Specht, Kathrin (author), Zoll, Felix (author), Schumann, Henrike (author), Bela, Julia (author), Kachel, Julia (author), and Robischon, Marcel (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2019
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 99 Document Number: D10870
Via online. 27 pages., Global challenges such as climate change, increasing urbanization and a lack of transparency of food chains, have led to the development of innovative urban food production approaches, such as rooftop greenhouses, vertical farms, indoor farms, aquaponics as well as production sites for edible insects or micro-algae. Those approaches are still at an early stage of development and partly unknown among the public. The aim of our study was to identify the perception of sustainability, social acceptability and ethical aspects of these new approaches and products in urban food production. We conducted 19 qualitative expert interviews and applied qualitative content analysis. Our results revealed that major perceived benefits are educational effects, revaluation of city districts, efficient resource use, exploitation of new protein sources or strengthening of local economies. Major perceived conflicts concern negative side-effects, legal constraints or high investment costs. The extracted acceptance factors deal significantly with the “unknown”. A lack of understanding of the new approaches, uncertainty about their benefits, concerns about health risks, a lack of familiarity with the food products, and ethical doubts about animal welfare represent possible barriers. We conclude that adaptation of the unsuitable regulatory framework, which discourages investors, is an important first step to foster dissemination of the urban food production approaches.
16 pages., via online journal., Fraudulent activities in the international honey market affect 10% of food, and cost the global food market $50 billion per annum. Although many developed countries have created regulations to combat food fraud, illegally imported honey, especially originating from China, still enters through transshipments and relabelling to mask its true origin. This honey laundering poses a health risk to consumers, as Chinese honey potentially contains illegal and unsafe antibiotics and high levels of herbicides and pesticides. We analyse whether information about the negative health impacts of laundered honey increases the proportion of consumers willing to pay a premium for local fraud‐free honey. Using a laboratory experiment, we find when consumers are given honey laundering information, their willingness to pay a premium for local fraud‐free honey increases by as much as 27 percentage points. Our findings suggest that by conveying honey laundering information and guaranteeing their honey is fraud‐free, producers can potentially increase revenues and reduce the prevalence of food fraud. Our results further show that consumers' preference for various honey characteristics and age also influence the probability of paying a premium for local honey.
18 pages., via online journal., Findings in rural communities prompt authors to recommend a customized policy framework that is responsive to the diversity and uniqueness of local contexts in connectivity and digital inclusion.
7 pages., Article presents learnings and observations from the perspective of delivering a targeted sugarcane agricultural extension program across the Wet Tropics. "Importantly, this program has continued to find the need to understand and align with local community and industry dynamics to ensure prioritisation supports the intended outcomes, including that communities and landholders are actively engaged in water quality improvement and remain resilient."
Online via Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). 25 pages, Researchers analyzed the spatial dimension and socioeconomic determinants of social media utilization in 3,109 counties in the United States. Subsamples involved metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural regions. Findings compared usage of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and all social media, by region of the nation.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 133 Document Number: D11393
Notes:
15 pages., Online research report., Reports findings of a survey of 3,627 U.S. adults, October 1-13, 2019. Democrats mostly agreed the federal government should do more on climate, while Republicans differed by ideology, age and gender
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 199 Document Number: D09786
Notes:
Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Nature Resources, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. 2 pages.
