Food justice movements focus on providing communities with local, sustainable, culturally appropriate, healthy food while empowering local economic systems that allow for autonomy of both producers and consumers (Caruso, C., 2014; Cadieux, K., 2015; Hayes, C. & Carbone, E., 2015). However, current food justice movements often price out and leave behind large portions of the population. Research has shown that engagement with local food systems contribute to feelings of place attachment and a sense of place (Solin, J., 2017; Alkon, A., 2011). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between volunteers at two alternative, cooperative community food markets in Lexington, Kentucky and their sense of place. Using an amalgamation of black feminist thought and ecofeminism, this qualitative study sought to better understand volunteer participation in the markets and, as a result, illuminate potential barriers to participation in the future. Interviews were conducted with market volunteers. Results indicate that place was significant in their decisions to participate in the markets, though participants did not conceive “place” as a geographical location, but rather a social and cultural atmosphere. In other words, volunteers presented a social construction of place. Other factors contributing to participation came about as a result of the study, including resistance and empowerment and geographies of care and responsibility. In relation to volunteer participation in alternative agro-food movements, the findings of this study indicate that more attention needs to be paid to the ways in which the social construction of place affect volunteer retention.

Community food security (CFS) is a new, community-based, collaborative approach to achieving food security. CFS seeks to merge social justice and environmental sustainability goals in the pursuit of food-secure communities. The Good Food Market (GFM) is a new CFS initiative wherein a subsidized community food market operates in a food desert. Through a qualitative case study approach, I examine and evaluate the programmatic design of The Stop’s Good Food Market, and explore its contribution to community food security. The research is framed within a larger study of food security. Research findings are based on semi-structured and structured interviews with GFM coordinators and customers, as well as participant observation and literature reviews.

中國的糧食安全問題在於隨著經濟成長與人口增加，造成糧食無法自給。當中國糧食不足自給而必須向國外採購時，導致國際市場缺糧、國際糧價波動，世界各國也無法置身事外。所以研究中國的糧食安全具有一定的重要性。本論文將回顧與分析中國工業化與都市化後耕地減少，單位產量增加不易，飲食結構改變下，中國政府因應糧食安全問題所採取的供需、分配與貿易政策以增進對中國因應糧食安全問題的政策思路的理解。

Food is something that we all need to survive but it is not something that we all have access to. In the mid 1990’s, a community-based movement arose to systematically address injustices in access to this basic human necessity. The community food security movement approaches issues of food security at each stage of the life cycle of food to ensure that each stage is sustainable, socially just, and equitable. This study uses this framework to challenge traditional notions of food security by critically examining the economic, social and environmental barriers to food equity in Austin, Texas. Austin is said to be one of the best cities to live in the United States, but not because it is food secure. This study therefore examines the food landscape of Travis County and the accessibility of food resources to meet the food needs of area residents. It utilizes a combination of quantitative analysis of food retail locations, focus groups and surveys to gather information about the food needs of underserved residents in Travis County. / text

The thesis aimed to investigate the current situation of food security and initiatives by main actors in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with urban poor in focus. A qualitative study with the actors of food security and the urban poor is the basis of this research’s result complementing with previous studies on this topic. Income of the urban poor in Bangladesh is very low compare to the food price which is one of the main reasons why urban poor are not food secure in Dhaka city. There are many organizations working on income generating approaches in urban Dhaka but the work is too small to have an impact on the current situation of food security. Lack of social safety net is another reason identified for food insecurity in urban Dhaka. The government is provided low priced rice and wheat to the urban poor yet again this only covers 1 percent of the urban slums. Due to lack of resource sustainable development is not included in in the process of ensuring food security in urban Dhaka.

Community food security (CFS) is a new, community-based, collaborative approach to achieving food security. CFS seeks to merge social justice and environmental sustainability goals in the pursuit of food-secure communities. The Good Food Market (GFM) is a new CFS initiative wherein a subsidized community food market operates in a food desert. Through a qualitative case study approach, I examine and evaluate the programmatic design of The Stop’s Good Food Market, and explore its contribution to community food security. The research is framed within a larger study of food security. Research findings are based on semi-structured and structured interviews with GFM coordinators and customers, as well as participant observation and literature reviews.

