The Fruits of Labor: Home Food Procurement and Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19

We examine the relationship of home food procurement (HFP) during COVID-19 to emotional eating and stress using a statewide representative survey (n = 600) in Vermont. Women and people with a job change since COVID-19 were more likely to experience higher stress and emotional eating. Engaging in HFP, especially gardening, is associated with less emotional eating. However, people who fished, hunted, or canned more since the pandemic began were more likely to eat for emotional reasons and experience higher stress. These results suggest that gardening, even during a pandemic, may contribute to stress reduction, more so than other nature-based food production activities.Copyright © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Farmers' willingness to stabilize the land contract relationship facing the upcoming expiry of land contracts

On the verge of the expiry of land contracts, it is theoretically and practically important to explore the willingness and motivations of farmers to stabilize the land contract relationship, with regards to protecting their land contract rights, addressing potential contradictions during the land contract extension, and maintaining the stability of contracted land. Using China Land Economic Survey Data in 2020, this paper explores the impact of differences in areas per capita of household contracted land on farmers' willingness to stabilize land contract relationship. The findings show that most farmers support the stability of land contract relationship;the smaller areas per capita of contracted land are occupied by households than the average in the village, the weaker of the farmers' willingness to stabilize the land contract relationship. The difference between the areas per capita of contracted land ownership of a household and the average in the village has a greater impact on the willingness to stabilize land contract relationship for middle-and low-income farmers, while the development of land transfer market does not increased the willingness. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the land plays a more important role of employment security, which reduces farmers' willingness to stabilize the land contract relationship. Furthermore, the promotion of socialized agricultural service has also mitigated the willingness of farmers o stabilize the land contract relationship.

Spatial Analysis of Socioeconomic Factors Contributing to Food Desert in North Carolina

Food deserts (FD) have attracted attention after the post-COVID-19 pandemic, primarily due to adverse health and other implications of living in areas designated as food deserts. Most studies have focused on various aspects of the impact of food deserts, including the nutritional and health risks of living in FDs. Spatial integration and analysis of the GIS data in food provide a powerful way to expose the issues of creating deserts and how they change over space and time. This study aims to investigate the socioeconomic factors influencing food deserts using geospatial analyses. Guilford, Bladen, and Rutherford Counties in North Carolina were selected as case studies due to their higher percentage of the population with limited healthy food access. This study used open-source data, such as the USDA's Crop Land Layer (CDL) land cover maps, census data, and the Food Access Research Atlas. This research provides a geostatistical analysis of FDs based on income/expenditure, population, vehicle, and food aid. The study results generally showed that geospatial technologies are vital for investigating FDs. The results will assist policy makers and other responsible agencies in formulating appropriate intervention policies tailored to meet the demands of these counties.

Transforming India's Agrarian Society in a Post-COVID World: Prospects and Challenges

The need for change in India's agrarian sector came into sharp focus with the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper traces the imperatives that have shaped the trajectory of the development of the rural economy in post-independence India including the social, cultural and political matrix within which the processes and activities of the rural economy are carried out. It also explores the possibilities of social, cultural and political change based on a perspective that seeks to reconcile the imperatives of unity and social justice with a practical reading of the ground reality in India's villages. The paper suggests reform in social, cultural and political structures and practices at the village level along with economic prescriptions such as increasing the marketability of agricultural produce and creating jobs in the manufacturing sector to absorb workers displaced from the agricultural sector. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Study on Dynamic Change of Land Usage in Hongta District Based on Sentinel-2

This work utilizes Sentinel-2A L1C remote sensing photographs from the years 2018, 2020, and 2022 to identify the different land use categories in the study area using the support vector machine (SVM) technique. The accuracy of categorization is greater than 90%. This research explores four factors of the dynamic change in land use in Hongta District from 2018 to 2022: the proportion of various types of land;the extent of something like the changing land usage;land use transfer;and the dynamic degree of the change in land use. According to the study's results, the proportion of cultivated and grassland land grew, while the quantity of barren and construction land fell by 1.90 percent, 0.03 percent, and 0.69 percent, respectively. The water system land portion of total area increased by 2.58 percent and 0.13 percent, respectively. After comparing the two research periods, the entire dynamic degree of the second stage is determined to be 3.5 percent lower than that of the first stage, and the pace of land use change is quite sluggish, which may be associated with the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. The outcomes of the research may give the natural resources department the knowledge it needs to manage land resources properly. © 2023 SPIE.

