Doctoral Dissertation Research: Food Safety and Environmental Degradation in an Industrialized Agricultural Region

环境退化往往是影响土地管理者决策的经济和社会压力的结果。 因此，更好地了解影响土地管理者的因素应有助于解决环境问题。 本博士论文研究项目旨在确定影响农业土地管理者决定采用有益的环境实践的因素。 博士生将专注于种植者的生菜，其他绿叶蔬菜，和蔬菜在中央海岸地区的加州。 尽管该地区长期努力促进环境友好型农业实践，但新的挑战限制了种植者支持这些目标的选择。 针对最近爆发的E.大肠杆菌O157：H7，新兴行业制定的食品安全指南鼓励取消保护水质和野生动物栖息地的做法。 因此，环境质量和行业主导的食品安全倡议正在推动相互矛盾的农场管理准则。 在这个项目中，学生将调查工业和环保团体如何使用不同的科学主张来鼓励相互冲突的农场实践。 她将探讨有关科学知识和区域农业系统中存在的相对经济和政治权力的替代主张。 她还将探讨种植者对食品安全的看法，种植者如何改变他们的做法，以及什么影响他们的管理决策。 该项目采用的方法包括与主要参与者和种植者进行访谈，并对种植者进行调查，以评估管理做法的变化程度。 对这些数据的分析将包括定性和定量方法。 调查和访谈将阐明种植者如何应对多种索赔，如何从行业主导的食品安全倡议的压力可能压倒环境问题，以及种植者的个人观点和意见可能会与他们的实际管理实践不同，从这项研究的结果将告知组织和政策制定者的影响，行业创建的食品安全准则可能对环境质量。 如果种植者取消环保做法，环境质量可能会受到严重影响。 这些信息可能会被用来重新谈判具体的食品安全准则。 虽然这项研究是专门针对加州的中央海岸，但其他种植类似作物的地区很快也会面临相关问题。 因此，这项研究的结果预计将适用于其他地理区域。 该项目还有望通过加强对区域社交网络、农业决策和环境退化的基本理解，为地理科学领域做出贡献。 它将有助于更广泛地了解如何利用不同科学学科的研究来解决关于环境政策的相互冲突的立场。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立的研究生涯。

Environmental degradation often is a result of economic and social pressures affecting the decision making of land managers. A better understanding of the factors that influence land managers therefore should help to address environmental problems. This doctoral dissertation research project seeks to identify factors that influence agricultural land managers' decisions to employ beneficial environmental practices. The doctoral candidate will focus on growers of lettuce, other leafy greens, and vegetables in the Central Coast Region of California. Despite long-term efforts to promote environmentally-friendly agricultural practices in the region, new challenges constrain growers' choices to support these goals. In response to recent outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7, emerging industry-created food-safety guidelines encourage the removal of practices that protect water quality and wildlife habitat. Environmental quality and industry-led food safety initiatives thus are promoting contradictory farm management guidelines. In this project, the student will investigate how both industry and environmental groups are using different scientific claims to encourage conflicting farm practices. She will explore alternative claims regarding scientific knowledge and the relative economic and political powers present in the regional agricultural system. She also will explore growers' opinions regarding food safety, how growers may be changing their practices, and what influences their management decisions. Methods to be used in this project include interviews with key players and growers and a survey of growers to assess the extent that management practices are changing. Analysis of these data will include qualitative and quantitative methods. The survey and interviews are expected to illuminate how growers respond to multiple claims, how pressures from industry-led food safety initiatives may overpower environmental concerns, and how growers' personal views and opinions may differ from their actual management practices.Results from this study will inform organizations and policy makers about the impacts that industry-created food-safety guidelines may have on environmental quality. If growers are removing environmental practices, environmental quality may be significantly impacted. This information may be used to renegotiate specific food-safety guidelines. Although this study is specific to the Central Coast of California, other regions growing similar crops will soon face related issues. The results from this research therefore are expected to be applicable and useful in other geographic regions. This project also is expected to make contributions to the scientific field of geography by enhancing basic understanding of regional social networks, agricultural decision making, and environmental degradation. It will contribute to a broader understanding of how research from different scientific disciplines can be used to address conflicting positions on environmental policies. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.