Expanding Paleoindian Diet Breadth: Paleoethnobotany of Connley Cave 5, Oregon, USA

Paleoethnobotanical perspectives are essential for understanding past lifeways yet continue to be underrepresented in Paleoindian research. We present new archaeobotanical and radiocarbon data from combustion features within stratified cultural components at Connley Caves, Oregon, that reaffirm the inclusion of plants in the diet of Paleoindian groups. Botanical remains from three features in Connley Cave 5 show that people foraged for diverse dryland taxa and a narrow range of wetland plants during the summer and fall months. These data add new taxa to the known Pleistocene food economy and support the idea that groups equipped with Western Stemmed Tradition toolkits had broad, flexible diets. When viewed continentally, this work contributes to a growing body of research indicating that regionally adapted subsistence strategies were in place by at least the Younger Dryas and that some foragers in the Far West may have incorporated a wider range of plants including small seeds, leafy greens, fruits, cacti, and geophytes into their diet earlier than did Paleoindian groups elsewhere in North America. The increasing appearance of diverse and seemingly low-ranked resources in the emerging Paleoindian plant-food economy suggests the need to explore a variety of nutritional variables to explain certain aspects of early foraging behavior.

Fostering Imagined Economies on Twitter

Startups are entrepreneurial organisations that aim to develop a scalable and disruptive business. However, these small ventures operate in an environment of extreme uncertainty. The startup economy takes place in the present but is directed towards the future. This chapter critically investigates in online and offline realms the circulation of imagined futures that create causal links to bridge the gap between the present economic scenario and potential futures in the Italian startup food economy. This work adopted a mixed-method approach framed in a qualitative exploratory strategy which was designed to integrate qualitative techniques and digital methods. This work concludes by highlighting the co-evolutionary process between online and offline realms. On the one hand, online narratives allow economic actors to perform in radical uncertain economic contexts, while, on the other hand, the offline practices give legitimacy and credibility to these potential future scenarios.

Zwycięzcy i przegrani pandemii Covid-19: perspektywa globalna z uwzględnieniem gospodarki rolno-żywnościowej

The worldwide literature on the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 is extensive, covering individual enterprises and markets, economic sectors or branches, or the national and global economy. The current study is unique as it is a comprehensive compilation of the relevant evidence regarding economic entities and sectors of global or international significance and the societal groups from an angle of so-called "pandemic game" with some implications for the agri-food economy. Its main aim is to identify the actual and potential winners and losers of the pandemic. The winners’ notion covers actors, e.g. economic sectors or people groups those extraordinarily benefited or will benefit from a pandemic, extremely upgrading their financial or other performance. In turn, the losers include individuals or entities that incurred unusual costs or losses, worsened their results, or probably will face such pandemic consequences in the future. Some economic ideas also are considered. The article is based on the scientific, popular and grey literature as well as publicly available data to support research. The research uses deductive explanation methods. Results show that the biopharmaceutical industry, leading digital companies, shareholders in international retail chains, global financial holdings, food delivery companies, and the World’s richest people are among those who thrived exceptionally well in the new living and doing business conditions and can therefore be admitted as the current crisis’ winners. Adversely, the coronavirus victims, energy and air transport sectors, and food processing labour, all of them being harmfully affected by the pandemic, are examples of losers. Albeit the presented winners and losers represent various spheres of economic life, they are more or less related to the agriculture and food processing industry. The study confirms that the functioning and condition of the latter depend on the situation of other economic sectors, agents, and markets, and international disturbances spreading within an open economy. The paper can be of interest both to the research community, and decision-makers in different economic and social policy areas.

Heat Stress Responses in Birds: A Review of the Neural Components

Heat stress is one of the major environmental conditions causing significant losses in the poultry industry and having negative impacts on the world’s food economy. Heat exposure causes several physiological impairments in birds, including oxidative stress, weight loss, immunosuppression, and dysregulated metabolism. Collectively, these lead not only to decreased production in the meat industry, but also decreases in the number of eggs laid by 20%, and overall loss due to mortality during housing and transit. Mitigation techniques have been discussed in depth, and include changes in air flow and dietary composition, improved building insulation, use of air cooling in livestock buildings (fogging systems, evaporation panels), and genetic alterations. Most commonly observed during heat exposure are reduced food intake and an increase in the stress response. However, very little has been explored regarding heat exposure, food intake and stress, and how the neural circuitry responsible for sensing temperatures mediate these responses. That thermoregulation, food intake, and the stress response are primarily mediated by the hypothalamus make it reasonable to assume that it is the central hub at which these systems interact and coordinately regulate downstream changes in metabolism. Thus, this review discusses the neural circuitry in birds associated with thermoregulation, food intake, and stress response at the level of the hypothalamus, with a focus on how these systems might interact in the presence of heat exposure.