Reviving Smallholder Hill Farming by Involving Rural Youth in Food System Transformation and Promoting Community-Based Agri-Ecotourism: A Case of Uttarakhand State in North-Western India

Until recent decades, labour-intensive subsistence farming was a way of life and livelihood in the hill communities of Uttarakhand, India. However, the nature of agriculture falls far short of the expectations of the main labour force, the rural youth, leading to their mass migration to non-agricultural occupations. The large-scale youth migration has left many hill farming landscapes depopulated and farmlands abandoned. As youth have special stakes in food systems, they must be included in the sustainable transformation of food systems. By doing so, the migration-prone hill region may be transformed into a place where rural youth have more options for work and income. Therefore, the agriculture sector needs to change and develop into a more engaging and youthful workplace. There are opportunities to explore and barriers to be removed. Besides identifying priority research areas on local food systems, in this exploratory research, we investigate opportunities to involve rural young people in the transformation of the food system. We document information by conducting focus group discussion (FGD) meetings in about 100 villages in the Uttarakhand hills, representing all major farming landscapes. This study mainly focuses on improving the production and consumption aspects of local food, which not only benefits the health and wellbeing of local communities but also has many positive economic, social, and environmental effects. In addition, we explore opportunities for reviving mountain agriculture through agri-ecotourism, which is a symbiotic relationship between tourism and agriculture. Making home- or farm stays in agri-ecotourism a subsistence strategy for local youth will contribute to a more prosperous rural economy. Recognising Uttarakhand's rich culture and heritage while exploring the culinary travel opportunities in homestays will provide opportunities to focus more on traditional food systems, exposing various tangible and intangible aspects of the host region's food culture to tourists. The findings of this study will aid in identifying specific policy issues for consideration by planners and policymakers at the local and state levels. Additionally, this exploratory study will assist young, motivated researchers in conducting follow-up, in-depth investigations and producing empirical data in their specialised fields.

Geo-Economy of the Future: Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Energy: Volume II

This book presents an international review of the modern geo-economy and a scientific take on the geo-economy of the future. It identifies the challenges of climate change and their impact on the modern geo-economy. Prospects for the geo-economy of the future are outlined based on sustainable agriculture and alternative energy. Policy implications are put forward to develop a geo-economy of the future in response to the challenges of climate change. The book presents management implications for the development of the geo-economy of the future in response to the challenges of climate change at the regional and global scale. It presents the lessons-learned through the COVID-19 pandemic, and applies experiences of countries with different environmental conditions for agriculture and the development of the energy sector. Based on these results, advanced practical recommendations and ready-made frameworks at the national, regional, and enterprise level are provided. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Tracking the Transit Divide: A Multilevel Modelling Approach of Urban Inequalities and Train Ridership Disparities in Chicago

Using a multilevel modelling approach, this study investigates the impact of urban inequalities on changes to rail ridership across Chicago's "L” stations during the pandemic, the mass vaccination rollout, and the full reopening of the city. Initially believed to have an equal impact, COVID-19 disproportionally impacted the ability of lower socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods' to adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions: working-from-home and social distancing. We find that "L” stations in predominately Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino neighbourhoods with high industrial land-use recorded the smallest behavioural change. The maintenance of higher public transport use at these stations is likely to have exacerbated existing health inequalities, worsening disparities in users' risk of exposure, infection rates, and mortality rates. This study also finds that the vaccination rollout and city reopening did not significantly increase the number of users at stations in higher vaccinated, higher private vehicle ownership neighbourhoods, even after a year into the pandemic. A better understanding of the spatial and socioeconomic determinants of changes in ridership behaviour is crucial for policymakers in adjusting service routes and frequencies that will sustain reliant neighbourhoods' access to essential services, and to encourage trips at stations which are the most impacted to revert the trend of declining public transport use.

The Impact of Factors on Residential Land Prices: A Case Study in Tu Son City, Vietnam

The study aims to determine the influencing factors and their impact levels on residential land prices. The research investigated 241 officials, real estate investors, appraisers, and real estate brokers on factors affecting residential land prices. Research results have shown 13 groups with 45 factors affecting the price of residential land. The impact rates of the factor groups range from 1.43% to 23.65%. The COVID-19 pandemic factor group has the strongest impact on land prices, followed by other factor groups, including upgrading administrative units;formulation and implementation of the planning;the real estate market;financial – economics;credit;real estate brokerage;infrastructure;location of the land parcel;particular factors;juridical factors;environment and social security. To harmonize the interests of the State, investors, and land users when valuing land, it is necessary to pay attention to the factors that strongly impact land prices first, and then the smaller ones. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Real Estate Management & Valuation is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The Influence of Density and Mixed Land Use on The Spread of Covid-19 in Surakarta City

