Food safety knowledge and practice and its relationship with literacy: The case of rural women in Iran

Background: It is widely understood that most food-borne illness is associated with the inner home environment, and that therefore, the role of women in providing, storage and preparation of healthy food is very important. Given the lack of research on home food safety in Iran, this study focused on the knowledge and behavior towards food safety and its relationship with literacy among rural women. Methods: Data of this cross-sectional survey were collected through questionnaires. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by referring to university experts. The questionnaire reliability was evaluated by Cronbach's test (a=0.782). The study population consisted of rural women in the areas of Gonbad-e Kavous County in Golestan province, north of Iran. Using random cluster sampling, 385 women from 77 villages were studied. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used for analysis. Results: Knowledge and behavior of the studied rural women towards food safety could be assessed as good and fair respectively. There was no difference between literate and illiterate women in regard to food safety knowledge (t=1.72; P>0.05), but literate compared with illiterate rural women have in general better food safety behavior (t=2.16; P<0.05). Conclusion: The findings showed that literacy education can activate mechanisms that lead to food safety behavioral changes. However, there was no difference between literate and illiterate women in regard to food safety knowledge. It suggests that illiterate rural women, despite their inability to read and write, can find appropriate methods to learn about food safety issues

Assessing the attitude of experts and managers of natural resources and watershed management offices of Golestan province towards legal aspects of flood management

Legal issues have special importance in flood management. The present study has investigated the most important legal issues related to floods through descriptive survey research. The study population included employees with expert positions in legal offices and heads of county natural resources offices in all counties of Golestan province who were surveyed by census method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by the legal experts. SPSS18 software was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics and also Sign and Wilcoxon tests were used. The results showed the effectiveness of the current legal system in preventing floods, the influence of legal sentences regarding river and stream privacy, the power of legal units to litigate violations on the floodplain of rivers and streams, as well as the effectiveness of the current structure of the legal units of the natural resources offices to deal with the causes of floods, are at a moderate level. The most important legal weakness in flood management is related to monitoring the implementation of laws. According to the respondents, non-compliance with the rules and regulations of natural resources has played a strong role in the recent floods. Respondents also believed that the degree of overlap of duties between the custodians of rivers and streams and also disagreement among the custodians regarding the floodplain area of rivers and streams is considerable. The most important solutions to reform the legal system to improve flood management include imposing severe penalties for encroaching on the floodplain area of rivers and streams and giving priority to litigation of natural resource cases. According to the results, practical suggestions and recommendations have been presented to improve flood management

Analysis of Forest Guard Staff’s Attitudes towards the New Environmental Paradigm Case Study of Golestan Province

