Public Perceptions Regarding Genomic Technologies Applied to Breeding Farm Animals: A Qualitative Study

The societal acceptability of different applications of genomic technologies to animal production systems will determine whether their innovation trajectories will reach the commercialisation stage. Importantly, technological implementation and commercialisation trajectories, regulation, and policy development need to take account of public priorities and attitudes. More effective co-production practices will ensure the application of genomic technologies to animals aligns with public priorities and are acceptable to society. Consumer rejection of, and limited demand for, animal products developed using novel genomic technologies will determine whether they are integration into the food system. However, little is known about whether genomic technologies that accelerate breeding but do not introduce cross-species genetic changes are more acceptable to consumers than those that do. Five focus groups, held in the north east of England, were used to explore the perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the use of genomic technologies in breeding farm animals for the human food supply chain. Overall, study participants were more positive towards genomic technologies applied to promote animal welfare (e.g., improved disease resistance), environmental sustainability, and human health. Animal “disenhancement” was viewed negatively and increased food production alone was not perceived as a potential benefit. In comparison to gene editing, research participants were most negative about genetic modification and the application of gene drives, independent of the benefits delivered.

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An integrated approach to identifying and characterising resilient urban food systems to promote population health in a changing climate

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980015000610 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 18 (13) ◽

pp. 2498-2508 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Sarah W James ◽

Sharon Friel

Keyword(s):

Population Health ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Mixed Methods Research ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Production Systems ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Integrated Analysis ◽

Climate Resilience ◽

Urban Food Systems

AbstractObjectiveTo determine key points of intervention in urban food systems to improve the climate resilience, equity and healthfulness of the whole system.DesignThe paper brings together evidence from a 3-year, Australia-based mixed-methods research project focused on climate change adaptation, cities, food systems and health. In an integrated analysis of the three research domains – encompassing the production, distribution and consumption sectors of the food chain – the paper examines the efficacy of various food subsystems (industrial, alternative commercial and civic) in achieving climate resilience and good nutrition.SettingGreater Western Sydney, Australia.SubjectsPrimary producers, retailers and consumers in Western Sydney.ResultsThis overarching analysis of the tripartite study found that: (i) industrial food production systems can be more environmentally sustainable than alternative systems, indicating the importance of multiple food subsystems for food security; (ii) a variety of food distributors stocking healthy and sustainable items is required to ensure that these items are accessible, affordable and available to all; and (iii) it is not enough that healthy and sustainable foods are produced or sold, consumers must also want to consume them. In summary, a resilient urban food system requires that healthy and sustainable food items are produced, that consumers can attain them and that they actually wish to purchase them.ConclusionsThis capstone paper found that the interconnected nature of the different sectors in the food system means that to improve environmental sustainability, equity and population health outcomes, action should focus on the system as a whole and not just on any one sector.

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May trust and solidarity defy food scares? The case of Parmigiano-Reggiano PDO sales in the aftermath of natural disaster

British Food Journal ◽

10.1108/bfj-06-2019-0400 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 121 (12) ◽

pp. 3119-3134

Author(s):

Davide Menozzi ◽

Corrado Finardi

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Food System ◽

Economic Damage ◽

Primary Role ◽

Content Type ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Protected Designation Of Origin ◽

Main Determinants ◽

Parmigiano Reggiano

Purpose A major earthquake and aftershocks have hit the North-East part of Italy in May 2012, and caused 26 deaths and diffuse economic damage in the localised agri-food system (LAFS) of Parmigiano-Reggiano protected designation of origin (PDO), including several dairy warehouses. In the broad mobilization to help the stricken people, the LAFS actors played a primary role, giving rise to the sales of “Parmigiano-Reggiano damaged by the earthquake” (PR-T). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the main determinants of PR-T purchasing using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Design/methodology/approach A survey on 200 consumers was performed. Data were collected with face-to-face interviews in stores and markets where the PR-T has been sold, and analyzed by structural equation modelling. Findings The TPB model predictors accounted for 52 per cent of the variance of intentions to purchase PR-T in the future and 21 per cent of the variance of behaviour. Perceived behavioural control is the main predictor of intention and behaviour, indicating that making easier the access to key resources and increasing people’s capability seems a major aspect to reach the intended goals. Trust in producers and retailers communication, positive image of the PDO label, sense of belonging to the region of origin and socio-demographics, i.e. age and educational levels, are correlated with intention and behaviour. The food scare flare up in the media was not a reason impeding purchasing PR-T. Originality/value These findings show the solidarity aspects underlying the collective purchases of PR-T in the aftermath of the 2012 earthquake waves, and the importance of increasing people’s capability and trust to reach the goal of facing dreadful food scares effectively.

