Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

From the ground up: holistic management and grassroots rural adaptation to bovine spongiform encephalopathy across western Canada

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been documented in 28 countries and adversely affected farmers and rural communities around the world. Our study examines the impacts of and adaptive responses of producers to BSE in western Canada. Moreover, it explores the role that holistic management (HM), and its combined focus on environmental, social, and economic sustainability, might play in mitigating the effects of BSE. One survey was sent to 835 HM producers and another to 9,740 producers across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The disease, and concomitant climate change and low commodity prices, had devastating impacts on both groups. Yet, HM producers were much more optimistic about their ability to adapt to BSE and the future of agriculture than their non-HM counterparts. Social networks, namely HM clubs and the larger HM community, enabled these producers to mitigate the impacts of BSE. Agronomic responses, especially those associated with rotational grazing and increases in on-farm biodiversity were also important. That HM has been such an effective adaptive response to BSE indicates the importance of this and other grassroots responses to rural crises, whether they be associated with zoonotic diseases or indeed environmental change as a whole.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adger WN (2003) Social capital, collective action, and adaptation to climate change. Econ Geogr 79:387–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Adger WN, Arnell NW, Tompkins EL (2005) Successful adaptation to climate change across scales. Glob Environ Change 15:77–86. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.03.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akaike H (1987) Factor analysis and AIC. Psychomet 52:317–332. doi:10.1007/BF02294359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alam M, McLachlan SM (2007) Socio-economic impacts of the BSE crisis in rural communities in western Canada. PrioNet Annual Conference, Calgary, AB February 17, 2007

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson DR, Burnham KP (2002) Avoiding pitfalls when using information theoretic methods. J Wildl Manage 66:912–918. doi:10.2307/3803155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson CR, McLachlan SM (2008) Farm-level and collective responses to the BSE crisis and the future of Canadian agriculture. PrioNet Annual Conference, Toronto, ON February 3, 2008

    Google Scholar 

  • Belliveau S, Smit B, Bradshaw B (2006) Multiple exposures and dynamic vulnerability: evidence from the grape industry in the Okanagan valley, Canada. Glob Environ Change 16:364–378. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.03.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg L (2004) Trust in food in the age of mad cow disease: a comparative study of consumers’ evaluation of food safety in Belgium, Britain and Norway. Appetite 42:21–32. doi:10.1016/S0195-6663(03)00112-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budreau D, McBean G (2007) Climate change, adaptive capacity and policy direction in the Canadian North: can we learn anything from the collapse of the east coast cod fishery. Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Change 12:1205–1320. doi:10.1007/s11027-006-9053-6

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham K, Anderson D (2004) Multimodel inference: understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociol Methods Res 33:261–304. doi:10.1177/0049124104268644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlebois S, Labrecque J (2007) Processual learning, environmental pluralism, and inherent challenges of managing a socioeconomic crisis: the case of the Canadian mad cow crisis. J Macro Market 27:115–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiappe M, Flora C (1998) Gendered elements of the alternative agriculture paradigm. Rural Sociol 63:372–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Connelly NA, Brown TL, Decker DJ (2003) Factors affecting response rates in natural resources-focused mail surveys: empirical evidence of declining rates over time. Soc Nat Res 16:541–549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach LJ (1951) Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychomet 16:297–334. doi:10.1007/BF02310555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duram LA (1997) A pragmatic study of conventional and alternative farmers in Colorado. Prof Geogr 49:202–213. doi:10.1111/0033-0124.00070

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Environment Canada (2005) Narrative descriptions of terrestrial ecozones and ecoregions of Canada. Ottawa, ON

  • Gerodimos R (2004) The UK BSE crisis as a failure of government. Public Adm 82:911–929. doi:10.1111/j.0033-3298.2004.00424.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gertler M (2001) Rural co-operatives and sustainable development. Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, University of Saskatchewan. http://www.usaskstudies.coop/ publications/ electronic_format. Cited May 22 2008