Extended Abstract:Introduction: Today's environmental issues are deeply socialized and consequently, a responsible view of the environment is one of the hallmarks of many societies for moving towards sustainable development. Environmental attitudes are defined as a set of friendly (positive) and unfriendly (negative) feelings towards the environment and related topics. Environmental attitudes are strong predictors of environmental behaviors. Therefore, solving environmental crises depends on changing one’s attitude and perceived value to the environment. Two perspectives can be identified in terms of two paradigms regarding attitudes towards the environment. One view is referred to as the dominant social paradigm and the other is the new environmental paradigm. The new environmental paradigm points to the limitations that must inevitably be placed on human (economic) growth, namely the importance of maintaining a balance between nature and the development of a sustainable economy, or the need to rethink the belief that nature exists solely for the sake of human needs. This paradigm emphasizes the balanced relationship between humans and other species as well as sustainability in the use of natural resources. This paradigm consists of three dimensions, which include ‘growth restriction’, ‘rejecting anthropocentrism’, and accepting the ‘fragility of nature’s balance’. Given the importance of attitudes towards the environment and its role in dealing with nature, the question posed in this study is: which environmental perspective is common among societies? Some experts attribute environmental problems to people and believe that their views on the environment are not appropriate and their indifference to the environment is excessive and unjustifiable. But is this claim true, and is it just for ordinary people? In other words, do natural resource management and conservationists have a good view of the environment? This research was conducted to find the environmental views of forest guard staff in Golestan province. Methodology: This research was conducted using the survey research method. The study population consisted of the Forest Guard staff of the Golestan Province. Using the stratified random sampling method, 264 of them were selected in the counties of Golestan province. Data collection was done in 2018 using a questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire included questions about the demographic and occupational characteristics of staff including age, marital status, work experience, level of education, and place of residence. The second part consisted of 15 items related to the Environmental Attitude Index based on the new environmental paradigm. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed by face validity and Cronbach's test, respectively. Discussion: The results of the study showed that the average age of respondents was 40.36 years. They had an average of 14.26 years of work experience. The majority of them (92%) were married. Also, 60.2% of them lived in cities, and the rest in rural areas. The average educational level of the study samples was above the high school diploma. Exploratory factor analysis showed that the structure of Forest Guard staff’s attitudes towards the new environmental paradigm derives from five factors including ecological equilibrium, growth restriction, technology-oriented, optimism about the future, and anthropocentrism, which explained 56.32% of the variance of the dependent variable. Among these factors, ‘growth restriction’ is the first priority and ‘no optimism about the future’ is the last priority. Married participants reject more anthropocentrism than singles, but singles are more skeptical about the future of the environment than married. The attitudes of Forest Guard staff were independent of age, marital status, and place of residence, but with increasing levels of education, their attitude towards the new environmental paradigm became weaker. Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that the environmental attitude of the study population could be assessed at a relatively appropriate level. However, this attitude was not strong enough. In addition, attitudes towards the new environmental paradigm is a multidimensional phenomenon with five dimensions including ecological equilibrium, growth restriction, technology-oriented, optimism about the future, and anthropocentrism. The dimensions revealed in the present study are consistent with those introduced for the new environmental paradigm in other studies, namely the rejection of human dominance over nature, ecological balance, and limited development. Using re-training and in-service programs to improve the environmental attitudes of Forest Guard staff are suggested. Keywords: Environment, Attitude, Conservation, Natural Resources. References:- Ai-He, H., & Greenberg, S. (2008). Motivating in Sustainable Energy Consumption in the Home. Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary. 5 p.- Albrecht, D., Bultena, G., Hoiberg, E., &  Nowak, P. (1982). Measuring Environmental Concern: The New Environmental Paradigm Scale. The Journal of Environmental Education, 13(3), 39-43.- Amburgey, J. W., & Thoman, D. B. (2012). Dimensionality of the New Ecological Paradigm Issues of Factor Structure and Measurement. Journal of Environment and Behavior, 44(2), 235-256.- Baar, S. (2003). A Cortical Mechanism for Triggering Top-Down Facilitation in Visual Object Recognition. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 15(4), 600-609.- Barr, S. (2004). Are We All Environmentalists Now? Rhetoric and Reality in Environmental Action. Geoforum, 35(2), 231-249.