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Opinion: Food for thought — the carbon dilemma

Regenerative, sustainable, organic, natural, carbon-neutral, carbon-smart — what do any of these mean for agriculture in reality?

They mean to be different from commodity agriculture when it comes to marketing. They also mean to approach farming differently. Whether they make a difference, or if these are truly new, is harder to answer.

Regenerative as a term has certainly caught the world’s attention. The last time such attention was paid to an agricultural term might have been “mechanized farming” or the “green revolution.” Those became big in the 1950s and 1960s, and most people would have to look them up now to understand the impact they had or even what they stood for.

Regenerative implies that farmers weren’t taking care of the land in a manner that maintained it so that it could carry on producing indefinitely. For many producers in Western Canada, that idea is insulting at best, and at worst it attacks their efforts to create sustainability on their farms.

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How women saved agricultural economics and other ideas for why diversity matters | Jill J. McCluskey

Video: How women saved agricultural economics and other ideas for why diversity matters | Jill J. McCluskey

Dr. Jill J. McCluskey, Regents Professor at Washington State University and Director of the School of Economic Science

Dr. McCluskey documents that women entered agricultural economics in significant numbers starting in the 1980s, and their ranks have increased over time. She argues that women have increased the relevance in the field of agricultural economics through their diverse interests, perspectives, and experiences. In their research, women have expanded the field's treatment of non-traditional topics such as food safety and nutrition and environmental and natural resource economics. In this sense, women saved the Agricultural Economics profession from a future as a specialty narrowly focused on agricultural production and markets. McCluskey will go on to discuss some of her own story and how it has shaped some of her thinking and research. She will present her research on dual-career couples in academia, promotional achievement of women in both Economics and Agricultural Economics, and work-life support programs.

The Daryl F. Kraft Lecture is arranged by the Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, with the support of the Solomon Sinclair Farm Management Institute, and in cooperation with the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.