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Course Schedule I

Course Schedule II

Class

Date

Topic

Class Facilitators

Guest Speaker

Agricultural and the Cultural Environment

1

Jan 11

Course Welcome and Introduction

1. Course objectives, procedures and administrative details;
2. Overview of agricultural production in southwest Florida and important “interface” issues facing the agriculture.
3. Conflicting goals and perspectives regarding agriculture and environment.

Required Readings: 

Jackson (1994) Living Nets In a New Prairie Sea, p. 77. 

Goodman & Watts (1997) Agrarian Questions (Chapter 1) in Goodman & Watts (1997) Globalising Food.

Brown, et. al. (1999) Feeding Nine Million (Chapter 7)

Marsden (1997) Creating Space for Food (Chapter 7) in Goodman & Watts (1997) Globalising Food.

Suggested Web Readings:

USDA History of American Agriculture: 

Florida Agriculture Facts:

Farm Facts (Florida Farm Bureau)

Florida Department of Agriculture:

Fritz Roka (IFAS) &

Terry

Wimberley (FGCU)

TBA

2

Jan 18

How Has the Family Farm Changed?

1. Historical & anthropological perspectives about agricultural development;
2. Farm Policy Goals & Realities 

Required Readings:

Hurt, (1994) The Native American Experience, Chapter 1; 

Sumner, 1995, Goals & Realities for Farm Policy, Chapter 2; 

Buttel (1997) Some Observations on Agro-Food Change & the Future of Agricultural Sustainability Movements (Chapter 14) in Goodman & Watts (1997) Globalising Food.

Suggested Web Readings:

CHANGES KEEP COMING FOR THE SMALLER FAMILY FARM

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) - Food

Mike McDonald & Terry Wimberley (FGCU)

TBA

3

Jan

25

NOTE: This Class Meets in Immokalee at the UF-IFAS Campus.  Meet Promptly at 4:00 PM at Immokalee Campus on Rt. 29 in Immokalee.  Class will begin with a field trip with class lecture to follow.

1. Producing citrus, vegetables, sugarcane, and cattle in SW Fla.
2. Farm-worker demographics and economic choices.

Required Readings:

Thurman (1995) Commodity Programs & their Environmental Effects, Chapter 2, & Promotion of Environmentally Friendly Production, Chapter 3.

Suggested Web Readings:

U.S. Agricultural Prices:

U.S. Farm Sector Economics:

Fritz Roka (IFAS)

TBA

4

Feb

1

1. Property rights, greenbelt laws, the farm vote, and special interests (local and national).
2. Institutional organizations. Who they are, what they do, and how they do it. (Panel of speakers)

Required Readings:

Sumner (1995) Farm Programs & the Environment, Chapter 6 & Farm Credit Policies Chapter 8.

Suggested Web Readings:

Greenbelt Alliance:

Beyond Sprawl: New Patterns of Growth to Fit the New California:

Property Rights, Regulatory Takings, and Environmental Protection:

Cato Institute: Protecting Private Property Rights from Regulatory Takings:

Private Lands: Conserving America's Resources

Fritz Roka (IFAS) & 

John Fitch 

Environmental Studies (FGCU)

5

Feb 8

How Safe is our Food?

1. Food safety issues.
2. Regulatory environment

Required Readings:

Sumner (1995) Choice, Safety & Food Safety, Chapter 7.

Suggested Web Readings:

FDA Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition

The Food Safety Home Page

FoodSafety.Gov

Ron Schmidt (Food Science and Human Nutrition, UF)

6

Feb 15

Agricultural Markets

1. Production trends; farm population, shifts in farm size; mechanization, input usage;
2. Consumer demand for agriculture products and discussion of how markets work.
3. Trade issues – NAFTA

Required Readings:

Sumner (1995) Agricultural Trade Policy Reform, Chapter 4 &  Farm Credit Policy, Chapter 8; 

Jackson (1994) Farm Debt, p. 92

Brown et. al. (2000) Nourishing the Underfed and Overfed.

Suggested Web Readings: 

World Agriculture: Trends & Indicators

Public Citizen: NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade Guide

World Trade Organization

The International Forum on Globalization, The Nation Institute, Public Citizen & The Progress Project

Howard Finch

(FGCU – Business)

TBA

1

2

3

4

5

6