Organic farmers face persistent barriers to adopting diversification practices in California's Central Coast

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dc.contributor.authorCarlisle, Lizen
dc.contributor.authorEsquivel, Kenzoen
dc.contributor.authorBaur, Patricken
dc.contributor.authorIchikawa, Nina F.en
dc.contributor.authorOlimpi, Elissa M.en
dc.contributor.authorOry, Joannaen
dc.contributor.authorWaterhouse, Hannahen
dc.contributor.authorIles, Alastairen
dc.contributor.authorKarp, Daniel S.en
dc.contributor.authorKremen, Claireen
dc.contributor.authorBowles, Timothy M.en
dc.coverage.countryUnited Statesen
dc.coverage.stateCaliforniaen
dc.date.accessioned2022-10-19T14:23:16Zen
dc.date.available2022-10-19T14:23:16Zen
dc.date.issued2022-09-14en
dc.description.abstractIn the face of myriad environmental challenges associated with industrial agriculture, some farmers and researchers have looked to diversified farming systems as a promising alternative. Despite well-documented ecological benefits, diversification practices remain rare in many regions of the U.S, even amongst organic farmers. Our study focuses on organic farmers in the Central Coast region of California, an area that has played a crucial role in the rise of organic agriculture over the last several decades. Through 20 interviews with farmers who all grow lettuce and 8 interviews with technical assistance providers, we investigate the persistent barriers that growers in this region face in adopting diversification practices including cover cropping, compost application, crop rotation, insectary strips, and hedgerows. We find that high land rents, the predominance of short-term leases, stringent food safety standards, and other supply chain pressures significantly hamper the adoption of diversification practices. In order to surmount these barriers and increase adoption, solutions must be pursued at three interconnected levels: innovation at the farm level, and policy change at the technical and structural levels. Locally-informed, integrated, and innovative policies across these three levels must be explored to support the creation of a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable food system.en
dc.description.notesTB, AI, CK, PB, JO, KE, DK, HW, EO and LC acknowledge USDA AFRI Grant #2019-6701929537 and NSF Coupled Natural Humans Systems Grant #1824871.en
dc.description.sponsorshipUSDA AFRI Grant [2019-6701929537]; NSF Coupled Natural Humans Systems Grant [1824871]en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2022.2104420en
dc.identifier.eissn2168-3573en
dc.identifier.issn2168-3565en
dc.identifier.issue8en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/112203en
dc.identifier.volume46en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherTaylor & Francisen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/en
dc.subjectSustainable agricultureen
dc.subjectagroecologyen
dc.subjectagricultural policyen
dc.subjectdiversified farming systemsen
dc.subjectfarm managementen
dc.subjectland accessen
dc.subjectsupply chainsen
dc.titleOrganic farmers face persistent barriers to adopting diversification practices in California's Central Coasten
dc.title.serialAgroecology and Sustainable Food Systemsen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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