Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Academics interested in the relationship between agricultural and ecosystem services, climate change, and mitigation strategies. Changes/Problems:I made far less project on my objectives than anticipated, but now have two PhD students interested in continuiing the project. I am also taking a sabbatical leave next year which will give me time to finish up this project, publish results, and apply for additional funding. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One graduate student, Skyler Perkins, is in the final stages of wrapping up this thesis, and will be defending this semester. I expect to submit a co-authored journal article with him shortly. One of my PhD students is very interested in continuing this research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In addition to publications previously mentioned, Ihave presented the results of this project or ideas that emerged from the research in a conference plenary address and 5 other invited presentations. Those available on the webare listed under "outcomes". The others include: Paths for Constructive Action (closing plenary panel). Building Good Economies: An Interdisciplinary Conference Celebrating 125 Years of Modern Catholic Social Teaching. April 20-22, 2016. Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus, NYC Sustainable Economies, Sustainable Lives: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (opening plenary, panellist respondent to lecture by Juliet Shor). Building Good Economies: An Interdisciplinary Conference Celebrating 125 Years of Modern Catholic Social Teaching. April 20-22, 2016. Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus, NYC Planetary limits, social needs, and an Economics for the Anthropocene. Danforth-Lewis Speakers Series, Oberlin College. April 5, 2016. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We developed a GIS model of suitable agricultural land in Chittenden County, Vermont. We alsodeveloped a linear programming model that allowed us to minimize the carbon footprint for Chittenden County Vermonet associated with three different diets: typical American, optimal ominvore, and optimal vegan.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Farley, J., Voinov, A., 2016. Economics, socio-ecological resilience and ecosystem services. Journal of Environmental Management 183, 389-398.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Farley, J., (2016). The Foundations for an Ecological Economy: An Overview, in: Farley, J., Malghan, D., Goodland, R. (Eds.), Beyond Uneconomic Growth. Edward Elgar, New York.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Farley, J. (2016) Capitalism and the Steady State: Uneasy Bedfellows. In H.�Washington and P. Twomey (Eds.) A Future Beyond Growth. Routledge, New York.
|
Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Academics interested in the relationship between agricultural and ecosystem services, climate change, and mitigation strategies. Changes/Problems: In our proposal we acknowledged the possibilty that the costs of developing a Bayesian neural network model might exceed the benefits, and have found this to be the case. We have therefore decided to apply the COMET model to achieve our original goals. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? I developed a graduate level course on Agroecology, Farmer Livelihoods and Ecosystem Services, with a travel portion in Santa Catarina, Brazil. We focused on silvopastoral and agroforestry systems, among small family farmers primarily engaged in dairy production and organic vegetables, assessing their ecological and economic impacts. In spite of the differnet location, the core themes of the course were closely related to the current project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? I have given numerous keynote presentations on the general topic of agroecology, farmer livelihoods and ecosystem services, including Agroecology, Farmer Livelihoods and Ecosystem Services in Brazil's Atlantic Forest. X Eugen Warming Lectures in Evolutionary Ecology: Biodiversity and ecosystem services in the tropics - now and beyond. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. December 3, 2014 Ecological economics and sustainability. X Eugen Warming Lectures in Evolutionary Ecology: Biodiversity and ecosystem services in the tropics - now and beyond. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. December 2, 2014 Local Agriculture, Global Ecosystems and Human Survival. Plenary address as the Local Food Summit. Anne Arbor, Michigan. March 31, 2014 I have three more scheduled presentations to Berkeley's Food Institute and the SpringSymposium for IowaState's Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture, both in April, and a keynote address at thePrimer Congreso Internacional de Economía Ecológica en Puerto Rico, in June. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In April I will request a no cost extention for the project. By July I will prepare a policy proposal for state support of agroecological practices that enhance ecosystem services in Santa Catarian, Brazil. By August we will have developed modeled the carbon footprint of different agricultural practices that can satisfy the food requirements of Chittenden County and prepared a masters thesis chapter on the topic. By September we will prepare a video on challenge of sustainable food production that will contribute to the same Master's thesis. I will lead another course to Brazil to focus on agroecology, farmre livelihoods and ecosystem services there, emphasizing lessons for Vermont. By December we will have completed the linear programming model that determines what practices are compatible with an 80% reduction in emissions. I will spend the remainder of the yearexploring the barriers to the adoption of alternative low-carbon agriculture on Vermont farms, and the potential for payments for ecosystem services and higher food prices to overcome them.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have developed a rule set for GIS that determines the availability of urban land for food production, and the suitability of farmland for different types of production. We have gathered most of the required data layers. We have estimated current GHG emissions from food systems in Chittenden county, comparing annual food expenditures and preferences from Chittenden County with national data. We have also estimated crop yields from each different land type. Estimating and modeling carbon footprints for different production practices has proven more challenging than we expected owing the considerable controversy in the published literature. We prepared an extensive literature review of the carbon footprints from different farming practices, computer models of carbon sequestration, general modeling approaches. the failures and successes of carbon sequestration efforts, and policy initiatives. After careful consideration, we have decided to set aside the Bayesian neural network approach and instead adopt the COMET model coupled with GIS land availability data to provide a rough estimate on GHG emissions in local agricultural production. We plan to seek a no cost extension in order to complete the project.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Farley, J., Costanza, R., G.Flomenhoft, Kirk, D. (2015) The Vermont Common Assets Trust: an Institution for Sustainable, Just and Efficient Resource Allocation. Ecological Economics, 109, 71-79
