Organic farming,also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,is an agricultural system that emphasizes the use of naturally occurring,non-synthetic inputs such as compost manure,green manure,and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation,companion planting,and mixed cropping. Biological pest control methods such as the fostering of insect predators are also encouraged. Organic agriculture can be defined as "an integrated farming system that strives for sustainability,the enhancement of soil fertility and biological diversity while,with rare exceptions,prohibiting synthetic pesticides,antibiotics,synthetic fertilizers,genetically modified organisms,and growth hormones". It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture today accounts for 70 million hectares globally,with over half of that total in Australia.
Rural sociology is a field of sociology traditionally associated with the study of social structure and conflict in rural areas. It is an active academic field in much of the world,originating in the United States in the 1910s with close ties to the national Department of Agriculture and land-grant university colleges of agriculture.
Frederick Howard Buttel was the William H. Sewell Professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. A prominent scholar of the sociology of agriculture,Buttel was also well known for his contributions to environmental sociology.
Community-supported agriculture or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alternative socioeconomic model of agriculture and food distribution that allows the producer and consumer to share the risks of farming. The model is a subcategory of civic agriculture that has an overarching goal of strengthening a sense of community through local markets.
Environmental sociology is the study of interactions between societies and their natural environment. The field emphasizes the social factors that influence environmental resource management and cause environmental issues,the processes by which these environmental problems are socially constructed and define as social issues,and societal responses to these problems.
Neal Menzies is an Australian professor of soil science at Griffith University. In his early adult years,he completed a bachelor of agricultural science (hons) in 1985,a master of agricultural studies in 1987,and a PhD in 1992. Menzies has worked for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Cameroon,the Newcastle University in England,the University of Queensland,and Griffith University in Australia
Civic agriculture is the trend towards locally based agriculture and food production that is tightly linked to a community's social and economic development. It is also connected to the citizenship and environmentalism within a community. Civic agriculture is geared towards meeting consumer demands in addition to boosting the local economy in the process through jobs,farm to food production efforts,and community sustainability. The term was first coined by Thomas Lyson,professor of sociology at Cornell,to represent an alternative means of sustainability for rural agricultural communities in the era of industrialized agriculture. Civic agriculture is geared towards fostering a self sustainable local economy through an integral community structure in which the entire community is in some part responsible for their food production. Civic agriculture can provide a variety of benefits to a community such as cleaner water,fresher foods,and a better connection between farmers and the community. However,there are also critiques that are concerned with the way in which civic agriculture promotes community responsibility and possibly creates a false sense of citizenship. The intent of civic agricultural practices is to move away from the industrialized sector and into a localized community effort.
Gender roles in agriculture are a frequent subject of study by sociologists and farm economists. Historians also study them,as they are important in understanding the social structure of agrarian,and even industrial,societies. Agriculture provides many job opportunities and livelihoods around the world. It can also reflect gender inequality and uneven distribution of resources and privileges among gender.
Agricultural literacy is a phrase being used by several universities to describe programs to promote the understanding and knowledge necessary to synthesize,analyze,and communicate basic information about agriculture with students,producers,consumers,and the public. These programs focus on assisting educators and others to effectively incorporate information about agriculture into subjects being taught or examined in public and private forums and to better understand the impact of agriculture on society.
Animal Production Science is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal for agriculture and animal science and published by CSIRO Publishing. Research articles in the journal focus on improving livestock and food production,and on the social and economic issues that influence primary producers. It is predominantly concerned with domesticated animals;however,contributions on horses and wild animals are also published where relevant.
Jock Robert Anderson is an Australian agricultural economist,specialising in agricultural development economics,risk and decision theory,and international rural development policy. Born in Monto,Queensland,he studied at the University of Queensland,attaining bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural science. After graduation,Anderson joined the Faculty of Agricultural Economics at the University of New England. At New England,he focused on research in farm management,risk,and uncertainty and received a doctor of philosophy in economics in 1970. In 1977,Anderson co-authored a book,Agricultural Decision Analysis,which has served as an influential source on risk and decision analysis for agricultural economics researchers and the agricultural industry.