Thesis (M. Sc. (Agriculture)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / Food insecurity is a huge challenge for any government. Since food is a human need, it is often at the priority of any endeavour, policy or strategy undertaken by a household or government. The issue of food insecurity and the use of agricultural intervention to address it were at the centre of this study. Agricultural reform programs such as the Masibuyele Emasimini programme investigated here are argued to be the best mechanism to address food insecurity in rural areas of developing countries. This understanding, however, does not go unchallenged with some scholars believing that these programmes only mask the problem and once withdrawn an even bigger problem would arise. This study investigated why there is little indication of farmer growth despite the introduction of the Masibuyele Emasimini programme in the new forest irrigation scheme. A number of aspects such as increases in production, skills set, challenges, etc., were investigated to get a comprehensive picture of what is happening on the ground. A descriptive approach was followed in presenting the data. The major challenges faced by the programme are: poor communication, limited mechanization, insufficient production inputs late arrival of seeds and fertilizers, inexperienced drivers, and lack of consultation. From this analysis of the challenges presented by both farmers and extension officers, it becomes apparent that there is a failure of government to deliver on time. Secondly that there is a mismatch between the demand and supply of inputs, two aspects play a role firstly budgetary constraints that might limit the availability of inputs and secondly insufficient budgeting due to miscalculated demands. The study revealed that any programme meant to uplift the poor should not be a top down approach that is drafted and imposed on people. Proper consultation during the planning phase should be sought, but more crucial is the on-going communication and consultation with the people on the ground. The study then argues that poor monitoring also had a role in the weakening of the sustainability of the programme. Administrative issues on the part of government and service providers discouraged farmers and weakened the relationship of farmers with government; it also decreased the momentum of the programme. Key words: Sustainability, Food insecurity, Food security, Smallholder farmer, Masibuyele Emasimini programme.

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016. / In South Africa, particularly in the Limpopo Province, the handling of human excreta and the use of human excreta for food production are still not valued and generally not acceptable. The issue of social acceptance is one of the several issues that must be tackled in order to successfully institute the practice of human waste reuse in agriculture. As such, this study explored the attitudes and perceptions towards the utilisation of urine and faeces as the alternative to chemical fertilizer in a rural agriculture in Ga-Mothapo, Polokwane Local Municipality in Limpopo. The study adopted a qualitative approach using a case study design. Data was collected using face to face interviews. A majority of the households indicated that they are not comfortable with the idea of using human excreta for agricultural purpose. According to them, it was against their cultural beliefs and it is a taboo to use the waste of human as they prefer to use animal waste instead. The health risk and environmental contamination were also highlighted by the households as weighing against the use of human excreta. Even though some respondents mentioned that using human excreta has the potential to enrich their depleted agricultural soils, and that it had the effect of reducing the cost of buying commercial fertilizers, they still felt uncomfortable using it. This study concludes by recommending that there is a need for constant intervention and awareness to address the issue of food security through ecological sanitation which will promote sustainable agriculture by providing soil with nutrients. Keywords: Ecological Sanitation, Human Excreta, Perceptions, Attitudes, Food Security

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Food regime theory emerged in the 1980s as a tool to delineate the history of the modern food system. Scholars insist that we have arrived at the third and putative corporate food regime that is dominated by a select group of agribusiness corporations. The corporate food regime"s ascent to dominance will be presented here as a product of the realization of neoliberal trade policies at the urging of the World Trade Organization. Initially promising development to fledgling countries, the WTO"s forays into agriculture have amounted to nothing less than a catastrophe for the Global South. The hope that developing countries would be able to trade their way out of debt has long been abandoned, and the gap between the developed and developing world has only been further exacerbated as a result of trade liberalization. Worse yet, the WTO"s Agreement on Agriculture was intentionally littered with loopholes that allow Northern countries to egregiously subsidize crops that are then exported off to Southern markets at artificially low prices, crippling local producers in the process. Through examining import and export flows in the Global South since the trade agreement, this cruel feature of the modern food system will become evident as will the subsequent jump in agribusiness" profits amid the direst of...