Organic consumption in three European countries

The present paper describes the consumption of organic foods in Denmark, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The study is based on an extensive set of household purchase panel data for each country. The data indicate that the consumption level in Denmark is substantially higher than in both Italy and in the United Kingdom. Furthermore differences between various socio-demographic groups are investigated. Some of these differences can be identified in all three countries

Do Danish consumers prefer an organic vegetarian meal or a non-organic meaty alternative? Evidence from a choice experiment

The paper aimed to analyse how different segments of consumers make trade-offs between the content of vegetables and meat in a meal and between organic and non-organic ingredients

Increase in organic consumption and dietary health – a dynamic approach.

The paper investigated whether an increase in the consumption of organic food was related to an improvement in diet composition of individual households

Are Organic Consumers Healthier than Others?

Recent research results indicate that organic consumers have a healthier diet than other consumers. This suggests that there might be a positive relationship between organic consumption and a healthy lifestyle. One aim of an ongoing research project is to analyse whether consumers with a high organic consumption have a higher interest in nutrition and a healthy living than other consumers. In order to test whether such a causal relationship exists, purchase data from Danish households are combined with information on these households’ perception of organic food and their health concerns

Hvilken mælk vil forbrugerne have?

Det er OK at have en klimasmart mælkekarton – men det er vigtigere, at malkekøerne kommer på græs og at mælken er økologisk

Ansvaret for sikre fødevarer

Kan efterspørgslen efter henholdsvis økologi og fødevaresikkerhed kaldes politisk forbrug – eller er det snarere tværtimod

Organic farming and multicriteria decisions: An economic survey

Organic food production is a sphere where decision making is multi-facetted and complex. This applies to producers, political decision makers and consumers alike. This paper provides an overview of the economic methods that can aid such multi criteria decision making. We first provide an outline of the many different Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) techniques available and their relative advantages and disadvantages. In addition, theoretical and practical problems related to the use of Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and MCA respectively are briefly discussed. We then review the MCA literature on case studies on organic farming. Based on this review we provide directional markers for future research where MCA may possibly be applied and adapted in order to provide useful knowledge and support for decision makers in the context of organic farming

Case Study #3-12 of the Program: ''Food Policy For Developing Countries: The Role Of Government In The Global Food System''

11 pp.©Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. All rights reserved. This case study may be reproduced for educational purposes without express permission but must include acknowledgment to Cornell University. No commercial use is permitted without permission.Potential food safety hazards include foodborne pathogens,1 use of antibiotics leading to resistant bacteria, chemical residuals in food products, medicine residues, growth hormones, and genetically modified organisms. The relative importance that consumers (and public authorities) place on each individual food safety issue varies noticeably across countries.2 From an economic viewpoint, however, the common feature shared by these issues is that policy intervention to address them might improve social welfare. Two main arguments support the contention that public intervention is welfare improving: (1) insufficient information about the safety of different products prevents consumers from having a proper choice, and (2) food safety is not entirely a private matter because public expenditures on, for instance, public health costs and sick pay are linked directly to each case of human disease. Hence, public authorities have a direct economic interest in implementing optimal food safety policies. Salmonella is a bacterial foodborne pathogen that causes human illness of varying severity, from mild cases to death. Salmonella control in the Nordic countries is considered leading-edge by international standards (Wahlström 2006; Wegener et al. 2003). In the late 1980s the Danish government, together with the industries concerned, formulated Salmonella control programs as a reaction to a substantial increase in the number of human cases of illness due to Salmonella. The policy succeeded in reducing the number of human cases of illness due to Salmonella in Danish-produced meat and eggs. The policy levied extra costs on food producers and the public sector, but economic analyses suggest that there are net benefits to society in the longer run owing to economic benefits from improved public health. The international environment has created a challenge for Denmark’s formulation of future food safety policies. Denmark has experienced a large increase in the volume of imported meat products in recent years, and the prevalence of Salmonella (as well as other bacteria, especially Campylobacter) in imported meat is significantly higher than in Danish-produced meat. As a basic rule, European Union (EU) legislation does not permit countries (except Finland and Sweden) to ban imported meat on the basis of prevalence of bacteria. Recent documentation of large variations in infection levels in products from different countries (Danish Veterinary and Food Administration 2006), however, has made the EU more inclined to allow country-specific rules regarding food safety. In addition, the EU implemented new criteria for hygiene and food safety processes in January 2006 to increase food safety in Europe. Your assignment is to identify opportunities and obstacles for improving Danish food safety policy using Salmonella control as a case. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the options mentioned in this case study for each stakeholder group. The assignment should include a discussion of the consequences of increased food safety in rich countries for the trading opportunities of developing countries. For example, is there necessarily a trade-off between the best possible food safety in Denmark and the welfare of people in developing countries that wish to export food products to Denmark?Cornell University Division of Nutritional Science

Hvordan opfatter forbrugeren økologi?

I DETTE STUDIE undersøges, hvordan forbrugerne opfatter fødevarer. Mere præcist fokuserer undersøgelsen på, om en forbruger først og fremmest tænker på, hvilken produktgruppe en fødevare tilhører (produktfokus), eller om det er vigtigst, om en fødevare er økologisk eller konventionelt produceret (øko-fokus). Vores resultater indikerer, at forbrugernes måde at opdele fødevarer på hænger tæt sammen med deres holdninger til og forbrug af økologiske fødevarer. Betydningen af forbrugerens opdelingsstrategi genfindes i en case, hvor forbrugernes præferencer for forskellige typer af mælk analyseres. Det afspejler sig tydeligt, at forbrugere, der har øko-fokus, i højere grad end forbrugere, der har produktfokus, er villige til at betale en merpris for bl.a., at mælken stammer fra køer, der kommer på græs om sommeren. Derudover indikerer resultaterne, at den økologiske forbruger i højere grad kan karakteriseres ved troen på, at der er flere positive egenskaber i Ø-mærkede produkter, ud over hvad der garanteres af mærket, end ved socio-demografiske faktorer som, hvor meget man tjener, hvor man bor, og hvilket køn man har. Analysen er baseret på 900 danskeres besvarelse af et spørgeskema i juni 2009

Dokumentation af valgeksperiment og spørgeskema, CONCEPTS

Formålet med dette arbejdspapir er at dokumentere en spørgeskemaundersøgelse om økologisk forbrug. I undersøgelsen, der er bygget op omkring et valgeksperiment, fokuseres der særligt på forbrugernes holdninger til de enkelte egenskaber i mælk