33 pages, This study surveyed 258 organic grain farmers in Iowa in the U.S. Midwest. We identified seven areas of challenges related to organic grain farming adoption: organic farming operations, marketing, policy, finance, inputs and information, social pressures, and land tenure. Respondents reported three key areas where extension programs were needed: education, research, and technical services. Regarding outreach formats, organic farmers preferred events where peers were featured or provided leadership, such as field days, one-on-one mentor programs, and farmer-to-farmer workshops. Results provided empirical evidence to support theoretical discussions and policy implications on issues related to adoption of organic grain farming.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D12129
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Online via AgriMarketing Weekly. 2 pages., Research among registered dietitians indicates potential negative impact on fruit and vegetable consumption among consumers caused by the so-called "dirty dozen" list published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 207 Document Number: D13037
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6 pages, Kefirs are fermented beverages containing yeast and bacteria produced by the fermentation of water or milk with kefir grains. Because microorganism density may influence a product's health benefits, label accuracy regarding viable bacterial density and taxonomy of fermented foods is important. In this study, the microbiota of 5 commercial kefir products were measured quantitatively using standard plating techniques and characterized using high-resolution, long-read 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. To enumerate viable lactic acid bacteria, 2 lots of each product were plated on de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe agar upon opening and following 14 d and incubated under anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Results revealed that 66% of products with a guaranteed count of colony-forming units per gram overstated microorganism density by at least 1 log, with only product E exceeding 1 × 109 cfu/g. Sequencing results demonstrated moderate product label accuracy in regard to taxonomy, yet several products contained bacterial species above the minimum detectable threshold (0.001% relative abundance) that were not included on the labels (e.g., Streptococcus salivarius, Lactobacillus paracasei). Our results demonstrate a moderate level of labeling accuracy for commercial kefir products intended for human consumption. Regulatory agencies and consumers must continue to scrutinize these products and demand a higher level of accuracy and quality.
2 pages, via Online source, Purchasing organic food in today’s world likely means taking a trip to Whole Foods, owned by one of the richest men in all of history, Jeff Bezos. Although it is hard to imagine organic foods as something other than a luxury item targeted towards affluent demographics, the origin story of the organic foods market is vastly different. Written by Winona State University associate professor of sociology Craig B. Upright, Grocery Activism: The Radical History of Food Cooperatives in Minnesota dives back into the 1970s to paint a vivid image of the subversive world of organic groceries and food co-ops before the era of Whole Foods.
21 pages., New trends in food consumption are shaping consumers’ preferences and buying behavior. Non-traditional food retailing and short supply chains (SSCs) are offering bundles of attributes that fit the needs of larger consumers’ segments. Several studies have analyzed factors affecting the choice of traditional and non-traditional food retailing. Very few, however, are those studies that analyze the predictive role of human values and attitudes on the choice of traditional and non-traditional food retailing and supply chains. Usually, due to the low percentage of consumers involved in SSC, analyses of consumer behavior have been conducted using convenience samples. This study, based on online questionnaires submitted to a representative sample composed by 1009 German consumers, tests the hypothesis that the frequency of purchases at farmers’ markets is related to human values: attitude toward the industrialized food market and attitude toward the environment. The econometric approach here implemented computes the model on average and in the tails of the dependent variable, frequency of purchases at farmers’ market, thus investigating the model in a representative sample even where the percentage of non-traditional food retailing consumers is low, as occurs in the tails for low/high frequency of purchases. The questionnaire included the Schwartz value survey, attitudes toward environment and attitude toward industrialized food market, and self-reported estimates of the frequency of buying at farmers’ market. Results suggest that the frequency of buying at farmers’ markets is hierarchically related to attitudes and values. The frequency of purchases at farmers’ markets is negatively related to industrialized food attitudes and positively related to pro-environment attitudes. Attitudes are in turn affected by values: self-transcendence has a positive impact on pro-environment attitude and the reverse is true for conservation. Furthermore, these relationships are not constant in the sample: they change according to the selected frequency of purchases.
Online from publication. 2 pages., Identification of produce items cited as problematic and acceptable by the Environmental Working Group. Article indicates that more than 99 percent of produce samples tested for these reports have residue levels that are compliant with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards (which EWG considers insufficient).