- Bloom, J. W., & Trumbell, D. (2008). Evaluation of Environmental Attitudes: Analysis and Results of a Scale Applied to University Student. Journal of University of Zaragoza, 91(6), 988-1009.- Bord, R. J., O’Connor, R. E., & Fisher, A., (2000). In What Sense Does the Public Need to Understand Global Climate Change?. Public Understanding of Science, 9(3), 205-218.- Catton Jr, W. R., & Dunlap, R. E. (1980). A New Ecological Paradigm for Post-Exuberant Sociology. Journal of American Behavioral Scientist, 24(1), 15-47.- Cheng, T. M., Wu, H. C., & Huang, L. M. (2013). The Influence of Place Attachment on the Relationship between Destination Attractiveness and Environmentally Responsible Behavior for Island Tourism in Penghu, Taiwan. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 21(8), 1166-1187.- Duerden, M. D., & Witt, P. A. (2010). The Impact of Direct and Indirect Experiences on the Development of Environmental Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(4), 379-392.- Dunlap, R. E., & Van Liere, K. D. (1978). The New Environmental Paradigm. The Journal of Environmental Education, 9(4), 10-19.- Dunlap, R. E., & Van Liere, K. D. (1978). The New Environmental Paradigm: A Proposed Measuring Instrument and Preliminary Results. Journal of Environmental Education, 9(4), 10-19  .- Dunlap, R. E., Van Liere, K. D., Mertig, G. A., & Jones, R. E. (2000). Measuring Endorsement of the New Environmental Paradigm: A Revised NEP Scale. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 425-442.- Gomera, A., Villamandos, F., & Vaquero, M. (2013). Construcción de Indicadores de Creencias Ambientales a Partir de la Escala NEP. Acción Psicológica, 10(1), 149-160.- Grunert, S. C., & Juhl, H. J. (1995). Values, Environmental Attitudes and Buying of Organic Foods. Journal of Economic Psychology, 16, 39-62.- Hernandez, B., Suarez, E., Martinez-Torvisco, J., & Hess, S. (2000). The Study of Environmental Beliefs by Fact Analysis, Research in the Canary Islands, Spain. Journal of Environment and Behavior, 32(5), 612-636.- Hini, D., Gendall, P., & Kearnz, Z. (1995). The Link Between Environmental Attitudes and Behavior. Journal of Marketing Bulletin, 6(3), 22-31.- Kaiser, F. G., Wolfing, S., & Fuhrer, U. (1999). Environmental Attitude and Ecological Behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19(1), 1-19.- Kennedy, J. J., Hayens, R. W., & Zhou, X. (2005). Line Officers Views on Stated USDA Forest Service Values and the Agency Reward System, General Technical Report. PNW: US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station.- Kil, N., Holland, S. M., & Stein, T. V. (2014). Structural Relationships between Environmental Attitudes, Recreation Motivations, and Environmentally Responsible Behaviors. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 7-8, 16-25.- Kilbourne, W. E., Beckmann, S. C., Lewis, A., & Dam, Y. V. (2001). A Multinational Examination of the Role of the Dominant Social Paradigm in Environmental Attitudes of University Students. Journal of Environment and Behavior, 33(2), 209-228.- Lee, E. B. (2008). Environmental Attitudes and Information Sources among African American College Students. The Journal of Environmental Education, 40(1), 29-42.- Lee, T. H., & Jan, F. H. (2015). The Effects of Recreation Experience, Environmental Attitude, and Biospheric Value on the Environmentally Responsible Behavior of Nature-Based Tourists. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(7), 193-208.- Lou, Y., & Deng, J. (2007). The New Environmental Paradigm and Nature-Based Tourism Motivation. Journal of Travel Research, 46(4), 392-402.- Milbrath, L. W., & Fisher, B. V. (1984). Environmentalists: Vanguard for a New Society. Suny Press.- Moyano, E., & Palomo, G. (2014). Propiedades Psicométricas de la Escala Nuevo Paradigma Ecológico (NEP-R) en Población Chilena. Psico, 45(3), 415-423.- Nordlund, A. M., & Gravill, J. (2003). Effects of Values, Problem Awareness, and Personal Norm on Willingness to Reduce Personal Car Use. Journal of Environmaental Psychology, 23, 339-347.- Ntanos, S., Kyriakopoulos, G., Skordoulis, M., Chalikias, M., & Arabatzis, G. (2019). An Application of the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale in a Greek Context. Energies, 12(2), 1-18.- Rajput, N., & Bajaj, P. (2011). Pro Environmental Attitude and Green Buying: An Empirical Analysis. Journal of Management and Information Technology, 3(1), 59-81.- Rauwald, K. S., & Moore, C. F. (2002). Environmental Attitudes as Predictors of Policy Support across Three Countries. Journal of Environment and Behavior, 34(6), 709-739.- Saunders, C. D., Brook, A. T., & Myers, O. E. (2006). Using Psychology to Save Biodiversity and Human Well-Being. Journal of Conservation Biology, 20(3), 702-705.- Shetzer, L., Stackman, R. W., & Moore, L. F. (1991). Business Environment Attitudes and the New Environmental Paradigm. Journal of Environmental Education, 22(4), 14-21.- Tarrant, M. A., & Cordell, H. K. (1997). The Effect of Respondent Characteristics on General Environmental Attitude-Behavior Correspondence. Journal of Environment and Behavior, 29, 618-633.- Taye, F. A., Vedel, S. E., & Jacobsen, J. B. (2018). Accounting for Environmental Attitude to Explain Variations in Willingness to Pay for Forest Ecosystem Services Using the New Environmental Paradigm. Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, 7(4), 420-440.- Thapa, B. (1999). Environmentalism: The Relation of Environmental Attitudes and Environmentally Responsible Behaviors among Undergraduate Students. Bulletin of Science Technology Society, 19, 426-438