  • Hill AF, Desbruslais M, Joiner S, Sidle KCL, Gowland O, Collinge J (1997) The same prion causes vCJD and BSE. Nature 389:448–450. doi:10.1038/38925

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holistic Management International (HMI) (2008) http://www.holisticmanagement.org/index.html. Cited April 1 2008

  • (IPCC) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001) Third assessment report: Climate change 2001. Chapter 19. Vulnerability to climate change and reasons for concern: A Synthesis. http://www.grida.no/publications/other/ipcc%5Ftar/? src=/ climate/ipcc_tar/ wg2/index.htm

  • Kates RW, Colten CE, Laska S, Leatherman SP (2006) Reconstruction of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:14653–14660. doi:10.1073/pnas.0605726103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly PM, Adger WN (2000) Theory and practice in assessing vulnerability to climate change and facilitating adaptation. Clim Change 47:325–352. doi:10.1023/A:1005627828199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitzinger J, Reilly J (1997) The rise and fall of risk reporting: media coverage of human genetics research, ‘false memory syndrome’ and ‘mad cow disease’. Eur J Commun 12:319–350. doi:10.1177/0267323197012003002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurukulasuriya P, Rosenthal S (2003) Climate change and agriculture: A review of impacts and adaptations. Paper No. 91 in Climate Change Series, Agriculture and Rural Development Department and Environment Department, World Bank, Washington, DC

  • Leiss W, Nicol A (2006) A tale of two food risks: BSE and farmed salmon. Canada. J Risk Res 9:891–910. doi:10.1080/13669870600924584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LeMyre L, Brazeau I, Gibson S, Markon MP, Bure P, Krewski D (2008) Mad cow disease (BSE) and food-related risks: A national survey of what the public thinks. PrioNet Annual Conference, Toronto, ON February 21, 2008

    Google Scholar 

  • LeRoy D, Klein K (2005) Mad cow chaos in Canada: was it just bad luck or did government policies play a role? Can Public Policy 31:381–400. doi:10.2307/3552357

    Google Scholar 

  • MacLachlan I (2004) Kill and chill: The restructuring of Canada’s beef commodity chain. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON

    Google Scholar 

  • MacPherson I (1979) Each for all: A history of the cooperative movement in English Canada, 1900–1945. Macmillan, Toronto, ON

    Google Scholar 

  • Mcleman R, Smit B (2006) Vulnerability to climate change hazards and risks: crop and flood insurance. Can Geogr 50:217–226. doi:10.1111/j.0008-3658.2006.00136.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitura V, Di Piétro L (2004) Canada’s beef cattle sector and the impact of BSE on farm family income 2000–2003. Agriculture and rural working paper series. Statistics Canada, Agriculture Division, Ottawa, ON

    Google Scholar 

  • Moser SC, Kasperson RE, Yohe G, Agyeman J (2007) Adaptation to climate change in the Northeast United States: opportunities, processes, constraints. Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Change 13:643–659. doi:10.1007/s11027-007-9132-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nerbonne JF, Lentz R (2003) Rooted in grass: challenging patterns of knowledge exchange as a means of fostering social change in southeast Minnesota farm community. Agric Human Values 20:65–78. doi:10.1023/A:1022417608796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • (NFU) National Farmers Union, Canada (2005) The farm crisis and corporate profits. http://www.nfu.ca/new/corporate_profits.pdf. Cited 15 February 2008

  • O’Brien K, Leichenko R, Kelkar U, Venema H, Aandahl G, Tompkins H, Javed A, Bhadwal S, Barg S, Nygaard L (2004) Mapping vulnerability to multiple stressors: climate change and globalization in India. Global Environ Change 14:303–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill K (2005) How two cows make a crisis: US-Canada relations and mad cow disease. Amer Rev Can Stud 35:295–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qualman D, Wiebe N (2002) The structural adjustment of agriculture. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Winnipeg, MB

