An environmental assessment of food supply chains: a case study on dessert apples

The contemporary food system provides consumers with convenience, extensive choice, and the year-round availability of fresh produce. In this paper these achievements are recognized within the context of the associated environmental impacts. While many analyses have considered the energy and material efficiency of various options for food production and packaging, very few studies have investigated the environmental impacts of the transport components of food supply chains. This is surprising, given that the global sourcing of food produce, centralized distribution systems, and shopping by car have become prevalent in recent decades and have contributed to an increase in the distance between producer and consumer or “food miles.” In a case study the transport energy consumption is calculated for all possible ways in which dessert apples can be supplied to the UK consumer. The aim is to assess the environmental performance of the predominant fresh produce supply chains and to investigate claims that localized systems are more environmentally efficient. The main criteria used to compare the environmental efficiency in alternative food supply chains are the transport-related fossil-fuel energy consumption and associated carbon dioxide emissions. Analysis of the empirical data shows that transportation is now responsible for a considerable fraction of the total energy consumption in the life cycle of fresh apples, and in most cases exceeds the energy consumed in commercial apple cultivation. By developing local production and marketing systems for fresh products, transport demand can be reduced and many of the environmental impacts associated with existing supply chains can be avoided. The results of the study are then discussed in relation to the wider issues of transport policy, international trade, food security, and product-related environmental information for consumers.     

Characterisation of airborne particles collected within and proximal to an opencast coalmine: South Wales,U.K

Airborne particulate matter has been collected from within,and proximal to, an opencast coal mine in south Wales. Thiswork forms the first part of a three year project to collectand characterise, then determine the possible toxicology ofairborne particles in the south Wales region. High-resolutionField Emission SEM has shown that the coal mine dusts consistlargely of an assemblage of mineral grains and vehicle exhaustparticles. SEM-EDX has shown that the mineralogical make-up ofthe PM10 is complex, heterogeneous, and constantly changing.These findings are supported by analytical TEM-EPXMA.However, patterns can be determined relating the mineralogicalcomposition of the airborne particles to collection locationsand mining activities within the opencast. At our studyopencast, Park Slip West, quartz, which has known healtheffects, never exceeded 30% of the total collection mass, andaverage levels were much less. Vehicle exhaust emissions wasthe largest source in terms of particle numbers. The mass ofairborne particulate matter within the pit averagedapproximately twice that of outside the pit: importantlyhowever, this higher mass was due to relatively large, andnon-respirable, mineral grains. This study demonstrates that the physicochemical andmineralogical characterisation of airborne particles frommining and quarrying is essential to quantify the respirablefraction, and to identify potentially hazardous componentswithin the PM10.     

减少全球NOx排放:开发先进的能量和运输技术

从全球范围来讲,未来能量需求将会持续增长.由于发展中国家要提高其生活水平,因此,在可预见的将来,全球NOx排放会呈现出不断增加的趋势.美国采取了一些改善措施来减少固定和流动污染源的NOx排放,以减少对臭氧层的损坏.同时需要采取进一步的改进措施以降低与NOx排放有关的对身体健康和生态系统的影响.由于对电力和运输需求的增长,在世界上其他地区(尤其是发展中国家)NOx排放一直在稳定增长.如果实施适当的政策措施,能源和运输技术的改善会有助于减少NOx排放.这篇论文评价了商用电力生产和运输技术,相对于传统技术而言,它们排放较少的NOx,同时还评价了近10年内商用方面的先进技术.文章还评估了可以在地区、国家和全球水平上实施的不同政策措施,以此来促进这些先进技术的开发并最终减少NOx排放.论文提出了技术飞跃的概念,很可能有助于发展中国家缩减那些导致NOx排放增大的项目.     

Soil uranium,basement radon and lung cancer in Illinois,USA

Using counties as the sampling unit, a significant association between the chemical form of uranium occurring in soils with basement radon levels was found (Spearman r, 0.266; p > |r|, 0.007). Uranium atoms dispersed throughout the soil matrix are efficient emanators of Rn to soil gas, whereas Rn that is trapped diffuses very slowly from the several U-bearing minerals in Illinois soils and does not contribute significantly to explaining basement Rn. Basement Rn level is correlated with annual incidence of male and female lung cancers. Dispersed U is correlated with annual incidence of lung cancer in females with a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.162 (p > |r|, 0.104) and males of 0.177 (p > |r|, 0.075).     

