Global Studies Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/6124

Note that prior to Fall Term 2023, the department was known as International Studies.

Browse

Browsing Global Studies Theses and Dissertations by Subject "Agriculture"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Agriculture, Diet, and Empowerment: Understanding the Role of Community Gardens in Improving the Health of Oregon's Urban Latino Community
    (University of Oregon, 2013-10-03) Dezendorf, Caroline; Wooten, Stephen
    Across the United States, organic gardens are being used to improve community development and develop civic agriculture programs for minority populations, including Latinos. Huerto de la Familia (Family Garden), a community agriculture organization based in Eugene, Oregon, aims to improve the food security and well-being of urban Latino immigrants. This study asks the question: how effective is the organization's Organic Gardening program at improving the mental, physical, and nutritional health of urban Latinos? I analyze how participation in the community gardening program empowers the families involved and provides them access to fresh and culturally appropriate foods. Through active participatory research, semi-structured interviews, and the use of photo journals and receipt collections, this study finds that Huerto de la Familia is beneficial in terms of food justice and improving community integration.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Control and Continuity: Sustainability, Land Rights, and the Politics of Food in Guatemala
    (University of Oregon, 2016-02-23) Fernandez, Inara; Hindery, Derrick
    This thesis seeks to understand the intersection of cultural identity and food security in a country that has had a difficult time feeding its people. The discourse on food in Guatemala, in the realm of development and international studies, maintains a focus on the lack thereof. Moreover, the author examines the food traditions and beliefs people in Guatemala feel are important as well as the obstacles they face in realizing food self-sufficiency. Many Guatemalans have an intimate connection with their land, and unequal land distribution hinders farmers’ abilities to access the foods they most value. In addition to this, the unfolding sustainable development agenda has resulted in biofuel projects that threaten the livelihoods of many rural farmers. Through interviews with chefs, agricultural workers, and agricultural commodity traders, the author pieces together the differing perspectives of various stakeholders to present a complex mosaic of Guatemalan foodways.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Towards a Transformative Agroecology: Seeding Solutions for Food Sovereignty and Climate Change Among Smallholder and Tribal Farmers in Rajasthan, India
    (University of Oregon, 2021-04-27) Nikfarjam, Michelle; Wooten, Stephen
    This thesis explores how the state-wide non-governmental organization (NGO), CECOEDECON, is using agroecology as a vehicle for promoting greater farmer sovereignty and preparing for negative impacts of climate change in Rajasthan, India. Based on three months of ethnographic research, I describe how a hybridization of peoples’ movements and NGOs are galvanizing development agendas that work to forge new paradigms for participation for farmers, revitalize and maintain cultural and livelihood practices and foster greater climate resiliency through ecological farming. Through my investigation, I draw attention to the ontological distance between food sovereignty and agroecology at the theoretical and policy levels and the complex, constrained reality of how they are being realized at the grassroots level. In doing so, I unearth the challenges and opportunities of agroecology as an effective strategy for addressing the needs of smallholder and tribal farmers operating in the rapidly evolving environmental, social and economic contexts of food production in Rajasthan.