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Socio-demographic control variables are added to food attitude analyses to improve the understanding of consumer preferences. However, socio-demographics can provide an incomplete picture of prospective buyers. Including other variables in a food analysis may offer businesses, researchers and policymakers more insights into consumer food preferences. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

An internet survey of 725 adults in the USA was used to examine interest in four food traits that may be included in marketing claims: antibiotic-free meat, Humanely-raised meat, produce that could be traced back to the farm and gluten-free food. Besides standard socio-demographics, environmental preferences, impulsive buying, religiosity, spirituality, privacy concerns and social desirability bias (SDB) measures were used to predict buyer interest.

Some standard socio-demographics (e.g. gender, age and income), green attitudes, impulsive traits and concern for information privacy were associated with preferences for three of the food attributes. These linkages can help define useful segments. The results for the fourth food trait, gluten-free, should generate additional medical research. In addition, the SDB measure was significant, suggesting that social norms may favour these traits.

The four food traits studied in this research appear to be growing in the market and have had limited attention in prior research. Many of the independent variables (e.g. green attitudes, impulsive traits, privacy concerns) included in the models provided more information about consumer preferences and may be helpful in other food studies. The findings on gluten-free products should receive further study.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on economics literature on antimicrobial and alternative uses in food animal production on its current state, its drivers, impacts and policy, and provides a general picture of the research for this special agricultural input and future directions for the research and policy.

Reduction of antimicrobial uses in food animal production is relevant to both preventing antimicrobial resistance and ensuring global food security. This study focuses on reviewing antimicrobial impact on global food security, particularly in farm production by documenting the main drivers, functions and alternatives of antimicrobial animal uses, comparing different approaches used in evaluating its production effects and providing recommendations for future research and policy development.

Three main approaches, controlled animal experiments, comparisons between with and without using antimicrobials at the farm level and comparisons before and after antimicrobial ban as growth promoter, have been used in measuring food security effects of antimicrobial uses in food animal production. They are, however, answering different questions with different measuring conditions. The positive production impact of antimicrobial use is often associated to its functions as a growth promoter and in preventing and treating diseases. In this review the author question the technical legitimacy for antimicrobials as a growth promoter and argue that antimicrobials should be treated as a special class of conditional and supportive input in farm production instead of using it as a normal input in its impact evaluation.

An approach of combining damage control function and disease epidemiological model instead of a simplified production function should be used in its impact evaluation including in evaluating those used as antimicrobial growth promoters.

In reducing antimicrobial uses in animal production, apart from more active adoption of the alternatives, we call for a better understanding for the decision makings of antimicrobial use in the production process including government-veterinarian-farm links.

This study examines the main issues in current economic research in antimicrobial food animal production, clarifies ambiguities in antimicrobial production functions and in different approaches used in impact evaluation, provides a roadmap for reduction of antimicrobial uses and a new approach for the policy evaluation.

The complex value chain that facilitates local food production and consumption includes purveyors positioned across a range of marketspaces who through the various ways they present and sell their products help create and convey the meaning of “local food.” Limited governance within local food systems (LFSs) and a lack of consensus on the definition of “local food” provide purveyors with notable latitude in how they frame the meaning of “local” in the food products they produce, market, and sell. Consequently, the expansion of food products that are framed as being “local” within conventional marketspaces threatens to convolute the meaning and representation of local food within specific LFSs and across the broader local food movement (LFM). Here, I use a structured photo analysis design to explore the elements that influence the visual representation of “local food” by purveyors within five farmers’ markets and five grocery stores located across the Southern Arizona LFS (SALFS). I consider the farmers’ markets to be alternative marketspaces and the grocery stores to be conventional marketspaces. The data consist of 683 original photos taken of local food framing practices within the farmers’ markets and grocery stores and extensive field notes captured throughout multiple direct observations at each market space. My exploration is guided by a theoretical framework composed of constructs specific to institutional logic, product framing, and taste regimes. The findings illustrate how local food framing practices across alternative and mainstream marketspaces foster a local food taste regime that fails to convey the fundamental principles and values of the LFM. Recommendations for both practice and research are developed from the findings.

This case considers the buyout of Panera Bread from the perspective of a private equity fund. In early 2017, KLG Managing Director Tom Denning is considering a leveraged buyout of Panera Bread, a rapidly growing fast-casual restaurant company. A surprising Bloomberg News story signals that the deal process is broadening and KLG will have to act quickly if it hopes to buy Panera Bread. Students assume the role of Tom Denning as he prepares an investment recommendation for KLG's investment committee. In doing so, students are required to consider a very large and expensive investment. Students are challenged to create an investment recommendation by performing due diligence, determining additional questions to ask, and pricing a buyout bid that incorporates an optimal capital structure and meets KLG's return requirements. The Panera Bread case is designed to give students insight into the private equity investment process.

