RIG Members in the news/publications:  

SAFRIG members Hazel Velasco Palacios, Paige Castellanos, Leif Jensen, Francisco Alfredo Reyes Rocha, Carolyn Sachs, Arie Sanders, and Kathleen Sexsmith recently published “Perceptions and Experiences of Gender Transformative Approaches in Rural Honduras” in Rural Sociology.  

RIG Paper awards/competition information:  

The Sociology of Agriculture and Food Research Interest Group (SAFRIG) will present  a Student Paper Award at the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society. Requirements  for this award include that:  

1) the paper focuses on an agrifood topic,  2) the paper is authored by a student or group of students (no faculty co-authors),  3) all authors are members of the Rural Sociological Society,  4) The student winner may have presented the submitted paper the year before OR will  present the year of the award; 5) the paper uses the Rural Sociology journal guidelines for formatting in particular word  count (8,000 words, not including references, and 9,500 words for the complete  manuscript). 

Papers will be particularly competitive if they demonstrate effective use of innovative theories,  methods, and/or attention to unique geographic, cultural, and political contexts. Submissions for  the Student Paper Award competition can be under initial review at a peer-reviewed journal but  cannot be already accepted (in press) or published in a peer-reviewed journal.  

Past winners have submitted papers from their thesis and dissertation, as well as class papers.  Papers will be reviewed by a panel of SAFRIG members. All authors will receive comments  from panel members on their paper, which may be helpful for revisions if they choose to submit  their paper to a journal. The winner(s) will receive a $150 monetary award, coverage of their  conference registration fee, and a certificate.  

The award will be presented during the SAFRIG Business Meeting at the 2025 conference in  Salt Lake City, Utah. Questions and submissions as a Word document should be sent to Emily Southard at [email protected]. The submission deadline is May 15, 2025.  

RIG Events/Field Trips:  

 Previous Events 

 RSS Conference Field Trip: On July 24, 2024, SAFRIG, in cooperation with the Natural Resource RIG and contributions from other RIGs, organized a pre-conference field trip in the Madison, Wisconsin area. We toured the historic Aldo Leopold Shack with Leopold’s biographer Curt D. Meine, and then we visited with the Bulas (Pleasant Valley Farm) at their family-owned sustainable farm, along with a representative from Sauk Soil & Water Improvement Group. We ended the trip at White Oak Savannah for a lunch with indigenous foods prepared by chef Dan Cornelius, a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, along with a lecture-concert, “Hearing the Country” by Taylor Ackley and Professor Michael Bell.  

 Farm Crisis: Then and Now Webinar: On March 5, 2024, SAFRIG brought together a panel of scholars for a webinar to discuss the 1980s Farm Crisis, including its historical conditions and the continuing effects on today’s agrarian communities. The discussion focused on the Farm Crisis’ effects on economic and physical/mental health outcomes in rural farming communities as well as the broader structural factors that continue to influence agrarian society.  

 Leadership:  

Current Co-Chairs:   Chris Morris ([email protected]) 

Emily Southard ([email protected])  

Incoming Co-Chairs:  
Hazel Velasco Palacios ([email protected]) 

McKayla Robinette ([email protected])