An Economic Assessment of the Impact on Agriculture of the Proposed Changes in EU Biofuel Policy Mechanisms

In Poland, rapeseed production has been the fastest growing branch of plant production since 2000. Rapeseed yields have increased 2.5 times in the last 20 years. The main reason for this trend was the implementation of obligations resulting from legal acts by Member States relating to increasing the share of RES in the structure of primary energy production, and in particular relating to the share of biofuels in fuels used in transport. In Poland in the years 2010–2020, about 1.0–1.6 million tonnes of rape seeds were used for this purpose annually. Due to the fact that biofuel production competes for raw materials with the food economy, at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, many representatives of various circles intensified their voices, calling for withdrawal from the policy supporting the biofuel sector, which may have resulted in a decrease in oilseed plant cultivation areas. As a result of the research conducted here, it was determined that the place of oilseed rape in the sowing structure will be taken by rye, triticale and, on good soils, by wheat. Compared to rape, their production is characterised by lower income per 1 ha; in the years 2013–2019, these differences amounted to: wheat—8 EUR, triticale—102.3 EUR, and rye—168 EUR. This situation will deteriorate the value cereal cultivation sites and will result in a decrease in their yields. On the basis of the conducted research, the estimated value of rape as a forecrop for wheat, triticale, and rye was, respectively: 103.7; 64.6 and 46.7 EUR. An additional advantage of oilseed rape is that it is an excellent bee resource and is classified as a commodity crop, i.e., one from which significant amounts of honey can be obtained, with a net value of EUR 55 per hectare. In addition, in many agricultural holdings, as a result of forecasted changes in plant production, there will be an accumulation of field work during the harvest period, which will also affect the worse use of machinery and storage areas. The consequence of increasing the area under which cereal crops and their supply can grow may be the decline in production profitability and thus the income situation of farms, but this will be assessed at the next stage of research.

Recovery, Molecular Characterization, and Ampelographic Assessment of Marginal Grapevine Germplasm from Southern Umbria (Central Italy)

The protection of grapevine biodiversity and the safeguarding of genetic variability are certainly primary and topical objectives for wine research, especially in territories historically devoted to viticulture. To assess the autochthonous germplasm of three different districts of Southern Umbria (Central Italy), the plant material of 70 grapevines retrieved from reforested land plots or old vineyards was collected, and their genetic identity was investigated using 13 microsatellite markers (SSR). The results revealed the presence of 39 unique genotypes, divided into 24 already-known cultivars and 15 never-reported SSR profiles. Most of the grapevine accessions were then vegetatively propagated and cultivated in a vineyard collection both to be protected from extinction and to be evaluated at the ampelographic level. Overall, this work emphasizes the need for recovering the threatened genetic variability that characterizes minor neglected grapevine cultivars or biotypes of Southern Umbria germplasm, and the requirement to revalue and exploit the more valuable genetic resources to enhance the local agri-food economy.

Food Connects Washington DC in 2050—A Vision for Urban Food Systems as the Centerpieces of a Circular Economy

This article presents a vision for an urban food system in Washington DC in 2050 that serves as the centerpiece of a circular economy for the capital region of the United States. Food serves as the connecting link for an inclusive, adaptive, and resilient urban economy embedded in the region. This food economy values natural resources, cultural diversity, and commitment to nature-based innovations. The vision is the result of a three-pronged methodology of: (1) community engagement; (2) a thoughtful, process-focused transformation; and (3) the scaling up of existing urban food initiatives. We argue that small, hyperlocal, neighborhood-based initiatives can become crucial game changers and catalysts of change for entire neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Therefore, we propose a design-based approach to advance our 2050 vision of a circular food system. Our design-based approach consists of three building blocks: (A) systems thinking; (B) the ability to manage wins and tradeoffs; and (C) transitional leadership and cooperation. We explain these building blocks and the way in which they are incorporated in the 2050 vision of Washington DC. We further argue that the food economy is an ideal sector to embark on such a design-based approach due to its systemic nature, its critical position as an indispensable economic sector, and the complex connections it brings to multiple other sectors of the economy. An urban food system can therefore offer the ideal starting point for a transition towards a circular economy.

Incorporation of Fermented Brewers Spent Grain in the Production of Sourdough Bread

The utilisation of food production by-products back into food production within a circular food economy is one of the driving examples to improve sustainability within the food industry. Brewers spent grain is the most abundant by-product from the brewing industry, with currently most of it being used as animal feed. In this study, we utilised brewers spent grain as a substrate in a solid-state fermentation in order to produce a Type-3 sourdough culture. Sourdough bread is becoming increasingly popular throughout the western world. The use of fermented brewers spent grain in the production of sourdough bread yielded sourdough bread that was acceptable by consumers. We also investigated the production and presence of the main organic acids in sourdough during the proofing process and the baking process. The baking trials showed that there was a reduction in both lactic and acetic acid content during the actual baking process. The reduction in the concentration of both organic acids appears to be at the heart of the observation that for both organic acids, there is typically a lower concentration in the crust compared to the crumb of the sourdough breads, which was observed in our sourdough breads and those commercially available.

A ‘popular option’ for development? Reconsidering the rise and fall of Chile’s political economy of socialism

As Salvador Allende and his supporters forged a democratic path towards socialism, the task of building a more sovereign and egalitarian national economy became one of the Popular Unity (UP) revolution’s first priorities. To that end, Allende’s coalition promoted a massive downward redistribution of income during its first months in office while also extending state control over many of the country’s most essential industries. Chile’s food economy, including its agricultural sector, received special attention during this early period as both purchasing power and domestic production soared. However, when a combination of economic, ecological and political factors caused consumer production to stagnate, acute shortages for a wide range of goods raised questions about the viability of the UP’s plans for a more just consumer economy. The emergence of a powerful opposition movement also raised questions about the government’s reluctance to pursue substantive political changes at the same time that it implemented major economic reforms. By examining the political economy of the UP experiment in the context of Chile’s 2019–20 uprising against inequality and political exclusion, this article reconsiders the consequences of the UP’s inability to link economic transformations with changes in how political power was exercised in mid-century Chile.