Utilitarian and moralistic farmers take equally good care of animal welfare in Finland

A study of Finnish farmers' attitudes towards production animal welfare revealed that a variety of attitudes and management practices can lead to equally good result regarding animal health, productivity and welfare. Organic farmers differed from conventional farmers in providing animals better chances for a pleasant life. The also perceived they could improve animal welfare more than other farmers

How consumers of meat-based and plant-based diets attend to scientific and commercial information sources : Eating motives, the need for cognition and ability to evaluate information

This study explores how consumers’ eating motives, need for cognition, and subjective ability to evaluate information were associated with the perceived influence of scientific and commercial information sources, and how these were associated with a self-reported consumption of red meat and plant-based alternatives. An online survey of a nationally representative sample of the 18- to 65-year-old adult population living in Finland (N=1,279) was analysed with structural equation modelling. The perceived influence of commercial sources was negatively associated, and the perceived influence of scientific sources positively associated with a plant-based diet. The health motive and subjective ability to evaluate information were positively associated with the perceived influence of scientific information sources and negatively associated with the perceived influence of commercial sources. The environmental motive was positively associated with commercial sources. The findings can be used for tailoring food-related communication to suit the motivations and information assessment capacities of different consumers. In particular, public authorities need to respond to the information needs of environmentally conscious consumers, increase public awareness of the environmental impacts of red meat, and train consumers to assess information quality.This study explores how consumers’ eating motives, need for cognition, and subjective ability to evaluate information were associated with the perceived influence of scientific and commercial information sources, and how these were associated with a self-reported consumption of red meat and plant-based alternatives. An online survey of a nationally representative sample of the 18- to 65-year-old adult population living in Finland (N=1,279) was analysed with structural equation modelling. The perceived influence of commercial sources was negatively associated, and the perceived influence of scientific sources positively associated with a plant-based diet. The health motive and subjective ability to evaluate information were positively associated with the perceived influence of scientific information sources and negatively associated with the perceived influence of commercial sources. The environmental motive was positively associated with commercial sources. The findings can be used for tailoring food-related communication to suit the motivations and information assessment capacities of different consumers. In particular, public authorities need to respond to the information needs of environmentally conscious consumers, increase public awareness of the environmental impacts of red meat, and train consumers to assess information quality.Peer reviewe

The Combined Effect of Perceived COVID-19 Infection Risk at Work and Identification with Work Community on Psychosocial Wellbeing among Finnish Social Sector and Health Care Workers

It has been well documented that both risk perception and group identification are related to psychosocial well-being. However, their combined effect has rarely been analyzed. We examined the combined effect of perceived risk associated with COVID-19 infection at work and work community identification on psychosocial well-being (i.e., frequency of stress symptoms) among health care and social sector workers in Finland (N = 1279). Data were collected via an online questionnaire in June 2020 and analyses of covariance were conducted. Perceived COVID-19 infection risk at work was classified into high, medium and low risk. In total, 41% of participants reported a high risk. After all background variables were included, participants who reported high perceived infection risk and low work community identification reported stress symptoms more often than those who reported high perceived risk and high identification (p = 0.010). Similarly, the former differed significantly from all other comparison groups (medium and low risk, p < 0.001), being the most stressed. We found that perceived infection risk and work community identification were not related to each other. Our conclusion is that high work community identification can buffer employee stress when faced with a high perceived health risk. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, work organizations with a high infection risk should advance the possibility of employees’ identification with their work community

Towards more environmentally sustainable diets? Changes in the consumption of beef and plant- and insect-based protein products in consumer groups in Finland

Julkais on avoimesti saatavilla: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2021.108635This study investigated consumers' self-reported past changes and future intentions to change the consumption of beef and alternative, plant- or insect-based protein products. A survey of 18-79-year-old consumers in Finland (N = 1000) was analysed with latent class analysis, and five consumer clusters were identified. The largest cluster (37%) consumed beef, but no alternative protein products; three clusters incorporated alternative protein products in their diets in different ways (in total 55%); and one cluster did not consume beef or alternative proteins (8%). In total 27% of the respondents intended to reduce the consumption of beef in the future, whereas 26% planned to increase the consumption of plant-based and 24% planned to increase the use of insect-based protein products. Multinomial logistic regression indicated that the use of alternative proteins was associated with higher health and sustainability motives, and lower food neophobia. The results suggest that demand for new, more sustainable proteins and protein innovations will grow in the future.Peer reviewe

Yhteistoiminnallinen työskentely ja poikkitieteellisen asiantuntijuuden kehittyminen

Peer reviewe

A transition towards plant-based diets on its way? Consumers’ substitutions of meat in their diets in Finland