Covid-19 has a significant risk of spreading in urban areas because of the aglomeration of built-up areas and people. It frequently contains a mix of land uses and is accessible to urban amenities. Due to the area's extensive usage of mixed land uses, it is better able to provide internal urban services on its own. Greater use of area lockdown and social separation strategies could result from this situation. The most populous city in the province of Central Java, Surakarta, has a significant risk of contracting COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of density and levels of mixed land use on the Covid-19 distribution in Surakarta City.Population density is used to calculate density. The entropy index approach was used to measure the amount of mixed land use. It is a method for calculating the balance between each form of land use. The availability of current land use data being processed by the spatial analysis with the Arc GIS application provided help for the analysis. Additionally, it makes use of information on Covid-19 cases in relation to the general populace that is supplied by the Surakarta Municipality. The relationship between mixed land use and Covid-19 risk was analyzed using a linear regression approach. The study's findings indicated a minor influence between density and the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the level of mixed land use does not influence the spread of the Covid-19 virus in Surakarta City.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Driving Factors of "Non-Grain Production” in Hubei Province Based on a Non-Grain Index

Non-grain production (NGP) on cultivated land has become a common phenomenon due to the prosperity of the rural economy and the optimisation of the agricultural structure. However, the excessive use of cultivating land for NGP has threatened food production and the sustainable use of cultivated land. To halt this trend and to ensure food security, the authors of this paper applied a novel non-grain index to measure NGP, which could reflect multiple NGP activities;designated Hubei Province as its object of research;and revealed NGP's spatio-temporal patterns of the past 30 years. We then assessed the characteristics of NGP based on spatial autocorrelation analysis, the Theil index, and geographically weighted regression. The results showed that the value of the non-grain index grew from 0.497 to 1.113 as NGP increased significantly in Hubei Province. The number of high-NGP counties increased, spatial agglomeration became obvious, and the eastern and western sides of Hubei Province witnessed an observable growth in NGP. As a result, the NGP in the eastern and western regions overtook production in the central region. Despite a series of historical subsidy policies and agricultural modernisation initiatives that promoted the planting of grain crops, the policy of "grain on valuable cultivated land” could be better implemented. We conclude by making some suggestions for reducing NGP and protecting cultivated land.

Resilience of U.S. cattle and beef sectors: lessons from COVID-19. (Special Issue: COVID-19 impacts on selected commodities.)

The upheaval wrought on the U.S. beef industry by the global COVID-19 pandemic carried with it several lessons that might help improve resiliency should there be a reoccurrence. First, the futures market for fed cattle fell well before cash prices, which sent a signal to market cattle early, and those who did so benefited. Second, the decline in futures anticipated the closure of slaughter plants and provided an opportunity to purchase and store beef primals in anticipation of future scarcity. Third, the beef industry has ways of slowing or stopping the pipeline of animals destined for feed yards and can "store" these animals in background feeding facilities or on pasture or rangeland. Producers who waited to sell feeder cattle benefited from higher feeder cattle prices once the processing facilities reopened. Fourth, cow slaughter plants responded to the pandemic and subsequent scarcity of labor much better than large fed-cattle plants. Cow plants are not as sophisticated and complex as fed-cattle plants. This relative simplicity may help explain the superior performance of these plants during the crisis. Sixth, the academic work on the value of building smaller plants as a response against concentration provides mixed results-these plants require more labor per animal and can be even more susceptible to labor scarcity. Seventh, the observed increase in boxed beef prices, even as fed cattle prices fell, demonstrates the risk-mitigating impact of producer ownership of downstream activities in the value chain.

Rural and peri-urban households' handwashing behaviour before the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for managing it in North-western Ghana

Good hygiene and handwashing remain important in public health, particularly in localities with low or no basic water and sanitation facilities. Using the Integrated Behavioural Model for water and hygiene, this study analysed key factors that shape handwashing behaviour and practices and the implications for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted using 20 rural and peri-urban communities in Ghana. Data gathered from 332 households and 20 focus group discussions indicated respondents have considerable knowledge of the significance of effective handwashing with soap, especially at critical moments. Although the practice of handwashing has been promoted in all the study communities, none of the households had a handwashing station. The respondents however argued that the absence of a handwashing station does not imply they do not wash their hands, especially at critical moments. Access to water, ability to buy soap, gender, and long hours of staying on distant farms shaped handwashing behaviour and practices. Although the study was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings have substantial implications for the fight against the pandemic. Given that households are knowledgeable of the importance of handwashing, re-iterating the practice and intensifying advocacy on behavioural change, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic will reinvigorate handwashing.Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Are You with Us or Against Us?

