Making hemp choices: Evidence from Vermont

Hemp\u27s reemergence in the United States\u27 economy presents an opportunity for a new category of sustainable product choice for consumers. This study fills a gap in knowledge about which consumers are currently aware of or choosing hemp products using the theory of choice alternatives and a statistically representative survey from a top ten hemp producing US state. Findings reveal high levels of consumer awareness and consideration of hemp products in general and a smaller evoked/choice set. Cannabidiol products appear most often in our sample\u27s choice set; we examined these specifically. Other hemp products also appear, including clothing and textile, personal care, building material, and food products. Bivariate logistic regression results show that older respondents are more likely to be in the unaware set for hemp products in general and for cannabidiol products. Politically liberal respondents are more likely to be in the evoked/choice set for hemp products in general and for cannabidiol products. No demographic variables are significantly associated with being in the consideration set for hemp products in general. Younger and more educated respondents are more likely to consider cannabidiol products. As hemp represents a nascent but growing market, this study provides a baseline from which to build understanding of consumer choice alternatives

Social Seed Networks for Climate Change Adaptation in Western Kenya: Results from a study to better understand farmers’ primary sources of seed information in the Nyando Climate-Smart Villages

Kenyan smallholder farmers are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including increased temperatures and variability in precipitation, which results in shorter growing seasons in most areas of East Africa (Adhikari et al. 2015). One strategy for adapting to these climactic changes is to utilise genetic resources to mitigate the effects of abiotic and biotic stresses (IPCC 2014). Farmers could benefit from accessing and exchanging genetic resources, seed, and the information needed to use those resources effectively. Farmers’ seed networks are believed to supply about 80% of seed to farmers in Kenya, where, for example, 75-80% of seed used by farmers’ is from ‘informal’ systems. Farmer seed networks are important for accessing seed and providing genetic diversity that is vital for resilience (Louwaars et al., 2013). Research in East Africa has suggested that community-generated information sharing might support more effective farmer response to the changing seasonal and weather patterns associated with climate change (Comes et al. 2015). However, little is known about the farmers’ social seed networks in supporting adaptation to climate change in Kenya

Developing Metrics for Novel Value-Added Products: The Case of Hemp in Vermont

Vermont Farm to Plate 2020 identifies hemp as one of ten emergent agricultural products critical for Vermont’s future and has made recommendations for investments in hemp research, education, feasibility, and innovation programs. These investments are essential to develop niche food, feed, fiber, and industrial products, professionals, and markets that go “beyond CBD” (VFP, 2020). This project develops indicators for an important, value added budding crop in Vermont: hemp. For the purposes of this white paper, indicators are “a way to measure, indicate or point to with more or less exactness,” or “something used to show the condition of a system” (Feenstra et al., 2005). We focus on the example of hemp to illustrate how emerging value-added crops contribute to sustainable food systems. We use a set of design principles to ensure the applicability of developed indicators for decision making. This framework, its processes, and measures, are transferable to any nascent crop for evaluating economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Our objectives are to: Develop a set of indicators to measure the economic, social, and environmental inputs of hemp in Vermont. Identify techniques and data sources for mining hemp metrics. Evaluate the hierarchical levels of mined data and transecting indicators to inform growing discussions of metric integration and forecasting agricultural food sustainability. Our approach is grounded in the FAO food systems model, Doughnut Economics, which uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a foundation to describe “social floors” and planetary boundaries, and the concepts of seven community capitals: political, cultural, human, social, financial, built, and environmental. Our work plan included a two-day virtual workshop with required reading prior to the event, and involved both University researchers and stakeholders representing production, industry, finance, government, and NGOs. We describe 35 metrics to assess the sustainability of hemp in the Vermont economy, environment and community going forward (Figure 2 and Table 1). We also make several recommendations to move the collection of food system metrics forward. General recommendations include: Farmer surveys to specifically address challenges facing farmers growing a novel crop. In hemp this is particularly important, as the crop attracts many who are new to farming, and no one has been able to legally grow it at field scale in the US for the past several generations. Community/consumer surveys to collect data on community needs and impacts of novel value added crops (hemp) Collection and curation of spatial data tied to appropriate metrics Allocation of ARS funds for at least one data professional with skills across data types and methods, including individual, spatial, community level, etc. Funds to build out nutrient mass balance and soil carbon stock models for different soil types and production approaches The use of a grower-friendly tracking App with incentives (GoCrop) Development of a dashboard to easily visualize direction and degree of movement toward a desired state We make more specific recommendations in the Appendix where each metric is described in detail

Social Seed Networks and Climate Change Adaptation in Central Tanzania: Results from a study to better understand farmers’ primary sources of seed information in Dodoma and Singida Districts, Tanzania

Tanzanian smallholder farmers are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, especially the resultant rainfall variability. One strategy for adapting to the changing climate is to utilise genetic seed sources to resist abiotic and biotic stressors. Another strategy is to access and exchange genetic resources, seed, and the information needed to use those resources effectively. In Tanzania, ‘farmer managed’ seed networks are believed to supply about 80-90 percent of seeds to farmers (Below et al., 2015). Farmer seed networks are an important element of seed access because they are resilient and work to maintain and conserve crop genetic diversity. Research in East Africa has suggested that community-generated information sharing might support more effective farmer response to the changing seasonal and weather patterns associated with climate change (Balama et al., 2013)

Social Seed Networks for Climate Change Adaptation in Uganda: Strategies to Improve Access to Genetic Diversity and Information. Results from a study to better understand farmers’ primary sources of seed and information in the Hoima Climate-Smart Villages