In recent years, the position of meat has been challenged in Western food cultures due to its ecological, health and animal welfare impacts. This study examined consumers’ reported changes in their meat and plant protein consumption in a new situation after the prominent market entrance of novel plant-based products in Finland. The study is based on an online survey (N=1,000) among 18–79-year-old consumers living in Finland. Using latent class analysis, four consumer clusters were identified based on self-reported past changes in meat and plant protein consumption. The largest cluster was ‘No change’ (43.3% of the respondents), followed by ‘Less red meat, more plant proteins’ (30.4%), ‘Less red meat, more poultry’ (17.9%) and ‘No/very little meat, more plant proteins’ (8.4%). The clusters differed in their sociodemographic characteristics: gender, age, level of education and area of residence. One-way ANOVA showed differences between the clusters in food neophobia, natural concerns, health and pleasure motives. In addition, the clusters held varying attitudes towards meat, beans, and plant-based protein products. The results suggest an increasing interest among consumers in less-meat diets, indicating support for the needed societal transition towards more sustainable patterns of eating.Peer reviewe

Julkaisufoorumi ja epäilyttävät lehdet

Julkaisufoorumi on suomalainen julkaisukanavien tasoluokitusjärjestelmä, jonka tavoitteena on yllä­pitää tieteellisten julkaisujen laadunarviointia. Sen toimintaa koordinoi Tieteellisten seurain valtuus­kunta. Vain riittävän tieteellisiksi arvioidut julkai­sukanavat voivat saada Julkaisufoorumi-luokan kolmiportaisella asteikolla. Yksi tieteenalakohtai­nen paneeli on tavallisesti vastuussa tieteellisten sarjojen laadunarvioinnista, jossa tulee huomioi­da tutkimusalalle tyypilliset julkaisukäytännöt, tiedeyhteisössä vallitsevat arvostukset ja tutki­musalojen tasapuolinen edustus korkeammissa tasoluokissa 2 ja 3.Non peer reviewe

Understanding circular economy in everyday life : Perceptions of young adults in the Finnish context

It is generally accepted that governments, municipalities, businesses and citizens alike have a role to play in transitioning towards a circular economy (CE). Yet most academic and policy discussions of CE revolve around technological solutions and business models. Although CE also means significant changes to ways of living, these aspects of CE are barely addressed. The citizen role is traditionally assumed to be that of a consumer or user of the newly developed solutions, while also following the guidelines for sorting and recycling. Little is known about how citizens envision being part of the CE, and what skills and competences are relevant for CE. Our study addresses this gap by exploring the perceptions of young adults in Finland on how CE reflects into their everyday lives. Our dataset consists of 249 responses from high school students in Finland to open-ended questions regarding CE. The results highlight that young adults in Finland strongly associate CE with recycling, waste sorting and re-selling/buying second-hand, which is in line with the conventional roles of efficient recyclers and consumers. Although CE harbors wider potential for more active citizen roles related to repair, maintenance and upcycling, these aspects are often overlooked in favor of more familiar lifestyles. Building on the 5R framework for CE and emerging themes from student responses, we bring forward the new roles of upcycler, thrifter, expert/learner, giver/benefactor and conservationist. Supporting these emerging roles is an opportunity for cooperation between young adults, other citizen groups, cities, policy makers and businesses, and a key for jointly advancing the transition to CE. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)peerReviewe

Finnish Bioeconomy in 2050 : Visions of Future Environmental Professionals

Finland and the European Union, among others, are promoting bioeconomy as a new form of economy. According to the EU, the bioeconomy comprises those parts of the economy that produce renewable biological resources, such as crops, forests, fish, animals and micro-organisms, or use them to produce food, materials and energy. In order for transition to have public legitimacy and engagement, it is important to understand different stakeholders’ views of bioeconomy. Therefore in this article we focus on future environmental professionals’ views of bioeconomy and compare them to the official definitions. We collected essays about Finnish bioeconomy in 2050 among 47 future environmental professionals who were currently studying at universities in the Helsinki region. The one-page essays were written in the spring 2017. Their content was analysed through nine themes (energy, housing, transport, food, other consumption, individuals, society, drivers, and definition of bioeconomy). Respondents’ views were reduced to three-four alternative future images per each theme and then combined into overall future images. According to the results, respondents’ visions were much more versatile and varied than the images portrayed by the Finnish and EU policies. The visions included dystopic images as well as critical views regarding the consumption-based lifestyles of today. The visions included changes to everyday life and practices, as well as to prevailing values and attitudes. For example, dietary changes such as increased vegetarianism and reduced consumption of meat and dairy products were very common. On the other hand, local food production and self-sufficiency were preferred by many respondents. In addition, the new technologies and materials envisioned were not only bio-based. Instead, solar and wind power emerged as particularly important energy forms. Even nuclear power was mentioned, which demonstrates how the focus of these visions was often carbon-neutrality rather than renewability or biological resources. Altogether these visions demonstrate that even among future environmental professionals the concept of bioeconomy is far from clear. It can be hypothesized that the term is even less known among the Finnish people at large. It is also likely that current research and promotion activities do not take into account the various societal and everyday dimensions of bioeconomy, if they only focus on the technological and economic aspects of the transform. We conclude that the aim to transform the Finnish society towards bioeconomy should be discussed more widely, and its definition, legitimacy, and societal impacts should be studied further.Non peer reviewe