Book reviews

Green Culture: environmental rhetoric in contemporary America. C. G. Herndl & S. C. Brown (Eds), 1996, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin Press, 315 pp. ISBN 0 229 14990 0, £35.95 (hbk) ISBN 0 299 14994 3, £17.50 (pbk)

Earthtalk: communication empowerment for environmental action. S. A. Muir & T. L. Veenendall, 1996, Westport, CT, Praeger, Praeger Series in Political Communication, 233 pp. ISBN 0 275 953700 X, £47.95

Environmentalism and Cultural Theory. Kay Milton, 1996 London & New York, Routledge, 266 pp. ISBN 0 415 115529 9, £45.00 (hbk) ISBN 0 415 11530 2, £13.99 (pbk)

Local Environmental Struggles: citizen activism in the treadmill of production. Kenneth A. Gould, Allan Schnaiberg & Adam S. Weinberg, 1996, Cambridge University Press, 239 pp. ISBN 0 521 55519 1, £40.00 (hbk) ISBN 0 521 55521 3, £14.95 (pbk)

The Language of Environment: a new rhetoric. George Myerson & Yvonne Rydin, 1996 London, UCL Press, 264 pp. ISBN 1 85728 330 9, £35.00 (hbk) ISBN 1 85728 331 7, £11.95 (pbk)

Environmental Issues and Business: implications of a changing agenda. Sally Eden, 1996, Chichester, Wiley, ISBN 0 471 94872 1, £25.00

Green Shift: towards a green sensibility in architecture. John Farmer, edited by Kenneth Richardson, 1996, Oxford, Butterworth Architecture, with World-Wide Fund for Nature, ISBN 07506 15303

Lewis Mumford and the Ecological Region: the politics of planning. Mark Luccarelli, 1995, New York, Guilford Press, ISBN 1572300019, £19.95

The Ecology of Hope: communities collaborate for sustainability. Ted Bernard & Jora Young, 1997, East Haven, CT, New Society Publishers, 233 pp. ISBN 0 86571 355 33 (pbk)

Turning the Tide: integrated local area management for Australia's coastal zone. Valerie A. Brown, 1995, Canberra, Australia, Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories

Involving Communities in Forestry through Community Participation. Forestry Practice Guide 10, Forestry Commission

The Scope for Community Participation in Forest Management. A Report for the Forestry Commission and Scottish Office by Bill Slee, Gill Clark & Patrick Snowdon, £10 (£15 non UK)

The Role of Woodlands in Meeting Planning Objectives in Great Britain. A Report for the Forestry Commission by Professor Paul Selman     

Using Collaborative Technology in Environmental Strategy Development

This viewpoint explores, through a case study in Malawi, the application of collaborative technology tools to support National Environmental Strategy Development initiatives with the public and private sectors in Africa. A particular type of groupware, Group Support Systems, is introduced as a technology and approach that enables large groups of stakeholders to be involved in efficient and effective decision making. It helped the different ministries, community leaders, the private sector, NGOs, and different donors to find new and challenging opportunities for collaboration. The results of the case study show how an environmental strategy, including a prioritised plan of action, was developed and presented to the Ministry within three days. The most important lessons are identified. Participants to the presentation of the paper will be given hands-on experience using these tools.     

A refutation of Karasek's demand – discretion model of occupational stress with a range of dependent measures

Karasek's (1979) demand–discretion model of occupational stress has been highly influential but has been criticized as confounding social class variables (Payne and Fletcher, 1983), ignoring the curvilinearity of relationships (Warr, 1991), and because it has inconsistently predicted heart disease (Ganster and Fusilier, 1989). The present study examines the ability of the model to predict raised blood pressure (a risk factor in the development of CHD), anxiety, depression, job and life satisfaction, in a large heterogeneous sample of over 3000 people. It examines the predictability of the model for men and women, taking occupational classification (manual and non-manual workers) into account, to allow some control over social class confounding. It also examines nonlinear relationships in the data. The study showed that demands and discretion do separately predict psychological strain, job and life satisfaction, though they account for a very small percentage of the variance. There was no evidence of interactive effects which are central to the model. Where the model was able to predict blood pressure, relationships were consistently in the opposite direction to that hypothesized. There was also little evidence of curvilinear relationships. Interpersonal support was found to add significantly to the predictability of the dependent variables. The findings cast doubt on Karasek's model and suggest that emphasis should be shifted to those models which are more encompassing of support factors.     

IMPACT OF WATERSHED URBANIZATION ON STREAM INSECT COMMUNITIES1

ABSTRACT: The impact of urbanization on stream insect communities was determined by sampling 22 sites in northern Virginia representing a range of human population densities. Watershed development had little effect on the total insect numbers (no./m²), but shifted the taxonomic composition markedly. Relative abundance of Diptera (mainly chironomids) increased at more highly urbanized sites, while most other insect orders including Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Coleoptera (bettles), Megaloptera (dobsonflies), and Plecoptera (stone-flies) decreased. Trichoptera (caddisfiles) exhibited a variable response. Genus diversity and richness (number of genera) were significantly higher in less urbanized streams. Two genera of chironomids were positively correlated with increased urbanization, while 14 other genera (scattered through several orders) were negatively related to human population density. Principal components analysis demonstrated a gradient from more urbanized to less urbanized stations based on generic and order level biological data. Results of this study indicate that watershed urbanization has a major impact on benthic insect communities even in the absence of point source discharges.