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Alvez, J.P., Schmitt, A.L., Farley, J.C., Erickson, J.D., M�ndez, V.E. (2014). Transition from Semi-Confinement to Pasture-Based Dairy in Brazil: Farmers View of Economic and Environmental Performances. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 38, 995-1014
|
Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: I was invited to present the results of my research on five separate occasions to diverse audiences ranging from academics and NGOs to the general public. I list here the presentation titles, dates and venues: Redefining Agricultural Efficiency. UVM Food Day and UVM Food Systems Initiative. October 21, 2013. University of Vermont, Burlington, VT Living Within the Bounds of the Natural World. Delivered at the workshop “How can we Influence Agriculture and Medicine in Achieving the Necessary Transition to a Dynamic - Resilient - Sustainable Future?” October 9, 2013 Mountain Sky Guest Ranch Emigrant, Montana Economics, Agriculture and Ecosystem Services in a Full and Unequal World. Gund Institute Seminar Series. April 18, 2013, UVM What Could a New Economy Look Like? Re-Imagining our Economic System: A Balanced and Sustainable Economy: A Michigan Perspective. Via interactive video network. March 26, 2013. Lansing, Michigan Economic Institutions for Sustainable, Just and Efficient Food System. OXFAM, Oxford, UK. March 4, 2013 Changes/Problems: Our major change concerns goal number 3:Explore the barriers to the adoption of alternative low-carbon agriculture on Vermont farms, and the potential for payments for ecosystem services and higher food prices to overcome them. In depth semi-structured interviews with Vermont farmers will assess their perceptions of the obstacles to adopting alternative agriculture as well as their participation in, knowledge of, and willingness to participate in PES schemes. Results will feed into an analysis of the nature of investments, public or private, that are most likely to promote alternative agriculture. We instead developed the alternative definition of economic efficiency previously described, which offers significant insights into the nature of investments required to promote sustainable agriculture. We may decide not to conduct the in depth semi-structured interviews with Vermont farmers. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? One masters degree student has completed her thesis under this grant, and another is currently doing so. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The research on redefining agricultural efficiency has been presented several times in workshops, seminars and conferences. Most of these presentations have led to additional invitations, and I have just agreed to give a keynote presentation on this research at the Local Food Summit in Ann Arbor on March 31. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will complete the Bayesian neural network model to determine food production capacity (broken down into essential nutrients) and carbon emissions from local agriculture. We will also rely on the secondary literature to determine the carbon footprint of importing staple grains into Chittenden county. This will provide the necessary information for the linear programming model which we will use to model a food system compatible with 350 ppm atmospheric CO2 in our third year. I have also just been awarded a three year visiting professorship in Brazil focused on sustainable agriculture, and will apply several of the methods developed during this project to an agroecology project in Brazil. I am currently revising a journal article on the relationship between food production and ecosystem services with a focus on the economic efficiency component of the new definition of agricultural efficienc that we developed. This has been accepted pending revisions, and we will submit the revised version in February, 2014.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We are currently in the process of building a Bayesian neural network model for carbon footprints and food production in the Chittenden country foodshed. We have identified suitable data for soil, climate, vegetation and solar incidence. Though not initially listed as goals, we have also estimated how much food could be produced globally without surpassing the planetary boundaries identified by Rockstrom, J., et al. (2009). "A safe operating space for humanity." Nature 461(7263): 472-475. We found that with conventional agriculture it would likely be impossible to produce enough food to feed 7 billion people without surpassing the boundaries for carbon and nitrogen, and barely possible to do so without surpassing the boundary for phosphorous. Market systems that allocate food on the basis of willingess to pay rather than physiological need exacerbate this problem. We have used these results to develop a new definition for agricultural efficiency, which is the ratio between the population enjoying food security and the ecosystem services sacrificed in order to achieve it. We have then broken this definition down into an identity equation in which the components correspond to economic efficiency (i.e. the ratio of popluation enjoying food security to the quantity of food produced, which requires the allocation of resources towards the types of food that maximize food security, and the distribution of food to those with the greatest physiological need), technical efficiency (i.e. the ratio of food produced to resource inputs and waste outputs, together referred to as throughput) and ecological efficiency (minimizing the sacrifice of ecosystem services per unit of throughput). We believe that these results make a greater contribution to understanding the nature of investments required to promote sustainable agriculture than the original goal number 3.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Farley, J., A. Schmitt, M. Burke, M. Farr, A. Aube. Extending market allocation to ecosystem services: moral and practical implications on a full and unequal planet. Ecological Economics
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Farley, J., F. Hall, A. Krane, M. Mostaza (2013) Transitioning to a Steady State Burlington. US Society for Ecological Economics biennial conference, 9-12 June, Burlington, Vermont
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Farr, Marigo (2013) An Alternative Analysis Of Global Supply And Demand For Food With Respect To Planetary And Social Boundaries (Masters thesis). University of Vermont. Burlington, VT
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Farr, Marigo and J. Farley (2013) Reconciling Food Security With Ecosystem Health: Case Studies From Vermont and Santa Catarina, Brazil. US Society for Ecological Economics biennial conference, 9-12 June, Burlington, Vermont
|
|