Consumers are bombarded with labels and claims that are intended to address their concerns about how food products are produced, processed, and regulated. Among those are the natural or all-natural claims and the certified organic label. In this study, two focus groups were conducted to explore consumers' attitudes toward all-natural and organic pork and to gather their reactions to the USDA organic standards for meat, and the policy for natural claims. Results indicated that participants had positive associations with the terms ''organic'' and ''all-natural'' with exceptions regarding the trustworthiness of all-natural claims. Participants perceived the ''no'' labeling theme (no antibiotics, no hormones, no chemicals, etc.) often coupled with the all-natural label on pork products as identifying potential health and animal welfare risks. In response to the USDA standards and policies for labeling pork products as organic or all-natural, participants expressed confusion and had many unanswered questions.
ABSTRACT. Diagnosing causal factors of change at the ecosystem level is challenging because multiple drivers often interact at various spatial and temporal scales. We employ an integrated natural and social science approach to assess potential mechanisms leading to the collapse of an estuarine social-ecological system, and recommend future paths to increased system resilience. Our case study is the collapse of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) fishery in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, USA, and the associated impacts on local resource dependent communities. The oyster fishery collapse is the most recent in a series of environmental stressors to this region, which have included hurricanes and tropical storms, drought, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We found it likely that the oyster collapse was not related to contamination from the recent oil spill, but rather to factors affecting oyster recruitment and survival, which may have been mediated by both human, e.g., fishing-related habitat alteration, and environmental, e.g., increased natural mortality from predators and disease, factors. The relative impact of each of these factors is likely to increase in the future because of changing climate and increased demand for fishery, water, and petroleum resources. Successful restoration and persistence of a viable oyster fishery will depend on: (1) implementation of some minimal best management practices, e.g., extensive habitat restoration via shell addition, and some spatial closures to harvest, (2) improving environmental knowledge and promoting episodic learning through enhanced monitoring and experimental management, and (3) continued community engagement necessary to produce adaptable governance suitable to responding to future unexpected challenges.
Experiential learning techniques have been used in agricultural education programs for decades. An essential part of this experiential learning process is reflection. Kolb (1984) stated "knowledge results from the combination of grasping experience and transforming it" (p. 41) in a process that involves using reflection. Few researchers have tried to understand how learning style affects reflection when experiential learning techniques are employed. Using Kolb's theory of experiential learning, the researchers explored how adult learners reflected during an experiential learning program in Costa Rica, based on analysis of reflective journals. Participants also completed the Kolb's learning style inventory to determine individual preferred learning styles. The researchers examined the journals of participants for evidence of their expressed learning style and used content analysis to interpret the categorical thematic expressions of the participants. Results indicated that themes surrounding learning style were evident throughout the journals and varying levels of reflection were discovered. The results of this research imply educators should consider multiple methods of reflection when developing experiential learning programs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.