Letter to the editor regarding publication of research by Stanley Ewen and Arpad Pusztai regarding effects of genetically modified potatoes on rat small intestines.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D07366
Notes:
Pages 215-228 in Peter Bennett, Kenneth Calman, Sarah Curtis and Denis Fischbacher-Smith (eds.). Risk communication and public health. Second edition. Osvord University Press, Oxford, England. 339 pages.
This paper examines the media coverage of the 2013 London cultured meat tasting event, particularly in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Using major news outlets, prominent magazines covering food and science issues, and advocacy websites concerning meat consumption, the paper characterizes the overall emphases of the coverage, the tenor of the coverage, and compares the media portrayal of the important issues to the demographic and psychological realities of the actual consumer market into which cultured meat will compete. In particular, the paper argues that Western media gives a distorted picture of what obstacles are in the path of cultured meat acceptance, especially by overemphasizing and overrepresenting the importance of the reception of cultured meat among vegetarians. Promoters of cultured meat should recognize the skewed impression that this media coverage provides and pay attention to the demographic data that suggests strict vegetarians are a demographically negligible group. Resources for promoting cultured meat should focus on the empirical demographics of the consumer market and the empirical psychology of mainstream consumers.
Shan, Liran (author), Regan, Aine (author), De Brun, Aoife (author), Barnett, Julie (author), Van der Sanden, Maarten C. A. (author), Wall, Patrick (author), and McConnon, Aine (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2013
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 142 Document Number: D06425
Shan, Liran Christine (author), Panagiotopoulos, Panagiotis (author), Regan, Aine (author), De Brun, Aoife (author), Barnett, Julie (author), Wall, Patrick (author), and McConnon, Aine (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2015
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 151 Document Number: D11599
5 pages., Online via UI e-subscription, Researchers examined the use and impact of social media on two-way communication between consumers and public organizations in the food safety and nutrition area. Findings indicated that social media penetrated and brought new opportunities to interactions between food organizations and the public.
In letter to the editor, Lancet is criticized by a representative of the Biotechnology Industry Organization for placing politics and tabloid sensationalism above its responsibility to report and assess new science.
