Raymond A. Jussaume

A COMPARISON OF THE VIABILITY OF MAIL SURVEYS IN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES

A comparison of response rates and patterns to a mail survey conducted simultaneously on random samples drawn from telephone listings in Seattle, Washington, and Kobe, Japan, is presented. When undeliverable surveys (those for which the intended respondent had moved or passed away) are subtracted from the original samples, a comparison of the differences in the response rate percentages for the two countries is found to be statistically insignificant. Adherence to the theoretical foundation of the Total Design Method is claimed to be the principal reason for success in achieving a higher response rate than predicted by Japanese scholars to the mail survey in Japan. These results show that there is potential for adapting survey research techniques developed in the United States to non-Occidental settings. In spite of the increasing social and economic interdependence of the worlds peoples, little work has been done on adapting survey research techniques perfected in the United States to cross-national settings. While there have been successful cross-national mail surveys of business executives (Dawson and Dickinson, 1988; Jobber and Saunders, 1988; Keown, 1985), there are no reports in the academic literature about mail surveys conducted simultaneously on general populations in more than one country. This is unfortunate, for more cross-national research needs to be done by Americans to correct the culture bound limitations of research done in the U.S.(Green and White, 1976; Kohn, 1987). RAYMOND A. JUSSAUME, JR., iS Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology at Washington State University. YOSHIHARU YAMADA is Associate Professor of Economics at Wakayama University. This paper is based upon research supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under agreement no. 88-33574-4054. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Don Dillman for his encouragement and insights. Public Opinion Quarterly Volume 54.219-228 ( 1990 by the American Association for Public Opinion Research Published by The University of Chicago Press / 0033-362X/90/0054-02/

Are biotechnology and sustainable agriculture compatible

2.50 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.112 on Mon, 03 Oct 2016 05:38:12 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 220 Raymond A. Jussaume, Jr., and Yoshiharu Yamada Due to their comparatively low cost, mail surveys hold great promise for cross-national studies between societies where there are high literacy rates. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate this potential by analyzing the results of a total design method (TDM) mail survey administered simultaneously in the United States and Japan. The return rates obtained demonstrate that a culturally sensitized TDM mail survey can be successfully implemented in a nonwestern setting.

Food Safety in Modern Japan

Agricultural biotechnology has been largely opposed by advocates in the sustainable agriculture movement, despite claims by the technology’s proponents that it holds the promise to deliver both production (economic) and environmental benefits, two legs of the sustainability stool. We argue in this paper that participants in this polarized debate are talking past each other because assumptions about biotechnology and sustainability remain simplistic and poorly defined. Genetically engineered (GE) herbicide-resistant and insect-resistant crop varieties are the most visible current forms of agricultural biotechnology, and thus the form of biotechnology that many in the sustainability movement react to. However, these crops represent a biotechnology option that has paid insufficient attention to the integrated and systemic requirements of sustainable agriculture. In particular, common definitions of sustainable agriculture reinforce the need to include consideration of socio-economic distributive or equity effects into any assessment of sustainability. However, the frameworks that have been proposed to assess the potential for GE crops to enhance sustainable agriculture generally neglect this essential socio-economic dimension. We present an analysis that augments the sustainability frameworks to include the full suite of environmental, economic and social impacts. A review of the latest science on each impact category reveals that crop biotechnology cannot be fully assessed with respect to fostering a more sustainable agriculture due to key gaps in evidence, especially for socio-economic distributive effects. While the first generation of GE crops generally has made progress in reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint and improving adopting farmers’ economic well-being, we conclude that these early products fall short of the technology’s capacity to promote a more sustainable agriculture because of the failure of those developing and promoting the technology to fully engage all stakeholders and address salient equity issues. To realize the sustainability potential of biotechnology will require fundamental changes in the way public and private research and technology development and commercialization are structured and operated. We identify new approaches in these areas that could make this powerful biological science more compatible with sustainable agriculture.

Globalization, Agriculture, and Rural Social Change in Japan

Abstract This paper will investigate the latter issue through an analysis of food safety in modern Japan. The importance of food safety to many Japanese consumers is reflected in the growth of organic food production, the success of the Japanese consumer cooperative movement over the past 20 years, and the “greening” of the marketing strategies of many food firms. We will begin with a review of historical concerns about food supply and the relationship between diet and health. We then demonstrate the extent to which food safety concerns have become widespread amongst Japanese consumers and how food safety concerns are a logical outgrowth of historical concerns about food security and health. These findings are then reviewed within the context of theories of contemporary Japanese social change. Our argument is that consumer concern over food safety reflects the cultural value placed on eating and health, is unlikely to dissipate in the foreseeable future, and that the emergence into the mainstream of food safety concerns presents challenges to Japanese social movements promoting alternative food systems.

Organic and conventional Washington State farmers' opinions on GM crops and marketing strategies

Increasingly, globalization is being used to conceptualize ongoing transformations in agrofood production systems. One focus is to understand how globalization expresses itself at the local level. In this paper I contribute to the examination of this issue by analyzing how Japans agrarian sector is being altered as a consequence of increased activity on the part of transnational corporations. By doing so, I address the question of whether Japans national agricultural production system is being globalized, despite its comparatively unique agrarian history and Japans role in the global agrofood trading system as a major food importing, rather than an exporting, nation. The evidence presented demonstrates that transnational firms are beginning to expand their presence in Japanese agricultural commodity production. As these are transnational firms, and as the result of this process is to force Japanese agriculture to compete against foreign agricultures for its ‘home’ market, it is argued that this process indicates that Japanese agriculture is being globalized, although in a manner that does reflect an adaptation to local conditions.

