Home and wild food procurement were associated with improved food security during the COVID-19 pandemic in two rural US states.

Both food insecurity and home and wild food procurement (HWFP), including gardening, increased in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic; yet little evidence has demonstrated what impact HWFP had on food security. Using data from a representative sample of nearly 1000 residents in the two most rural US states (Vermont and Maine) conducted via an online survey in Spring/Summer 2021, as well as matching techniques, we compare food security outcomes among households who did and did not participate in HWFP in the first year of the pandemic. Nearly 60% of respondents engaged in HWFP in some way during the first year of the pandemic, with food insecure households more likely to do HWFP. Furthermore, HWFP early in the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with improved food security in the 9-12 months later, though these improvements were primarily associated with newly, not chronically, food insecure households. Newly and chronically food insecure households were more likely to want to continue these activities in the future, but also exhibited greater barriers to land access and costs associated with these activities. These results suggest that HWFP may provide food security improvements for certain households that utilize them, especially during crisis situations. Future research about HWFP should continue to explore multiple HWFP strategies, their barriers, and their potentially myriad relationships to food security, diet, and health outcomes, especially with longitudinal data.

Linking drivers of plant per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) uptake to agricultural land management decisions.

Widespread contamination of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) in agricultural areas is largely attributed to the application of sewage sludge in which the PFAS can be concentrated. This creates a pathway for these contaminants to enter the food chain and, by extension, causes human health and economic concerns. One barrier to managing land with PFAS contamination is the variation in reported plant uptake levels across studies. A review of the literature suggests that the variation in plant uptake is influenced by a host of factors including the composition of PFAS chemicals, soil conditions, and plant physiology. Factors include (1) the chemical components of the PFAS such as the end group and chain length; (2) drivers of soil sorption such as the presence of soil organic matter (SOM), multivalent cation concentration, pH, soil type, and micropore volume; and (3) crop physiological features such as fine root area, percentage of mature roots, and leaf blade area. The wide range of driving factors highlights a need for research to elucidate these mechanisms through additional experiments as well as collect more data to support refined models capable of predicting PFAS uptake in a range of cropping systems. A conceptual framework presented here links drivers of plant PFAS uptake found in the literature to phytomanagement approaches such as modified agriculture or phytoremediation to provide decision support to land managers.

Evidence of compost contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from "compostable" food serviceware.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used to waterproof and greaseproof food serviceware for decades. Health concerns about these compounds have drawn attention to the potential for contamination of the food system. Finished compost (n = 3) made from manure and food serviceware labeled "compostable" generated at a large fair was found to contain 12 or 13 of the 28 PFAS compounds sampled for, in concentrations ranging from 1.1 to 183 µg/kg (Σ28PFAS range = 209-455 µg/kg). Of note, perfluorooctanoic acid, a known carcinogen, was found at concentrations between 47.2 and 55.5 µg/kg. In contrast, fresh manure contained only perfluoroctanesulfonic acid at 3.7 µg/kg, and separated food waste from the fair composted with grass clippings and livestock bedding had no detectable PFAS in 2022, and Σ28PFAS = 9.6 µg/kg in 2019. Including compostable serviceware in compost likely contaminates the finished compost and threatens surrounding groundwater and surface waters, in addition to increasing potential crop uptake.

A Multi-Site Analysis of the Prevalence of Food Insecurity in the United States, before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic profoundly affected food systems including food security. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted food security is important to provide support and identify long-term impacts and needs. OBJECTIVE: The National Food Access and COVID research Team (NFACT) was formed to assess food security over different US study sites throughout the pandemic, using common instruments and measurements. This study presents results from 18 study sites across 15 states and nationally over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A validated survey instrument was developed and implemented in whole or part through an online survey of adults across the sites throughout the first year of the pandemic, representing 22 separate surveys. Sampling methods for each study site were convenience, representative, or high-risk targeted. Food security was measured using the USDA 6-item module. Food security prevalence was analyzed using ANOVA by sampling method to assess statistically significant differences. RESULTS: Respondents (n = 27,168) indicate higher prevalence of food insecurity (low or very low food security) since the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with before the pandemic. In nearly all study sites, there is a higher prevalence of food insecurity among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), households with children, and those with job disruptions. The findings demonstrate lingering food insecurity, with high prevalence over time in sites with repeat cross-sectional surveys. There are no statistically significant differences between convenience and representative surveys, but a statistically higher prevalence of food insecurity among high-risk compared with convenience surveys. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive study demonstrates a higher prevalence of food insecurity in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These impacts were prevalent for certain demographic groups, and most pronounced for surveys targeting high-risk populations. Results especially document the continued high levels of food insecurity, as well as the variability in estimates due to the survey implementation method.

Water use governance in a temperate region: Implications for agricultural climate change adaptation in the Northeastern United States.

Climate change and access to water are interrelated concerns for agriculture and other sectors, even in temperate regions. Governance approaches and regulatory frameworks determine who has access to water, for what purpose, and when. In the northeastern United States, water governance has historically been conducted by states through a combination of statutory guidance and common law. However, it is unclear what effect if current governance approaches will be sufficient for achieving resource conservation and equitable allocation in a changing climate. To provide insight into these issues, we conducted the first review of freshwater governance in the 12 states that comprise the U.S. Northeast. Specifically, we examine their heterogeneous approaches to surface and groundwater use, permitting and reporting, and scarcity provisions. Using agriculture as the sector of focus, we show through narrative review and quantitative analysis that change in the proportion of cropland that is irrigated in each state does not differ based on governance approach. We also suggest that future decades may bring regulatory shifts relevant to agriculture, changes in enforcement, increased competition between agriculture and other users, and greater potential competition between states for water resources. This case study raises the question: how should we prepare for the time when competition for, or degradation of, a resource surpasses the ability of existing governance mechanisms to ensure conservation and equitable distribution?

Social-psychological determinants of farmer intention to adopt nutrient best management practices: Implications for resilient adaptation to climate change.

Successful adaptation to global climate change and enhancement of agricultural watersheds' resilience requires widespread use of Nutrient Best Management Practices (NBMPs) by farms of all sizes. In the US, adoption of many NBMP practices is voluntary and insufficient to achieve local and downstream conservation objectives. Despite evidence that both social-psychological factors and socio-economic factors influence farmer decision-making, very few studies of farmers' decision-making related to NBMP adoption combine these two factor groups in a theoretically rigorous way. To better understand farmers' management decisions, we test the social-psychological Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to determine the relative influence of attitudes, perceived social norms, and perceived behavioral control on adoption of nine NBMPs. A survey was designed by the research team and implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) in 2013, and replicated in 2016, on a stratified sample of 129 farmers (including panel data on 56 farmers). Farmers were located in the Missisquoi, and Lamoille River watersheds of the Lake Champlain Basin in the Northeast region of the United States. Survey responses revealed variation in past adoption of NBMPs was sensitive to practice type and farm size. We developed nine weighted structural equation models to test endogenous (social-psychological) and exogenous (policy, economic and demographic) predictors of farmer intention to adopt NBMPs. We found that perceived behavioral control had the largest effect size and strongest statistical significance on the farmers' expressed intentions to adopt NBMPs in the future. For a subset of NBMPs, perceived social norms and farmer attitudes toward these NBMPs were each also significant drivers of intention to adopt individual practices. Among the exogenous variables, we found that large farm size, college education, and having a conservation easement all had a positive influence on farmers' intention to adopt NBMPs. This study suggests that for widespread adoption of NBMPs, environmental managers, policy makers, and program developers should be attentive to farmers' perceived behavioral control, and support the design and execution of outreach and technical assistance programs that build on drivers of farmers' decision making.