Thursday, August 5, 2010: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
Blrm BC, David L Lawrence Convention Center
SYMP 18 - Global Warming, Smallholder Agriculture And Environmental Justice: Making Critical Connections
Pollution, biodiversity losses, dead zones, economic and social displacement of small and medium scale farmers, and pesticide intoxications of farm workers are among the well recognized legacies of the past 50 years of industrial agriculture. More recently, global warming has been added to the list. The challenges that lay ahead have to be confronted with a strong foundation in ecology combined with an interdisciplinary approach that recognizes the complex social, economic and political ramifications of proposed solutions. Recent global assessments and international reports have suggested that a paradigm shift is required in agriculture if we are going to reduce agriculture’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and reverse the pattern of the last fifty years. This symposium will examine how ecological research has been essential to a better understanding of how industrial agriculture contributes to global warming and could, likewise, contribute to an understanding of how traditional and innovative agreocological systems can mitigate this effect. With a strong interdisciplinary focus, the speakers will examine the ethical ramifications of some of the proposed solutions to global warming, especially those dealing with carbon trading, and the potential contribution of small-scale sustainable agriculture to reversing the warming pattern and buffering against the impacts of global warming. The speakers will also discuss the role of institutions, environmental governance and social movements in fostering change. The symposium will conclude with a synthesis focusing on the critical connections between climate change, agriculture and environmental justice and how ecological research is essential for generating sustainable and just solutions the problem of global warming.
Organizer:	Ivette Perfecto, University of Michigan
Co-organizers:	M. Jahi Chappell, Cornell University Charles H. Nilon, University of Missouri John Vandermeer, University of Michigan
Moderator:	Ivette Perfecto, University of Michigan
Endorsement:	ESA Agroecology Section, ESA Environmental Justice Section, ESA Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section
8:00 AM			Welcoming remarks
8:05 AM	SYMP 18-1		Global warming and agricultural intensification Alison G. Power, Cornell University
8:25 AM	SYMP 18-2		Climate, carbon trading, class, and crisis:  Unequal environmental exchange and agriculture in the americas Hannah Wittman, Simon Fraser University
8:45 AM	SYMP 18-3		Does carbon matter?: Smallholder farmers negotiating shifting institutions Kristen C. Nelson, University of Minnesota
9:05 AM	SYMP 18-4		Climate change, transgenes, and the prospects for environmental justice: Smallholder livelihoods and the evolution of maize landraces in Mexico Kristin L. Mercer, The Ohio State University, Hugo Perales, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Joel Wainwright, Ohio State University
9:25 AM			Break
9:35 AM	SYMP 18-5		Agroforestry adaptation and mitigation options for smallholder farmers vulnerable to climate change Brenda B. Lin, AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship
9:55 AM	SYMP 18-6		CANCELLED - Local institutions and adaptation to climate change: Improving the capacity of the poor to deal with climate impacts Arun Agrawal, University of Michigan
10:15 AM	SYMP 18-7		Food sovereignty and climate change II: Can smallholder farmers cool the planet? John H. Vandermeer, University of Michigan, Gerald Smith, University of Michigan, Ivette Perfecto, University of Michigan, Eileen Quintero, University of Michigan, Rachel Bezner-Kerr, University of Western Ontario, Daniel M. Griffith, St. Louis Zoo, Stuart R. Ketcham, University of the Virgin Islands, Steve Latta, National Aviary, Brenda Lin, US EPA, Phil McMichael, Cornell University, Krista L. McGuire, Barnard College, Ron Nigh, CIESAS Sureste, Dianne Rocheleau, Clark University, John Soluri, Carnegie-Mellon University, M. Jahi Chappell, Cornell University
10:35 AM			Synthesis by John Vandermeer: Making the critical connections between global warming, agriculture and environmental justice
10:55 AM			Panel discussion
11:25 AM			Concluding remarks

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See more of The 95th ESA Annual Meeting (August 1 -- 6, 2010)