A Transition towards a Food and Agricultural System That Includes Both Food Security and Planetary Health

World potato consumption has fallen. Similarly, Italian consumers are buying fewer potatoes, despite the high number of certified quality and innovative potatoes being produced. Moreover, Italian consumers’ knowledge of potato characteristics and innovations tends to be limited. To increase consumer engagement and revitalize the market, strategic marketing efforts need to be implemented by addressing the different characteristics of consumers in the different purchase channels. The aim of this study is to explore and differentiate consumer purchasing behavior and attitudes towards potatoes in supermarkets and neighborhood channels. The study collected 855 responses through an online survey. Data processing included the creation of indices of consumers’ knowledge of potato nutrition and their propensity to innovate, as well as logistic regression to analyze the determinants of potato-purchasing behavior. The results show that consumers with increased potato consumption, a higher level of education, and employment prefer to buy potatoes in the supermarket. A preference for potato innovation also increases the likelihood that consumers will buy potatoes in supermarkets. Conversely, consumers with elderly relatives at home and a low level of education, but a high level of knowledge about the nutritional properties of potatoes, prefer to shop through neighborhood channels.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumers’ Attitude towards Supermarket and Proximity Stores as Purchasing Outlets of Italian Potato Consumers

Samoggia,

Rossi,

Beccati

2023

“…The adoption of sustainable agricultural practices to ensure adequate food production while reducing its environmental impact is paramount in a world increasingly focused on feeding a growing population and the water–food–land nexus [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Sustainable agricultural practices have been touted as a solution for minimizing the negative impacts of some conventional agricultural practices [ 4 ] as well as a component of achieving the United Nations’ (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [ 5 ]. In fact, recent work has highlighted the central role of the food system in achieving the SDGs globally [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sustainable agriculture has been defined as preserving natural resources by balancing economic, social, and environmental costs while supporting communities through maintaining profits for agricultural producers [ 4 , 8 ]. The importance of supporting biodiversity in agriculture is key for maintaining a resilient food system under the effects of climate change [ 5 ]. Thus, exploring the research and training needs of the organizations helping farmers and producers adopt sustainable agricultural practices is important for bolstering a resilient food system, especially as modern food production systems face societal and environmental pressures to increase sustainability [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Needs Assessment to Inform Research and Outreach Efforts for Sustainable Agricultural Practices and Food Production in the Western United States

Lamm

Trojan³

et al. 2023

Increasing the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices can help maintain sufficient food production while reducing its environmental impact. To ensure this adoption, it is important to assess the research and training needs of those helping farmers and producers adopt sustainable agricultural practices. However, there is a gap in the literature related to the training needs of producers in the Western United States for sustainable agriculture. Needs assessments help organizations, such as the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and Cooperative Extension, to address the demonstrated needs of intended audiences. This study presents the results of a needs assessment with the objective of examining training needs and barriers to adoption to help direct extension programming for sustainable agricultural practices in the western region of the United States, to identify gaps, and to inform sustainable agriculture outreach programs. Using a modified Borich method with an inferential statistical method, the discrepancies between the level at which sustainable agricultural practice training competencies “should be addressed” and the level at which they were “currently being addressed” were examined. Competencies with the largest gaps included financial disparity, food waste, and policy/communicating with decision makers. The top three barriers to adopting sustainable agricultural practices included the potential for financial loss, perceived risk of adoption, and time investment associated with adoption. Results indicated that training needs varied and that these were not all on-farm training needs. The results imply that future funding from Western SARE and other groups looking to support sustainable agricultural food system efforts, may wish to focus on requesting proposals for programs that address these competency gaps and barriers in novel and supplementary ways in combination with existing programmatic efforts.

“…However, the increased demand for agricultural output is juxtaposed with a number of critical issues the agriculture and natural resources industry has been facing (e.g., [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]), “transformative change in agriculture and food systems are required worldwide” [ 9 ] (p. vii). As Hofman-Bergholm [ 10 ], states, “Transformation, education and innovation in different disciplines will be a necessity for a secure and sustainable food system in the future” (p. 11).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Issue Leadership: Establishing a Domain for a Food Systems Leadership Model

Lamm

2023

A sustainable food system is a fundamental requirement for the ongoing functioning and growth of society. However, despite the critical importance of the food system from both economic and social perspectives, there are several political, environmental, and human capital issues which represent barriers to sustainable production. For example, in the United States, the need for more production capacity to feed a growing population is juxtaposed with a shrinking and aging food system workforce. The nexus of such fundamentally opposed issues represents a situation in which technical solutions may be insufficient. Using a three-round Delphi process with an expert panel, a total of 106 unique leadership competencies or behaviors were identified. The resulting behaviors and competencies were then thematically analyzed using the constant comparative method. The proposed food systems leadership model, named Issue Leadership, includes 39 subthemes and 7 primary themes. The primary themes include action; change; communication; critical thinking, strategic planning and visioning; interpersonal traits and characteristics; leadership skills; and leadership processes. This study establishes the unique context that agriculture and food systems represent and the necessity for leadership models that are competency- and practice-based.