Farm Food Safety Practices in the North of Iran

Food safety begins on the farms and farmers play a crucial role in producing healthy food. Several factors were investigated here including water quality, labor health, health facilities, packaging and storage, transportation, fertilizers and solid organic materials, and field sanitation to reach more comprehensive results. So, 380 farmers were selected from 77 villages of rural areas of Gonbad-e Kavus County, north of Iran, using multistage random sampling. Data were collected by a questionnaire and analyzed with the SPSS18 software. Results showed that the score of the food safety practice index was above average and could be evaluated at a good level. Farmers had the best practice in “field sanitation” and the worst practice in “labor health”. Literate farmers had better food safety practices than illiterate farmers. The food safety practice index showed positive correlations with educational level and farmer income from other jobs. However, negative correlations were observed regarding farmer age, job experience and income from husbandry. It is suggested that educational programs and essential facilities are needed to enable farmers to adhere to farm food safety practices

Perceptions and practices of rural council participatory forest governance: Closed co-management in Chehel-Chay, Iran

Due to the shortcomings of hierarchical natural resource governance, theorists have been increasing focus on the decentralization of power to local organizations. Although decentralization is associated with real participation, what level of participation do locals prefer in forest governance? Given the lack of research on forest governance in the Middle East, this study focused on rural councils in Iran as examples of local organizations with regulatory authority to govern forests and other natural resources. The perception of local council members about forest governance in Chehel-Chay Watershed Region in northern Iran was analysed. Despite the appropriate collaborative structure of rural councils and a favourable attitude of council members towards public participation, there was not a strong tendency for rural councils to engage in participation concerning local forest governance. Council members expressed a preference for closed co-management arrangements in which governmental and non-governmental actors work together to govern forests. To move away from the dominant top-down, centralized mode of forest governance, enabling actions combined with supportive factors, such as involving rural councils in forest governance and delegating authority for local legislation, are recommended as a step towards more effective decentralization which enhances public participation in the sustainable management of natural resources

Farm Food Safety Practices in the North of Iran

Food safety begins on the farms and farmers play a crucial role in producing healthy food. Several factors were investigated here including water quality, labor health, health facilities, packaging and storage, transportation, fertilizers and solid organic materials, and field sanitation to reach more comprehensive results. So, 380 farmers were selected from 77 villages of rural areas of Gonbad-e Kavus County, north of Iran, using multistage random sampling. Data were collected by a questionnaire and analyzed with the SPSS18 software. Results showed that the score of the food safety practice index was above average and could be evaluated at a good level. Farmers had the best practice in “field sanitation” and the worst practice in “labor health”. Literate farmers had better food safety practices than illiterate farmers. The food safety practice index showed positive correlations with educational level and farmer income from other jobs. However, negative correlations were observed regarding farmer age, job experience and income from husbandry. It is suggested that educational programs and essential facilities are needed to enable farmers to adhere to farm food safety practices

The Impact of Environmental Values, Attitudes and Ethics on the Environmental Behaviors of Ranchers’Members of Rangeland Cooperatives in Gonbad Kavous County

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of environmental values, attitudes and ethics with environmental behaviors among ranchers’ members of rangeland cooperatives in Gonbad Kavous. The statistical population was 644 operators who were members of rangeland cooperatives in 17 conventional systems, of which 240 were selected by stratified random sampling using Krejcie and Morgan table. A questionnaire was used to collect information. The content and appearance validity of the questionnaire were confirmed by experts, and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha method. Data were analyzed using mean comparison, correlation and regression tests. The results of the mean comparison test showed that there is a significant difference between different groups of respondents according to the level of education regarding the component of environmental ethics, based on the history of animal husbandry, regarding the component of environmental value, based on the second job, regarding the components of attitude, ethics and environmental behavior, and based on the frequency of participation in training courses on value components and environmental behavior. The results of correlation test showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the variables of attitude, and environmental ethics, and the environmental behavior of the respondents. The results of regression analysis showed that having ethics and environmental attitude has a positive effect on environmental behavior, and ethics has a greater effect. This study recommended increasing the use of cooperative capacity of ranchers by creating and supporting environmental organizations of ranchers to protect the environment

Sustainable cropping pattern in North Iran : application of fuzzy goal programming

Due to the important role that the application of mathematical programming models have in determining optimal cropping patterns, this research presents a sustainable cropping pattern that considers selected economic, environmental, and social goals together. Using a random sampling method, a sample size of 168 farmers was selected in the Sari County, Iran. Our results showed that economic, self-sufficiency, environmental, and social goals have a distinctly different impact on cropping pattern performance. Compared to the current cropping pattern, the gross margins for economic and social goals increased by nearly 11 and 2 %, respectively, and the gross margins for self-sufficiency and environmental goals decreased by nearly 2 and 36 %. Interestingly, it has been found that the performance of the current cropping pattern has an average positive impact of 6 % if economic, self-sufficiency, environmental, and social (employment) goals are realized simultaneously