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid S, Smit B, Caldwell W, Belliveau S (2007) Vulnerability and adaptation to climate risks in Ontario agriculture. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 12:609–637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice MD, Lavoie DC (2005) Crown corporations and co-operatives as coping

  • Richmond C (1997) Mad cows and Englishmen. Med Assoc J 156:1043

    Google Scholar 

  • Rude J, Carlberg J, Pellow S (2007) Integration to fragmentation: post-BSE Canadian cattle markets, processing capacity, and cattle prices. Can J Agric Econ 55:197–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SAS (2007) SAS OnlineDoc 9.1.3. Cary, NC: SAS Institute. http://support.sas.com/onlinedoc/913/docMainpage.jsp. Cited February 12 2008

  • Savory A (1999) Holistic management: A new framework for decision-making, 2nd edn. Island, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Setbon M, Raude J, Fischler C, Flahault A (2005) Risk perception of the “mad cow disease” in France: determinants and consequences. Risk Anal 25:813–826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinaceur M, Heath C, Cole S (2005) Emotional and deliberative reactions to a public crisis: mad cow disease in France. Psych Sci 16:247–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit B, Pilifosova O (2003) From adaptation to adaptive capacity and vulnerability reduction. In: Smith JB, Klein RJT, Huq S (eds) Climate change, adaptive capacity and development. Imperial College, London, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit B, Skinner M (2002) Adaptation options in agriculture to climate change: a typology. Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 7:85–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit B, Wandel J (2006) Adaptation, adaptive capacity and vulnerability. Glob Environ Change 16:282–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry (2002) Canadian farmers at risk. Interim Report, Ottawa, ON June 30, 2002

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada (2007) Census of agriculture 2006. http://www.statcan.ca/english/agcensus2006/index.htm. Cited April 3 2008.

  • Stinner DH, Stinner BR, Martsolf E (1997) Biodiversity as an organizing principle in agroecosystem management: case studies of holistic resource management practitioners in the USA. Agric Ecosyst Env 62:199–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stozek T (2008) BSE and rural communities: Risk, adaptation, and resistance. Masters of Environment thesis, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB

    Google Scholar 

  • Stozek T, McLachlan SM (2007) Impacts and responses of rural communities to BSE. PrioNet Annual General Meeting, Calgary, AB February 17–21 2007

    Google Scholar 

  • Thurston WE, Amaratunga C (2007) A cohort study of the impact of prion disease on farm family community health. PrioNet Annual Conference, Calgary, AB February 19 2007 February 3, 2008

    Google Scholar 

  • Wall E, Smit B (2005) Climate change adaptation in light of sustainable agriculture. J Sust Agric 27:113–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitkunat R, Pottgiesser C, Meyer N, Crispin A, Fischer R, Schotten K, Kerr J, Uberla K (2003) Perceived risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and dietary behavior. J Health Psych 8:373–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all the farmers and other rural residents across the prairies who so generously offered their insights and who facilitated our understanding of these outcomes. Special thanks to Don Guilford and the Big Grass HM Club for their support and advice. Thanks to Carol Amaratunga, Josephine Smart, Wilfreda Thurston, and all others involved in the Farm Family Health Coalition. Thanks also to Stephen Gaunt, Jacqueline Kotyk, Dave Vasey, and Robyn Webb, all of whom assisted with this project as well as the Environmental Conservation Lab for their ongoing support, particularly Colin Anderson, Alam Ashraful, Ryan Brook, Ian Mauro, and Troy Stozek.. This project was funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC), Manitoba Conservation and was further supported by PrioNet Canada.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Conservation Lab, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and, Resources, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2, Canada

    Stéphane M. McLachlan & Melisa Yestrau

Authors
  1. Stéphane M. McLachlan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Melisa Yestrau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stéphane M. McLachlan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McLachlan, S.M., Yestrau, M. From the ground up: holistic management and grassroots rural adaptation to bovine spongiform encephalopathy across western Canada. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 14, 299–316 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-008-9165-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-008-9165-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation