Lawrence S. Grossman

Pesticides, Caution, and Experimentation in St. Vincent, Eastern Caribbean

Understanding the problem of pesticide misuse in the Third World requires analysis of both political- economic forces and local- level variations in peasant behavior and attitudes. This study, based on 12 months of fieldwork during 1988–1989, examines growing agrochemical dependence and misuse in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the East Caribbean. Consistent with findings from other political-economic studies, this research documents the influence of the state, export agriculture, consumer pressure, and foreign aid in leading to increased chemical use in agriculture. This study also considers the extent to which farmer behavior and attitudes limit or exacerbate the problems that can accompany increased pesticide use. Some researchers emphasize that farmers are careless and indiscriminate when using pesticides, thereby contributing to pesticide-related problems. In contrast, data from the village level reveal that although some farmers are careless, others are cautious in their use of pesticides, a pattern reflective of variability among farmers in pesticide- use practices and attitudes in general. By exploring the issue of variability in patterns of pesticide use among villagers, this paper emphasizes the utility of the concepts of individuality and experimentation in agriculture in examining problems of pesticide misuse.

A study of environmentally relevant behavior in university residence halls

Purpose – This paper aims to report on a study promoting energy conservation on Virginia Techs campus. It explores whether the behavior of students living in university residence halls would change when various electricity conservation strategies are introduced.Design/methodology/approach – Intervention strategies, including educational media, information, and voluntary resource‐conservation activities, were applied at varying levels of intensity across five study groups over two semesters in 2009. Additional questions explore whether one particular strategy would produce higher consumption reductions, and whether combining strategies would produce more consumption reductions than individual techniques.Findings – The findings revealed that on a campus where environmentally sustainability is foremost in the minds of students and administration, asking students to take action to reduce their consumption resulted in positive consumption reductions, even in the control group. Additive strategies did not prod...

Diet, Income, and Agriculture in an Eastern Caribbean Village

This study of a Vincentian community in the Eastern Caribbean explores the impacts of income on dietary quality and food import dependency. It finds that two forms of income—total household income and the income that women control—are positively correlated with total dietary diversity as well as with frequency of consumption of numerous imported foods. However, no relation is evident between banana incomes and consumption of imported foods, thus questioning the general belief in the literature that the growth of banana production has been responsible for increasing dependence on food imports in the Windward Islands. The beneficial impacts of income on dietary quality that have been found in many other developing areas are more limited here because malnutrition is not a widespread problem. But income is closely linked to consumption of foods that contribute to overnutrition and obesity, growing concerns in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Diet, income, and subsistence in an Eastern Highland Village, Papua New Guinea

This study examines the influence of cash income and subsistence production on dietary patterns in a village in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Data on food frequencies were collected from thirteen households on sixty‐nine randomly chosen days over an eleven‐month period in 1977. Frequency of consumption of foods in several key subsistence and purchased food groups is used as a surrogate measure of dietary quality. Analysis indicates that frequency of consumption of garden greens, legumes, and subsistence crops in general is positively related to involvement in subsistence agriculture. No significant relationships are revealed between frequency of consumption of energy‐dense and protein‐rich purchased foods and household income. Instead, income is strongly and positively associated with expenditures on alcoholic beverages. Purchased foods enhance dietary quality, but villagers’ consumption of store‐bought foods is highly seasonal.

Reducing Carbon Footprint of Water Consumption: A Case Study of Water Conservation at a University Campus

This chapter reports on a study to promote environmentally relevant behavior on a university campus. Ten residence halls at Virginia Tech were included in the study, and the project employed five different strategies, each with a different number of prompting strategies to determine which approach was most effective at influencing reductions in water use. Consumption reductions were observed in most of the residence halls participating in the study, but no one strategy was more effective than another. Even though reductions were not achieved in all residence halls, overall water consumption was reduced by 11.6%. Reducing the consumption of water also resulted in the reduction of energy used to treat and transport the water from the University’s water source – the New River. Therefore, the energy savings achieved resulted in a reduction of the University’s carbon footprint.

Understanding Pesticide Misuse in Developing Countries

Pesticide misuse is a widespread problem in developing countries (Weir and Schapiro 1981; Wright 1990; Murray 1994; Thrupp 1995; Arbona 1998). It can lead to severe health problems, contaminate the environment, facilitate resistance to pesticides, and create financial burdens for farmers.

Subsistence production, autonomy and development

SUMMARY An analysis of economic and social changes in a village in the highlands of Papua New Guinea from 1976 to 1981 illustrates the impact of economic boom and bust cycles on peasant production patterns, the relationship and potential conflict between subsistence and commodity production can be understood only in light of fluctuations in the degree of rural commercial involvement over time. The impact of the commercial economy on the diet is complex, having both positive and negative aspects linked to boom and bust cycles. The nature of peasant response to boom and bust cycles is influenced by the degree of local autonomy. Maintaining local autonomy and a viable subsistence system provides a crucial buffer insulating peasants from economic downturns.

Slipping Away: Banana Politics and Fair Trade in the Eastern Caribbean

The Windward Islands banana industry has captured the interest of many researchers, in part, because its circumstances are somewhat similar to a David and Goliath story, albeit with a very different victor compared to that in the Bible. The Windwards industry, dominated by small-scale producers facing a variety of economic and environmental impediments, has always been the underdog “David” in the story. Its more well-endowed and lower cost producing competitor, the “Goliath,” is the larger scale Latin American banana industry. Regulatory frameworks in the UK and European Union (EU) designed to benefit the Windwards by limiting the amount of lower cost fruit imported from Latin America have been gradually eroded by the pressures of neoliberalism and free trade. As a result, the once flourishing Windwards banana export industry has been decimated; the number of banana growers has declined by more than 80 percent since the early 1990s.