10 pages, Food safety is a growing concern worldwide but is especially prevalent in Nepal. Agriculture is the country's critical economic sector, and its sustainability is challenged due to the increasing use of agrochemicals. As a result, low Soil Organic Matter (SOM), reduced crop productivity, increased food safety hazards, and negative impacts on human health and the environment are reported in the agriculture sector in Nepal. In 2018, the concept of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) was introduced in Nepal to address the issues of food safety, trade, and sustainability. As GAP is relatively new to Nepal, it is still broad and ambiguous, which makes its use and implementation difficult. For this purpose, we conducted a literature review on available global evidence to present the benefits of GAP and to identify the critical barriers to the adoption of GA. The review shows GAP's potential to increase crop yield by up to 36%, reduce agrochemicals use by 31%, increase SOM from a mean of 3.32%–3.77%, and increase farmers' income by more than 100%. However, the review has also identified barriers to wider adoption of GAP, broadly categorized into production, extension, regulation and standards, and markets and finance. The valuable outcome of this review is that it proposes five key pathways: (i) Technical capacity building, (ii) Awareness creation, (iii) Soil fertility management strategies, (iv) Extension programs, and (v) Market development for institutionalizing GAP in Nepal, based on the learning from global evidence. This review could be useful for policymakers and the government of Nepal to develop detailed implementation guidelines for GAP, including appropriate policies as well as short, medium, and long-term plans and programs for institutionalizing GAP in Nepal.
7 pages, With the growing needs of society for food safety and quality, as well as habitat protection, soil and water quality improvement, the role of eco-innovations in agriculture can be considered to provide ecosystem services and environmental protection. The attention paid by institutions to food safety and quality encourages innovative solutions. The aim of this paper is to present the attitudes of farmers to implement eco-innovative solutions such as organic farming and agri-environmental practices. A survey was conducted among 64 organic farmers dealing with perennial crops, pastures, and beekeeping in Bulgaria. The data from the survey was used to build logistic regression to analyze the factors affecting the decisions to implement eco-innovative solutions. The results reveal that three most important factors affect willingness to adopt eco-innovations are: positive perception of the impact of eco-innovation on environment quality, positive change in income as a result of organic farming, and adequate state policy and regulation of the agricultural sector.
Online from publisher. 3 pages., The chief merchandising office of a New-York-City-based online grocer, FreshDirect, describes methods used for successful online food shopping experiences for prospects and continuing customers. He observes that more than 30 percent of the grocer's customers shop exclusively from their "re-shop" baskets. However, he explains ways used to give customers reasons to branch out from their normal baskets.
9 pages, Social media has been recognized as a powerful tool supporting communication of many topics in the agriculture industry. We explored the use of social media platforms among farmers market managers and specialty crop growers in Illinois through an online survey. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were platforms used by the majority of respondents. We found that social media was used primarily for communicating with consumers for marketing purposes. We identified major training needs of farmers market stakeholders related to using social media to promote business and convey food safety information.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 157 Document Number: D11640
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4 pages., Online from G&S Business Communications, New York City, New York. 4 pages., "A new consumer intelligence survey fielded by G&S Communications found Americans are changing their consumption behaviors and their perceptions of the food supply chain as a direct result of the coronavirus. From food safety and quality to availability and affordability, people are beginning to think differently about where their food comes from and the significance of the nation's farming infrastructure."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 83 Document Number: D10838
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Online from the Center for Food Integrity, Gladstone, Missouri. 2 pages., "New research shows a significant and growing group of health-conscious consumers is confused by the mixed messages they're receiving about the 'real deal' and the substitutes entering the market."
7 pages., Via online journal, The emergence of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) has drawn the attention of researchers from various fields, who try to understand and explain these new phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to explore how personal attitude and product quality perception influence relative satisfaction over participation in AFNs, therefore contributing to the literature on socially conscious consumerism. Structural Equation Modeling is used to investigate the determinants of consumers' attitudes towards AFNs, its influence on perceived quality of food products, and their relative influence over satisfaction with participation in AFNs. A survey was conducted among 210 AFN participants. The results from this study suggest that consumers' attitude towards AFNs directly influences the perceived quality of food products; moreover, the analysis confirms the relationship between these two elements and overall satisfaction with participation in AFNs. Finally, the research provides suggestions on how to improve consumers’ involvement and mainstream AFNs.
9 pages., Online via AgEconSearch., Researchers examined Kosovar consumers' characteristics, attitude and preferences towards meat. Results suggested that they perceived country of origin, especially domestic origin, as an indicator of quality and safety of meat. Research identified two consumer profiles: conservative and innovative food consumers.