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Does Rural Livestock Farmers’ Have Knowledge of Organic Livestock Farming Practices? Lesson from Southeast, Nigeria

10.5772/intechopen.99961 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Orgu Kenneth Chima ◽

Chukwu Andy Onyema ◽

Onubuogu Gilbert Chinedu ◽

Esiobu Nnaemeka Success

Keyword(s):

Organic Farming ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Production Systems ◽

Farm Animals ◽

Livestock Farming ◽

Livestock Farmers ◽

Hot Weather ◽

The Government ◽

To Come ◽

Safe Food

At global level, the use of inorganic feeds, veterinary drugs amongst others can significantly increase farm output in various livestock production systems. However, in recent times, quality-conscious consumers are increasingly seeking environmentally safe and chemical-residue free healthy livestock foods which organic production methods are said to ensure. Livestock Organic farming can offer promising opportunities for ensuring safe food, environmental sustainability, high livestock yield and income. Incidentally, empirical evidence on present discourse is still relatively very little. Although, a significant contribution has been made by various scholars, regrettably, these studies did not dwell on organic livestock practices and their knowledge level in South-east, Nigeria. Therefore, this presents a dearth in research and became increasingly pertinent that the study was systematically undertaken. A multistage and purposive random sampling procedure was used in the selection of 504 respondents who are organic livestock farmers. Data collected was analyzed using mean score analysis. Result shows that farmers had knowledge on practices of extensive system of livestock/poultry farming (X̄=3.49); provision of natural air (X̄=3.50); provision of natural water sprinkling during hot weather (X̄=3.50); rearing animal without antibiotics (X̄=3.56); and treating injured animals organically (X̄=3.48) among others. Incidentally, majority of the livestock farmers lacked knowledge of how to induce ovulation for animals without drugs (X̄=1.88). The inducement of ovulation for farm animals is one of the livestock organic methods used in forcing farm animals to come on heat/ovulation for quick multiplication. This method is harmful both for the animal an eventual consumer. Therefore, it is necessary that extension agents who are subject matter specialist (SMS) in livestock organic farming educate farmers on how to induce ovulation to farm animals organically with support from the government and farmers cooperative membership resources as these would significantly reduce harmful drugs injected to animal for quick ovulation and preserve the life span of the animal and consumers of the animal.

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Chilean consumers’ perception about animal welfare in dairy production systems: short communication

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an14968 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 147 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez ◽

José Luis Riveros ◽

Claus Köbrich ◽

Pamela Alejandra Álvarez-Melo ◽

Joop Lensink

Keyword(s):

Animal Welfare ◽

Dairy Products ◽

Family Income ◽

Production Systems ◽

Dairy Product ◽

Farm Animals ◽

Dairy Production ◽

Quality Attribute ◽

Pet Ownership ◽

Animal Products

Information on animal welfare and ways that farm animals are kept has gained more and more importance with regard to the consumers’ behaviour and expectations when buying food products. In certain countries, animal welfare is considered as an important extrinsic quality attribute of animal products. Until now, hardly any studies have been conducted in Latin America on consumers’ expectations and knowledge regarding animal welfare aspects of the products they buy. The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and expectations of consumers in Chile regarding information about dairy production systems and animal welfare, and the main aspects they considered when buying dairy products. A face-to-face interview was conducted on a sample of 501 persons from the Province of Santiago, Chile. The survey was conducted in major supermarkets from 15 different municipalities of Santiago in November and December 2012. The main aspects considered before purchasing dairy products were fat content (30%) and price (26%). It was shown that 66.9% of the participants associated the term animal welfare with responsible pet ownership, 12.4% to farm animal care, 11.6% to vegetarianism and 9.2% to the freedom and nature of animals. Age, educational level and family income were related (P < 0.001) to responsible pet ownership whereas gender did not relate to the concept of animal welfare. From the total surveyed participants, 73% were interested in receiving more information about animal welfare; 62% of these were women between 18 and 30 years of age. Information about the conditions of milk production and animal welfare were considered to be an important aspect to be included in dairy products’ labelling for 86% of the participants. Also, 68% of the participants declared a willingness to pay more for an animal welfare friendly dairy product. Data from this study may be useful in order to include animal welfare as an extrinsic quality attribute of dairy products in Chile and to define a market-oriented strategy including animal welfare.

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Sustainability assessment of small dairy farms from the main cattle farming systems in the North of Tunisia

New Medit ◽

10.30682/nm2103m ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Human Population ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Production Systems ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Mixed System ◽

Limiting Factor ◽

Animal Products ◽

Major Threat ◽

The North ◽

Cattle Farms

Demand for animal products is expected to increase due to human population growth, resulting in a need for increased production. At the same time, climate change poses a major threat to the viability and sustainability of livestock production systems. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the sus-tainability of dairy cattle farms belonging to three farming systems (rainfed, irrigated, and mixed) at the northeast zone of Tunisia using the IDEA method (version 3). Collected data of 102 farms were subjected to an analysis of variance using the GLM procedure of SAS software (version 9.4). Results showed that the socio-territorial scale was the limiting factor for all systems and that the irrigated sys-tem had the lowest scores of agro-ecological and socio-territorial scales, compared to the other ones, but it recorded the highest score for the economic scale. The best agro-ecological and socio-territorial scores characterized the mixed system. However, it had the lowest score on the economic scale. Finally, the rain-fed system was exhibited medium performances of the three scales. It was concluded a differ-ence between the three farm systems, but there was no disassociation between the three sustainability dimensions; thus, improvements should proceed across all scales simultaneously.