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, two contrasting images quickly became repre-sentative of the crisis. On the one hand, there were heroic doctors working day and night with the novel virus, risking their lives and making sacrifices to save others. On the other, there were 'anti-maskers' and 'anti-vaxxers': people doubting if the virus is real, questioning the ef-fectiveness of protective measures, suspicious that the crisis is nothing more than an elaborate plot, a scam aimed to redesign their world and to destroy the values they hold dear. Reflecting on research conducted in Ireland with people separated by the conspiratorial divide, this pa-per examines some methodological and analytical challenges of doing simultaneous research with opposing stakeholders. Analysing my own entanglements in the conflicts over vaccines and conspiracy theories in this paper I argue that the pandemic was not just a battle to secure the acceptability of specific medical technology (the COVID-19 vaccine) but was also about safeguarding respectability of science and maintaining the rule of experts. It was about pre-venting ontological turn, the end of the era of reason, a dawn of modernity.

Protecting Health and Livelihoods in an Era of Climatic Extremes: Coastal Habitats in the Final Decade of SDG Action

Coastal areas are a source of critical tangible and intangible resources, and promote social and economic development. The twin impact of escalating anthropogenic and climate-induced extreme events on coastal systems, requires urgent attention due to its dire consequences including on health and livelihoods. In an era of extreme, there is an urgent need to address climate-induced extreme events in vulnerable habitats such as coastal areas. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of the global economy and exacerbated already existing vulnerabilities. This comes with implications for realizing the Leave No One Behind Agenda and necessitates novel approaches to effectively and sustainably address the challenges attributed to the pervasive influence of extreme events including environmentally sensitive livelihoods as well as human health and well-being. This study uses qualitative methods involving literature reviews to explore the complex linkages between climate-induced extreme events and coastal habitats in the context health and livelihoods in the SDGs final decade of action. Health, livelihoods, and well-being are co-dependent, and acknowledging this dynamic association is vital for development planning. Food insecurity, pollution, and changing frequencies or intensities of extreme events come with consequences on the health and well-being of coastal populations. Risk-informed development planning that balance Agenda 2030s three pillar model (economic, social, and environmental factors) with trade-offs hold promise. This study sheds light on these complex challenges and charts a pathway for sustainability. Ultimately, as climate projections indicate increased severity on land-based livelihoods, the importance of innovation in building livelihood resilience and safeguarding health cannot be overemphasized. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.

Large-Scale Urban Heating and Pollution Domes over the Indian Subcontinent

The unique geographical diversity and rapid urbanization across the Indian subcontinent give rise to large-scale spatiotemporal variations in urban heating and air emissions. The complex relationship between geophysical parameters and anthropogenic activity is vital in understanding the urban environment. This study analyses the characteristics of heating events using aerosol optical depth (AOD) level variability, across 43 urban agglomerations (UAs) with populations of a million or more, along with 13 industrial districts (IDs), and 14 biosphere reserves (BRs) in the Indian sub-continent. Pre-monsoon average surface heating was highest in the urban areas of the western (42 degrees C), central (41.9 degrees C), and southern parts (40 degrees C) of the Indian subcontinent. High concentration of AOD in the eastern part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain including the megacity: Kolkata (decadal average 0.708) was noted relative to other UAs over time. The statistically significant negative correlation (-0.51) between land surface temperature (LST) and AOD in urban areas during pre-monsoon time illustrates how aerosol loading impacts the surface radiation and has a net effect of reducing surface temperatures. Notable interannual variability was noted with, the pre-monsoon LST dropping in 2020 across most of the selected urban regions (approx. 89% urban clusters) while it was high in 2019 (for approx. 92% urban clusters) in the pre-monsoon season. The results indicate complex variability and correlations between LST and urban aerosol at large scales across the Indian subcontinent. These large-scale observations suggest a need for more in-depth analysis at city scales to understand the interplay and combined variability between physical and anthropogenic atmospheric parameters in mesoscale and microscale climates.

Activity-based integrated modelling for assessing COVID-19 impacts on transport operations and emissions

This study combines an integrated transport, land-use, and energy (iTLE) modeling system with traffic microsimulation model and emission simulator for a holistic analysis of COVID-19 pandemic related changes in traffic flows and emissions. An activity-based travel demand model within iTLE informs pandemic traffic operation scenarios for traffic microsimulation modeling. Link-based simulation outputs inform a finer-grained emission estimation process within a MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator. Results suggest that the overall network performance improves during lockdown as average delays and queue time decrease by 42.04% and 5.9% respectively compared to pre-COVID condition. Emission results reveal that GHG emissions significantly decrease (64%) in lockdown while it starts increasing gradually in post-pandemic period. Link-based emission analysis indicates that major arterial streets achieve a significant reduction in air pollutant emission. The findings of this study will help transportation planners, engineers, and policymakers to devise effective policies for the improvement of transport operations and emissions.