Doris Fuchs is a German Political Scientist and Professor of International Relations and Sustainable Development at the University of Münster.
William "Bill" Craig Martin was an Australian sociologist. He was Professor of Sociology at Flinders University and the University of Queensland and was an editor of the Journal of Sociology. His main research interests were in the sociology of work and employment.
Joan Huber is an American sociologist and professor emeritus of sociology at Ohio State University. Huber served as the 79th president of the American Sociological Association in 1989. Huber taught at the University of Notre Dame from 1967 to 1971,eventually moving to Illinois,where she taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. While instructing numerous sociology courses at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign,Huber served as the director of Women's Studies Program for two years (1978–1980),and then became the head of the Department of Sociology in 1979 until 1983. In 1984,Huber left Illinois for an opportunity at the Ohio State University,where she became the dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences,coordinating dean of the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences,and senior vice president for academic affairs and university provost. During her time,Huber was president of Sociologists for Women in Society from 1972 to 1974,the Midwest Sociological Society from 1979 to 1980,and the American Sociological Association from 1988 to 1989. Being highly recognized for her excellence,in 1985 Huber was given the Jessie Bernard Award by the American Sociological Association. Not only was Huber an instructor of sociology at multiple institutions or president of different organization,she also served different editorial review boards,research committees,and counseled and directed many institutions on their sociology departments.
Digital agriculture,sometimes known as smart farming or e-agriculture,are tools that digitally collect,store,analyze,and share electronic data and/or information in agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has described the digitalization process of agriculture as the digital agricultural revolution. Other definitions,such as those from the United Nations Project Breakthrough,Cornell University,and Purdue University,also emphasize the role of digital technology in the optimization of food systems.
Refugio I. Rochin is an American professor emeritus in agricultural and resource economics and Chicana/o studies at the University of California,Davis,director emeritus at the University of California,Santa Cruz,and instructor at Pennsylvania State University World Campus. He is an expert on rural Latinas/os and Latina/o Studies.
Alana Mann is an Australian food activist and interdisciplinary scholar researching the power relations between media,governments,institutions and citizens,in the field of food politics. She is co-founder of FoodLab Sydney,a business incubator to address issues around local food insecurity,based on the model pioneered by FoodLab Detroit. Mann is Professor and Head of Discipline (Media) at the University of Tasmania. She led the Department of Media and Communications at University of Sydney and was a key researcher in the Sydney Environment Institute;the Charles Perkins Centre and Sydney Democracy Network;and in 2018 was a visiting scholar at both Harvard's Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell University. She is author of Food in a Changing Climate (2021),Voice and Participation in Global Food Politics (2019) &Global Activism in Food Politics:Power Shift (2014).
Mildred Bertha Thurow Tate (1904–1996) was an American rural sociologist,educator,and advocate for women's education. She was one of the first women to obtain a PhD in rural sociology from Cornell University and was appointed the first Dean of Women at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Cornelia Butler Flora is an American rural sociologist. She is mostly known for her work on community capitals framework (CCF),feminism in Latin America,social justice,social policy,women in development,rural development,sustainable agriculture,sustainable community,community development,and farmer welfare. She has worked globally across the United States,Latin America,and Africa. There are more than 247 publications to her name over the last five decades of her work. Her widely famous book Rural Communities:Legacy + Change has seen 43 editions published between 1992 and 2019 in three languages. She was appointed to the reputed National Agricultural Research,Education and Economics Advisory Board by the then U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in 2004. She was also the president of the Rural Sociological Society in 1988–1989.
Philip David McMichael is an Australian-born sociologist,known for his contributions to the field of Global Development. He is currently a professor emeritus at Cornell University. His research primarily focuses on world-historical development and social change,with a particular emphasis on transformations in the global food system and their political-ecological consequences.
