Sponsor
Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning
First Advisor
Megan Horst
Term of Graduation
Fall 2021
Date of Publication
1-19-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Urban Studies (M.U.S.)
Department
Urban Studies and Planning
Language
English
Subjects
Urban agriculture -- Oregon -- Portland -- Public opinion, Sustainable agriculture, Soils -- Carbon content -- Measurement
DOI
10.15760/etd.7759
Physical Description
1 online resource (vi, 84 pages)
Abstract
Regenerative agriculture (RA) is a set of farming and land management practices intended to support or enhance soil health and carbon sequestration potential of soils while producing food, fiber, or other agricultural products. It has received broad acclaim from scholars, corporations, and governmental bodies as a potential means of sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change impacts. It has also received critique and pushback for its vague definition, shifting metrics, and lack of acknowledgement of the Indigenous practices underlying the modern suite of regenerative practices. The purpose of this research is to investigate the beliefs Portland, Oregon urban agricultural practitioners hold on the topic of regenerative agriculture, as well as to determine whether members of this group are employing any specific regenerative agricultural practices or means of measuring the regenerative impact(s) of their projects. Drawing on a set of interviews with 13 urban agricultural practitioners, this research finds that those working in the field of urban agriculture in Portland have their own critiques of and alternative approaches to regenerative agriculture, offering major critiques around 1) the limited acknowledgement of the deeper history of common RA practices, 2) the uncertain efficacy of measuring regenerative impacts through soil carbon testing, 3) the rise of RA as an institutional buzzword, and 4) the compatibility between stated RA soil carbon sequestration goals and urban agricultural practices.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/37083
Recommended Citation
Chase, Melia Ann, "The New Shiny Penny? Regenerative Agriculture Beliefs and Practices Among Portland's Urban Agriculturalists" (2022). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 5888.
https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.7759