23 pages., via online journal, Cultured meat has yet to reach store shelves but is nonetheless a growing issue for consumers, producers, and government regulators, many of whom have taken to social media to discuss it. Using a conceptual framework of social cognitive theory and issues management, this qualitative content analysis investigated social-media discourse surrounding the topic of cultured meat in the United States by describing the content of the discussion in late 2018 and identifying individual influencers and communities of influencers engaged in the discussion. Data were collected from Twitter using listening platform Sysomos MAP. The thematic analysis revealed eight themes: legality and marketing, sustainability, acceptance, business, animal concerns, science and technology, health concerns, and timeline, and indicated that conflicting views and questions about cultured meat exist among conversation participants. Top influencers included philanthropists, government officials, journalists and writers, and animal-welfare advocates. These influencers were grouped into four distinct communities based on interactions with each other and other users. The topics identified in the analysis provide insight into ways in which communicators can enter these conversations, and influencer communities represent groups of users whose broad reach could more easily transmit pro-agriculture messages.
Via online journal., Today’s food production and consumption go hand in hand with immense damages to humans and nature. Change is needed, but where to start and which direction to go? This article tries to give an interdisciplinary answer by taking recourse to a vision, that is, an ideal image of the future which is drawn upon ethical reflection and beyond the limits of actual political and economic constraints. The main purpose of this paper is to show that generating and discussing visions can be a powerful process in order to regain ability to act in the face of the complex challenges of our time and that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) plays an important role to enable current and future generations to become actors of change. First, a students vision on agriculture and society in 2050 is presented, followed by a theoretical examination of visions, their potentials, limits and practical implications. Subsequently, the results of a field analysis of current innovative solutions to local agriculture are given. These include intercultural gardens and community supported agriculture. Claiming that a sustainable development can only be reached if people are not only able to envision a desirable future, but to develop small scale, locally adapted solutions as answers to challenges such as climate change, this paper then focuses on the competence oriented educational concept of ESD. Here, an approach of integrating ethics in the course of studies of agricultural sciences implemented by a student’s initiative serves as practice example.
8 pages., ISSN: 2284-7995, via online journal., The study accessed agrochemical based information usage among cocoa farmers in Nigeria with a view to determine the sustainability of information sources for an increased cocoa production in the study area. Simple random sampling was used to select 120 cocoa farmers using structured interview schedule. Results showed that farmers were in their 50s with about 12 years of formal education. Radio (mean = 2.56) ranked highest among the sources of information while about 60 percent of the respondents indicated a very high level of usage of agrochemical information in cocoa production. Results of Pearson Product Moment Correlation showed a significant relationship between farmers’ perception (r = 0.365; p≤0.01) and usage of agrochemical based information. The findings conclude that the use of mass media as the most frequently used among farmers for agrochemicals in cocoa production may be sustainable. It is therefore recommended that the use of mass media for agrochemicals usage in cocoa production should be reinforced in passing other information to cocoa farmers.
Jansen, Guido (author), Cila, Nazli (author), Kanis, Marije (author), and Slaats, Yanti (author)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2016-05
Published:
USA: Association for Computing Machinery
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 93 Document Number: D10858
Notes:
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings Volume 07-12-May-2016, Pages 3091-3098. 34th annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI EA 2016,, San Jose, California., Vertical farming is a promising new technology for increasing crop yields per square meter. However, little research has been done so far in people's perception of this technology. The aim of this project was to gain a better understanding of consumers' attitude on small scale vertical farming at home. This was achieved by developing a prototype that uses sensor and LED technology for growing food at home and deploying it in a user study. The prototype was built to give users a genuine feeling of what it would be like to use a small scale vertical farming system. The user study showed that the attitudes towards the system were mostly positive. However, a fully autonomous system is not desirable and there are concerns regarding food safety.
USA: American Farm Bureau Federation, Washington, D.C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11898
Notes:
Accompanying news release obtained online at https://agrimarketing.com/ss.php?id=333510, Via online. 11 pages., Summary report of a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults. Conducted by Morning Consult. Survey data accompanied by a news release from AFBF entitled, "Poll shows Americans' unwavering trust in farmers and approval of sustainability practices." 2 pages. Dated November13, 2020, and provided online via Agri Marketing Weekly.
Hiroki, S. (author), Garnevska, E. (author), McLaren, S. (author), and Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2016-06-01
Published:
Springer
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10267
27 pages., Via online journal., Local food is a popular subject among consumers, as well as food producers, distributors, policymakers and researchers in many countries. Previous research has identified that the definition of local food varies by context, and from country to country. The literature also suggested that environmental sustainability is one of the goals for many of the local food movements. While there is a substantial body of literature on local food internationally, limited research has been undertaken in New Zealand. This paper aims to understand how consumers define local food, what attributes they associate with local food, and the extent to which life cycle-based environmental aspects are represented in these attributes. Primary research employed quantitative methodology. This study identified that a majority of the respondents considered that local food may be defined as food that was produced in New Zealand and that support for community was the most important attribute associated with local food. Reduced GHG emission, conserving the landscape, and organic production were the life cycle-based environmental attributes that were associated with local food. This study provides a basis for further research into understandings of local food in New Zealand and how to improve communication among different social actors with respect to demand and supply of local food.