Despite the growing awareness of links between meat consumption and human, animal and environmental health, consumption rates of protein rich plant-based foods (PBFs) in Canada remain relatively low. The purpose of this paper is to better understand how information sources and trust relate to PBFs in Canadians’ diets, and how these variables may factor into closing the commercialization gap for PBFs in Canada.

A geographically representative sample of Canadians (n=410) participated in a 20-minute, online survey. The survey consists of 24 questions covering demographic characteristics, motivations behind current and future food choices, frequency of current PBF consumption, sources of information about PBFs and trust levels of these sources.

Most Canadians get information about PBFs from labels, the internet and family and friends, but only half trust these sources to provide accurate information. Sources of information (e.g. licensed health care professionals) that rank high in trust are only consulted by a minority of respondents. Several information sources (e.g. family and friends) are associated with consumers’ willingness to try new PBFs, whereas other sources (e.g. labels) are associated with Canadians being unlikely to try new PBFs.

Understanding the patterns of where Canadians access information about PBFs and what sources of information are trusted can help to strategically place information about PBF qualities among select information sources and to remove some of the information barriers contributing to the PBF commercialization gap.

“A rose would smell as sweet by any other name,” but does the name make any difference to the composition of a member of the sausage family? Apparently, it does. In two recent cases at Hull (see Legal Proceedings, this issue), it was contended that a meat‐burger should contain 80% meat, similar to the recommendation of the Food Standards Committee for canned meat, and it was shown that meat‐burgers in the district had an average meat content complying with this standard—84% in 42 samples. In one case in question, the meat content was 31% and the retailer claimed in defence that when informed by inspectors of the 80% requirement, he decided to call his products just burgers, which left him free to adopt any composition he desired. The comments of the magistrates are not known, except that they considered the case an interesting one and dismissed it!

Food consumption is a result of a choice that is influenced by economic status, society, culture, psychosomatic elements (Bisogni et al., 2002) and religious factors (Dewan, 2017) creating an identity based on one's beliefs (Mennell et al., 1992). Although many versions exist, this diet is often established on an ideology to abstain from using animals for dietary needs (Smart, 2004). There has been much research to explore vegetarian motivation and impacts of this diet on health; however, first-hand accounts are few.

Autoethnography was undertaken to understand my experience as a vegetarian living within a primarily meat consuming country. The theoretical framework driving the research uses social cognitive theory (SCT), the transtheoretical model (TTM) and ethical theory to address the vegetarian experience and emotions generated through such encounters.

Data collected, including conversations, headnotes and teaching material, were transcribed and categorised into four emerging themes including vegetarian experience, culture, identity as an educator; and impacts of beliefs. The author also discusses the motives for converting to vegetarianism and the experiences that came with behavioural change. Obstacles and opportunities presented by living in a dominant meat society are explored and the author’s influence on others as an educator, as a citizen in society and as a member of a family.

Being new to autoethnography proved to be a limitation in the study.

This research may prove useful for researchers to gain an insider's view of a vegetarian's experience, and how the lifestyles impact students and others in a social context from the author's perspective.

Autoethnography regarding vegetarianism from an educator's perspective is lacking and hence may give an insight to help fill the literature gap and change perspectives towards the vegetarian community.

Autoethnography regarding vegetarianism from an educators perspective is lacking; hence, this would be a valuable insight to add to the literature gap.

The main purpose of this paper is to study the changing consumer behavior toward broiler meat and apprise its consequences toward food insecurity.

This is a sequential exploratory mixed-method study in which qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews (n = 38) by snowball sampling. The quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire survey (n = 975) by convenience sampling. The qualitative data were analyzed through NVivo 10 software by using thematic analysis, i.e. the qualitative content analysis (QCA). The theory of consumer alienation provides the theoretical underpinning for a quantitative study. The established scales were adopted and adapted. The quantitative data was analyzed through AMOS 24 software by using structural equation modeling (SEM).

It was found that people have many reservations regarding broiler meat. Thus, consumer alienation negatively (ß = −0.10) and the subjective norm positively (ß = 0.82) affects the intention to buy broiler meat.

The ongoing consumer alienation toward broiler will force them to avoid using this cheapest protein and ultimately will lead to food insecurity in developing countries. It is recommended that people must be adequately educated about the real broiler business and its operations to counter their ongoing misperceptions.

It is the original empirical Research Work.

Today's restaurant customer is tempted with an unprecedented array of culinary delights coming from all around the planet. Consumers have been increasingly concerned about personal well-being and are better equipped to gain knowledge about health and nutrition through abundant information in print and other media such as the Internet. This study strives to discover what German restaurant goers really consider to be healthy. Due to the paucity of literature on healthy meals, this research attempts to initiate exploratory investigations testing a new psychological construct of healthy meals by using college students as the study population. This study finds that low-fat and non-genetically modified ingredients are the main concerns when respondents select a healthy meal. In addition, gender and eating habits affect the perceptions of healthy meals. Lastly, drawing from the key findings, suggestions for future research are proposed.