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Inter-regional innovation in Brazilian agriculture and deforestation in the Amazon: income and environment in the balance

Environment and Development Economics ◽

10.1017/s1355770x05002305 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 485-511 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

ANDREA CATTANEO

Keyword(s):

Computable General Equilibrium ◽

Production Systems ◽

Computable General Equilibrium Model ◽

Regional Innovation ◽

Agricultural Income ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Farm Production ◽

Deforestation Rates ◽

It Innovation

The paper examines how recent trends in agricultural productivity in Brazil, occurring both inside and outside the Amazon, affected deforestation and agricultural incomes. The analysis uses a computable general equilibrium model adapted to capture regional economic structures, and accounts for uncertainty concerning productivity improvements. Due to countervailing effects on deforestation of innovation inside and outside the Amazon – respectively, increasing and decreasing it – innovation in Brazilian agriculture in the period from 1985 to 1995 has not altered substantially deforestation rates. However, innovation inside the Amazon has to be reckoned as a driving force behind the continuing high levels of deforestation rates.Innovation rates for livestock activities, inside and outside the Amazon, prove crucial in determining deforestation and agricultural income. Technological improvements outside the Amazon for small farm production systems and for farms in general in the North-East increase agricultural income, improve income distribution, and limit deforestation rates.

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Evolutionary and adaptive local systems in North East Italy: Strategies of localized learning, open leadership and cooperation. Towards imperfect “communitarian capitalism”

Human Systems Management ◽

10.3233/hsm-1999-18204 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 87-105

Author(s):

Luciano Pilotti

Keyword(s):

Division Of Labor ◽

Learning Strategies ◽

Social Relations ◽

Production Systems ◽

Industrial Districts ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Industrial Leadership ◽

Private And Public ◽

High Level

We consider the nature of local production systems as a complex institutional form of coordination of the division of labor between firms as growing interrelations mediated by cognitve resources transferable by sharing internal/external competences. In this way emerge a process of internalization of competences thorought an evolutionary networking oriented to the efficiency of the system and not simply of single units. Our analysis is oriented to describe the peculiarity of the institutional system in the case of North East industrial districts. We assumes the North East industrial economy evolves on the basis of differentiated learning capacities, according to a complex system of economic and social relations encouraging the circulation of useful knowledge and information for economic growth and expanding both base of industrial leadership and spillover chain. The North East economy is well described in terms of a Multilevel Neural Network. This approach tends to revaluate local contexts as specific and active box of innovation resources, over simple considerations as factors of localisation, in other words a bridge between local and global resources. Learning processes and institutional contexts are variables that often seem to bind together economic and social factors. The orientation towards growth and innovation is due to the peculiarity of relationships based system existing in the district area, regarding the prevalent system (albeit incomplete) of learning strategies of both firms and institutions. This system is multi-purpose and oriented to produce through processes of both activities, self-coordination and self-learning. We have identified the “generator” of growth as meta-organisers. They comprise two classes of co-operators, not necessary alternative: innovative firms (as specialists, connectors, generators) and local institutions (private and public agents, or sub-systems of institutions), involved directly or indirectly in the process of innovation and/or to reduce costs of operations. In the last part of work we will show a simple model of differentiation of some industrial districts in North East of Italy: more efficient is the district with high level of intermediate institutions (private as firms and public as local authority and infrastructure) and with more large base of SMEs leadership. Two main forms of district emerge: the evolutionary district (for example, as Montebelluna specialised on ski-shoes business) and non evolutionary ones (adaptive district) (for example, as Maniago specialised on knives business), where we find a really limited base of leadership and constraints to enlarge division of labor between firms. We shall consider some elements related to district economies and their evolution as far as regulations are concerned, in order to show that the North East’s model of development is a peculiar form of “communitarian or social capitalism” for some aspects analogous to that of the Rhine area (a clear form of “corporatist capitalism”).

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Ras al Khaimah: further archaeological discoveries

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00150070 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 50 (200) ◽

pp. 216-222

Author(s):

Beatrice De Cardi

Keyword(s):

United Arab Emirates ◽

The State ◽

Focused Attention ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

History Of ◽

The City

Ras a1 Khaimah is the most northerly of the seven states comprising the United Arab Emirates and its Ruler, H. H. Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qasimi, is keenly interested in the history of the state and its people. Survey carried out there jointly with Dr D. B. Doe in 1968 had focused attention on the site of JuIfar which lies just north of the present town of Ras a1 Khaimah (de Cardi, 1971, 230-2). Julfar was in existence in Abbasid times and its importance as an entrep6t during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries-the Portuguese Period-is reflected by the quantity and variety of imported wares to be found among the ruins of the city. Most of the sites discovered during the survey dated from that period but a group of cairns near Ghalilah and some long gabled graves in the Shimal area to the north-east of the date-groves behind Ras a1 Khaimah (map, FIG. I) clearly represented a more distant past.

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