Variations in land surface temperatures in small-scale urban areas in Vietnam during Covid-19 restrictions: Case studies from Da Nang, Hue and Vinh City.

Land surface temperature (LST) is an important variable in urban microclimate research. At the end of 2019, the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world in a manner that forced many countries to impose restrictions in human activities. As a measure to prevent the expansion of Covid-19 infections, most of the major cities have entered a prolonged lockdown period and reduction in human activities between the early 2020 and the late 2021. These restrictions were strict in most of the cities in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam. The present study investigated the variations in LST and NDVI observed in three rapidly growing urban areas, namely Da Nang, Hue and Vinh, in Vietnam using Landsat-8 imagery acquired between 2017 and 2022. There has been a slight reduction in LST in the study sites, particularly in Da Nang City, during the lockdown period but not as high as observed in recently conducted studies from big metropolitan cities, including in Vietnam. It is also observed that LST estimated from built-up areas and other impervious surfaces remained relatively stable during the study period which is similar to the results from recent studies.

Native Cerrado vegetation is a haven for birds on the current trajectory of climate change

Resumo A mudanca climatica ja e vista como uma das maiores ameacas a biodiversidade no seculo XXI. Poucos estudos direcionam a atencAo para seus efeitos em comunidades inteiras de hotspots ameacados. Neste trabalho, combinamos a modelagem de nicho climatico (ENM) com um futuro cenario climatico de emissoes de gases de efeito estufa para estudar as futuras mudancas na diversidade alfa e beta das aves do bioma Cerrado brasileiro, um hotspot da biodiversidade com alta velocidade de mudanca climatica e expansAo agricola. Esperavamos que o sul do Cerrado (altamente modificado) apresentasse a maioria das mudancas negativas. Em geral, encontramos resultados heterogeneos para mudancas na riqueza de especies, na diversidade beta taxonomica e funcional espacial e temporal, e na diferenciacAo ecologica media. Analisamos 1301 aves, 1115 Menos Preocupantes, 83 Quase Ameacadas, 63 Vulneraveis, 33 Em Perigo, cinco Criticamente em Perigo e duas Extintas na natureza. Ao contrario de um estudo anterior sobre mamiferos do Cerrado, espera-se que a riqueza de especies aumente no norte do Cerrado, onde a homogeneizacAo das comunidades (diminuicAo da rotatividade espacial) tambem deve ocorrer especialmente atraves de invasoes locais. Mostramos que a homogeneizacAo biotica crescente (similaridade entre as comunidades) ocorrera em dois grupos biologicos, mas atraves de subprocessos diferentes: extincoes locais para mamiferos e invasoes locais para aves. Acoes distintas de manejo da conservacAo devem ser direcionadas dependendo dos resultados das analises de diversidade alfa e beta espacial e temporal, por exemplo, controlando invasoes de especies no norte do Cerrado. Tambem mostramos prioridades em nivel de especies para as aves do Cerrado. Os estudos de conservacAo devem continuar estudando o Cerrado no Brasil mesmo durante a pandemia de covid, pois a situacAo ambiental no pais nAo e boa e os incentivos para estudos cientificos sAo quase inexistentes. Tambem consideramos que o norte do Cerrado poderia ser visto como um refugio potencial para outros grupos de organismos (morcegos, borboletas, sapos etc.). Portanto, e crucial que os tomadores de decisAo tomem medidas ambiciosas de conservacAo.

Accounting for the spatial incidence of working from home in an integrated transport and land model system.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a seismic shift in the way in which work is conducted. Remote working or working from home is becoming a centrepiece of the next normal with strong support from both employers and employees. With reduced commuting activity associated with an expected 1 to 2 days working from home for many occupations and industries, associated with releasing commuting time to spend on other activities including changed levels and patterns on non-commuting travel, it is necessary, indeed essential, to allow for the incidence of working from home in integrated strategic transport and location model systems. In this paper we show the extent of changes in travel behaviour and the performance of the transport network before and after allowing for working from home, which is more impactful than any new infrastructure project. The differences are significant and suggest that even within the existing modelling frameworks used pre-COVID-19, we need to make adjustments in the modal activity overall and by location. Using the MetroScan platform in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan area, we present a number of outputs to illustrate the significant impacts of working from home such as modal activity (total and shares), emissions, government revenues, and generalised cost of travel.