RESUMEN

Despite growing interest in fresh local produce across the United States, scaling up local agricultural development might impose new environmental pressures on increasingly scarce water and land resources in specific localities. Drawing upon the case of the Palouse of the US Inland Northwest, this study evaluates land and water footprints of local foods along with food waste reduction in a water-scarce region. We used both non-robust and robust diet-optimization techniques to estimate the minimum amounts of irrigation water necessary to grow foods locally and to satisfy the local population's caloric or nutrition needs. Our modeling results indicate that, on an annual basis, an increase of less than 5% of the current freshwater withdrawal on the Palouse could satisfy 10% of the local population's aspirational demand for locally grown food products, while more than 35% of local foods (by mass) may be wasted. Furthermore, reducing food waste by 50% could simultaneously reduce water use by up to 24%, cropland use by 13%, and pastureland use by 20%. Our findings not only provide intriguing information for access to local food but could also be used to stimulate new efforts to increase consumers' and retailers' awareness of environmental benefits associated with food waste reduction.

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RESUMEN

The US National Flood Insurance Program maps and classifies flood risk based on observed data for the frequency of flood events, using terms such as '100-year flood' and '500-year flood.' The purpose of these classifications is to convey information about the likelihood of a flood event to property owners and to inform the decision or mandate to purchase flood insurance. The flooding that followed Hurricane Harvey in 2017 brought heightened use of 100-year-flood terminology in the media. Often, the term was incorrectly used, misrepresenting the risk that is intended to be conveyed by the technical term. Misuse of flood terminology and related misperception of risk has important implications for society, including over- or under-insuring property owners and inadequate individual and collective preparedness. This paper presents the findings of a survey conducted to gauge understanding of Federal Emergency Management Agency flood risk terminology and to examine links between estimating flood risk and proximity to flooding, knowledge of independent probabilities, and demographics. We found that the driving force behind correctly interpreting technical flood terminology was understanding of independent probabilities, while education and recent exposure or proximity to a severe flood event did not have a statistically significant influence.

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Human factors, including inadequate situational awareness, can contribute to fatal and near-fatal traumatic injuries in logging, which is among the most dangerous occupations in the United States. Real-time location-sharing technology may help improve situational awareness for loggers. We surveyed and interviewed professional logging contractors in Idaho to (1) characterize current perceptions of in-woods hazards and the human factors that lead to injuries; (2) understand their perspectives on using technology-based location-sharing solutions to improve safety in remote work environments; and (3) identify logging hazard scenarios that could be mitigated using location-sharing technology. We found production pressure, fatigue, and inexperience among the most-common factors contributing to logging injuries from the perspective of participants. Potential limitations of location-sharing technology identified included potential for distraction and cost. Contractors identified several situations where the technology may help improve safety, including (1) alerting workers of potential hand-faller injuries due to lack of movement; (2) helping rigging crews to maintain safe distances from yarded trees and logs during cable logging; and (3) providing a means for equipment operators to see approaching ground workers, especially in low-visibility situations.