Quality-of-life perceptions of Japanese part-time farmers

A 1999 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) policy on organic certification excluded the use of genetically modified (GM) crops. The decision remains controversial because it provokes debate over the fundamental meaning of organic agriculture. Some scholars, farmers and activists claim that organic agriculture represents a value orientation that is opposed to trends in industrial agriculture, of which GM crops are the latest product. Because organic farmers are a significant constituency in this debate, we examined their values and practices related to marketing, environment and GM crops. From a survey of 1181 Washington State farmers, we created a sub-sample of 598 crop farmers (fruits, vegetables and grains), of which 109 described themselves as organic (certified organic, moving towards organic certification and non-certified organic), and we analyzed organic and conventional farmer responses to a number of issues to discern comparative commitment to self-seeking economic interests. Results reveal differences among conventional and organic farmers on GM crops and several marketing and environmental values and practices, suggesting that there is some validity to portraying organic agriculture as an alternative vision to industrial agriculture.

Japanese investment in United States food and agriculture: Evidence from California and Washington

Abstract Japanese agricultural policies have come under increasing attack in recent years for being protectionist. These criticisms are in part based on the untested assumption that small-scale, part-time Japanese farm households benefit to an unreasonable extent from governmental protection of the agricultural sector. This assumption is challenged in this paper with an analysis of survey data on the quality-of-life attitudes of individuals living in farm and non-farm households in nine Japanese hamlets. The data indicate that non-farm householders consider their physical quality of life more positively than part-time farm householders do. The data also demonstrate that non-farm residents in Japan do not feel that part-time farmers should be forced out of agriculture. This is interpreted as indicating that both farm and non-farm residents alike recognize there are few viable lifestyle alternatives currently available to most Japanese part-time farm household residents should they be forced completely out of agriculture.

Understanding Weed Resistance as a Wicked Problem to Improve Weed Management Decisions

This article analyzes the investments of Japanese food processing firms in the states of California and Washington. Japanese investments are oriented towards one or more of the following goals: First, to secure stable supplies of raw material and|or lowering production costs. Second, to build production facilities to facilitate the export of food products to Japan. Third, to build US production facilities to supply US demand for traditional Japanese foods such as sake and soy sauce. Fourth, to secure access to US food technology. With exception of wineries, Japanese investors generally do not purchase agricultural land, preferring instead to purchase their raw commodities through contracts with local growers. Japanese direct investment remains comparatively small, but has the potential to grow significantly.

Managing Wicked Herbicide-Resistance: Lessons from the Field

Managing weed resistance has become a major challenge for many agricultural producers. Resistance is growing in terms of the number of weeds exhibiting resistance and the number of herbicides to which weeds are becoming resistant. The susceptibility of weeds to herbicides in many regions is a diminishing common pool resource affected by local producer weed control actions and natural conditions. Given the growing number of weeds exhibiting resistance, and the recognition that weed resistance is not a private property issue, we argue that managing resistance must be viewed as a wicked problem with no standard template across regions. Finding farm management approaches that help farmers successfully address weed resistance requires a shared perspective that incorporates an improved understanding of the human dimensions of weed management. Through an analysis of wicked problem characteristics, we argue that a people-centered approach to weed management is necessary. We offer principles learned from tackling other wicked agriculture and resource conservation issues to guide such approaches. Education, technical assistance, incentive schemes and regulatory efforts, and other strategies can play roles in constructing management approaches for herbicide resistance, but will have to vary from current efforts to unravel the mysteries of more effective weed management. Building a more inclusive approach, in terms of stakeholders and disciplines, will be key to achieving progress.

Protecting and preserving traditional knowledge and plant genetic resources: is ASEAN there yet?

Abstract Herbicide resistance is ‘wicked’ in nature; therefore, results of the many educational efforts to encourage diversification of weed control practices in the United States have been mixed. It is clear that we do not sufficiently understand the totality of the grassroots obstacles, concerns, challenges, and specific solutions needed for varied crop production systems. Weed management issues and solutions vary with such variables as management styles, regions, cropping systems, and available or affordable technologies. Therefore, to help the weed science community better understand the needs and ideas of those directly dealing with herbicide resistance, seven half-day regional listening sessions were held across the United States between December 2016 and April 2017 with groups of diverse stakeholders on the issues and potential solutions for herbicide resistance management. The major goals of the sessions were to gain an understanding of stakeholders and their goals and concerns related to herbicide resistance management, to become familiar with regional differences, and to identify decision maker needs to address herbicide resistance. The messages shared by listening-session participants could be summarized by six themes: we need new herbicides; there is no need for more regulation; there is a need for more education, especially for others who were not present; diversity is hard; the agricultural economy makes it difficult to make changes; and we are aware of herbicide resistance but are managing it. The authors concluded that more work is needed to bring a community-wide, interdisciplinary approach to understanding the complexity of managing weeds within the context of the whole farm operation and for communicating the need to address herbicide resistance.