristics and relationships. Using ordinary least squares regression models, this paper explores the factors that influence pesticide use intensity in potato and squash production. Results indicate that many variables strongly influence pesticide intensity, including variables related to the farmer, farm household, political-economic relationships, the biophysical environment, and agroecological relationships. Conclusions discuss the need for an integrated approach to adequately understand pesticide intensity and potential policy interventions including agroecological education and extension, increased enforcement of pesticide residue limits in the national market, and land reform to allow for longer fallow periods. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008.
              Cover page: Toward an Integrated Understanding of Pesticide Use Intensity in Costa Rican Vegetable Farming
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              UC Davis Previously Published Works (2007)
              In a globalizing economy, agri-food regulation in the industrialized world increasingly affects food-producing industries and farmers in developing countries. Discussions of these transformations remain mostly disconnected from the literature on pesticide use in developing countries, which emphasizes widespread pesticide misuse and abuse. Previous attempts to consider the relationship between agri-food regulation and farmers' pesticide use are found lacking because they do not situate it deeply enough within the social relations of exchange in contract farming. Using a political ecological approach attentive to this relationship, I found many farmers exercising considerable caution in their pesticide use vis-à-vis residues on mini-squash and chayote, the main export crops in Northern Cartago and the Ujarrás Valley, Costa Rica. Exporters' mediation of regulatory risk - conceptualized as the possibility that an actor's behaviour will be subject to state regulation and that out of compliance behaviour will result in negative consequences that impact the actor - largely explains why this type of caution occurs. A gap between regulation and practice persists, however, because of the local history of residue violations and a related misinterpretation of pesticides' colour bands. The conclusion critiques the first world/third world binary that is mapped onto pesticide use research as preventing advancements in understanding farmers' pesticide use, shows the applicability of political ecology's chain of explanation to the local consequences of agri-food regulation from afar and proposes further engagement between agri-food studies and political ecology to better theorize local-global interactions between land users and the new spatiality of economic governance in agri-food networks. © 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers) 2007.
                Cover page: Regulatory risk and farmers’ caution with pesticides in Costa Rica
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                UC Davis Previously Published Works (2008)
                The environmental impact of agro-export production in developing countries remains an important research topic. The political economy-inspired literature on developing country agro-exports maintains that export crops are pesticide intensive - or, more generally, environmentally destructive - while local and national market crops are less pesticide intensive, or environmentally benign. If used to draw conclusions about the impact of national market versus export market expansion, this view has significant limitations, most importantly the comparison of high-commodity value export crops with low-commodity value crops for national market. To overcome this and other limitations of prior analyses, this paper addresses the question: how does market orientation influence pesticide intensity where the same crops are grown for both the national market and for export? Data from a survey of Costa Rican vegetable farmers are used to compare pesticide intensity of 27 vegetable crops, five of which are produced for both national and export markets. The general pattern that emerges is that national market vegetables are more pesticide intensive than export vegetables in the area. Yet, controlling more for the crop variable is important, and specific comparisons of the five vegetables grown for both markets - carrot, chayote, corn, green beans, and squash - illustrate that market orientation alone does not determine pesticide intensity, but that it is jointly influenced by regulatory risk, crop value, and pest susceptibility, among other factors. Continued attention to both political economy and ecological processes in "second nature" will allow political ecology to make important contributions to understanding pesticide problems and implementing agroecological solutions. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
                  Cover page: Pesticides in export and domestic agriculture: Reconsidering market orientation and pesticide use in Costa Rica
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                  UC Davis Previously Published Works (2011)
                  Using a critical cartography/GIS approach and multiple data sets on community supported agriculture (CSA), this paper addresses two questions. First, how accurate was the 2007 United States Census of Agriculture's counting of CSAs? Second, where are CSAs concentrated and how does their distribution compare with that of farming generally and population distribution? I argue that significant overcounting of CSAs in the census occurred largely because of a lack of shared meanings of terms. Examination of discrepancies between data sets at the county level in California points to higher CSA overcounting in counties with many farms and lower overcounting in counties with many CSAs. This overcounting matters as critical geographers and others increasingly seek to take stock of and contribute to alternative agrifood movements. As for distribution, multi-scale maps and a CSA density indicator reveal the continued existence of high levels of CSAs in New England and the Pacific Northwest and low levels in the South. Further data collection and analysis efforts should focus on (1) improving census questions for the next CSA count, including adding a definition of CSA and asking whether farmers coordinate the CSA or contribute to a joint CSA; and (2) conducting further geographical analyses on CSA vis-à-vis contributing causes behind low and high concentrations and areas of fast and slow growth.
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