Climate change poses serious threats to smallholder farmers in Uganda. For instance, rains often start late in the season and end early, reducing the growing season. Increasing and maintaining genetic diversity is one way of combatting these climatic change-related threats (IPCC, 2014). Farmers often manage, select, and conserve genetic diversity according to their needs, but climate change is quickly eroding this genetic diversity. Accessing genetic resources and related information is therefore paramount to farmers’ ability to cope with the effects of climate change. Farmers’ seed networks are a crucial element of access to seed because they are resilient and help to maintain and conserve crop genetic diversity (Pautasso et al. 2013). In Uganda, 85% of the seed is from ‘informal’ sources consisting of seed saved from own farm as well as seed obtained from neighbours and other local sources. Research in East Africa has suggested that community-generated information sharing might support more effective farmer response to the changing seasonal and weather patterns associated with climate change (Adhikari et al. 2015). However, the influence of Ugandan farmers’ social networks in supporting adaptation to climate change is not well known

Nausea: Current knowledge of mechanisms, measurement and clinical impact

AbstractNausea is a subjective sensation, which often acts as a signal that emesis is imminent. It is a widespread problem that occurs as a clinical sign of disease or as an adverse effect of a drug therapy or surgical procedure. The mechanisms of nausea are complex and the neural pathways are currently poorly understood. This review summarises the current knowledge of nausea mechanisms, the available animal models for nausea research and the anti-nausea properties of commercially available anti-emetic drugs. The review also presents subjective assessment and scoring of nausea. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of nausea might reveal potential clinically useful biomarkers for objective measurement of nausea in species of veterinary interest

Examining Consumer Perceptions And Behaviors Toward Hemp-Based Products

Although its relevance has ebbed and flowed, hemp production has persisted over several centuries. Over time, its popularity has been interrupted by competing products, public health concerns and regulatory barriers. A renaissance of hemp production has emerged in the U.S., particularly after regulatory barriers fell in 2014 and 2018. This has given rise to a growing market of diverse hemp-based food, medicinal, textile and industrial products. Adding to the political, technological and financial challenges facing this nascent industry is a demonstrated need for consumer behavior research on how products made with hemp-based ingredients are received, if at all, by consumers. Existing research on hemp consumption largely focuses on hemp cannabidiol products, which have gained substantial popularity since hemp’s legalization. However, this represents just one of the thousands of products that can be processed from hemp and cannabidiol alone cannot sustain the industry. As such, further examination of the hemp consumer is necessary. Peer reviewed literature points to the need for analyses that specifically address the many products that hemp can produce and that evaluate characteristics beyond consumer demographics. Therefore, this thesis examines data collected from a survey of Vermont residents on their perceptions of hemp as an innovative input. We first examine how perceptions of hemp influences consumer propensity to choose or reject each of eight hemp product categories. We then analyze cumulative adoption behavior, modeling the total use of hemp products as innovations diffusing through the marketplace. Findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the hemp consumer and examine how that behavior can be employed by industry and policy stakeholders

Consumer demand for hemp: Evidence from Vermont

Opportunity for hemp production in the U.S. has expanded amid federal regulatory changes, most notably with the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill. As an early leader in hemp production, Vermont is particularly well positioned to participate in this new hemp market. Faced with an increasingly favorable political landscape and a rising interest in hemp production among farmers and consumers alike, evidence-based research on hemp’s feasibility in Vermont is critical to inform producers seeking to effectively plan for and participate in this renewed agricultural sector. This study characterizes consumer demand for hemp through survey data of Vermont residents about their support for, familiarity with and use of hemp-based products. Findings reveal high support and familiarity with hemp products and moderate use of hemp products. Though CBD appears to play an important role in defining hemp demand, this study challenges the notion that CBD is the single driving force, with clothing and textile products also contributing to the market landscape. Demographic variables have weak or no association with consumer demand for hemp and indicate a broad market for hemp products. This study offers a base for which to understand consumer demand for hemp production

The USDA’s Bioengineering Disclosure Standard does not match public opinion on how best to label genetically modified foods: results of a content analysis of public comments in the Federal Register

Genetically modified foods (GMF) entered the US food supply in 1994, and controversy over whether and how to label them has persisted ever since. Consumer polls regularly show that the majority of Americans believe that GMF should be labeled, and proponents of GMF labeling frequently cite the themes of environmental harm, corporate control of the food supply, and the “right to know” if foods contain GM ingredients. In 2018, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Biotechnology Disclosure Act was finalized and required labeling of genetically modified foods beginning in 2020, with a mandatory compliance date of January 2022. This research evaluates the degree to which the USDA’s labeling plan matches public opinion, through a quantitative content analysis of public comments submitted to the USDA between 2018-2019. Over 14,000 comments were analyzed by a team of 8 coders, and overall agreement between coders was “moderate” (\u3e0.67) based on Krippendoff’s inter-coder reliability procedure. Preliminary results suggest that the USDA’s plan does not align with public comments. Of the 22% of comments mentioning the USDA’s plan to allow electronic disclosures, 92% were opposed to this option. Of the 30% of comments discussing the USDA’s plan to use the term “bioengineered” instead of “GMO,” 97% were opposed to this use of the less familiar term bioengineered. Of the 27% of comments that commented on how the USDA identifies bioengineered ingredients, 99% responded that this list should include refined ingredients (sugar, oils, etc), and only 1% of the comments were aligned with the USDA’s plan to only require labels on foods containing detectable modified DNA. Based on an analysis of these public comments, the USDA’s labeling plan does not provide the level of transparency desired by labeling advocates. Rather than providing meaningful information, and/or driving the food industry to reformulate their products, the USDA’s labeling plan may instead continue to drive the informational asymmetry between producers and consumers and is likely to add even more fuel to the fire of the debate surrounding the right to know