A qualitative study of Southern U.S. consumers' top of the mind beliefs about the safety of local beef

Abstract

Following the Reasoned Action Approach, the aim of this study was to explore consumers' top-of-mind food safety beliefs about local beef. Beef consumers recruited from farmers' markets (N = 101) and grocery stores (N = 174) across the state of Alabama participated in face-to-face intercept surveys. The survey included closed- and open-ended questions designed to elicit consumers' food safety beliefs about local beef. Results indicate that beef safety was not a top-of-mind concern for a majority of participants, however of the total number of participants familiar with the term "local beef" (n = 168, 61%), a majority (n = 105, 63%) associated local beef with improved food safety. Content analysis of verbatim text revealed that consumers believed local beef was safer because they possess greater knowledge about the product and less shipping was involved. Respondents also believe that locally processed meat is derived from small-scale operations which provided the assurance that local beef is more likely to meet U.S. regulatory standards and therefore be safer. Consumers believe they have more oversight of local beef due to both their relationships with supply chain actors and proximity which also provided food safety assurances.

“Sometimes You Get Good Ones, and Sometimes You Get Not-so-Good Ones”: Vendors’ and Consumers’ Strategies to Identify and Mitigate Food Safety Risks in Urban Nigeria

“…This aligns to findings from Vietnam [ 19 , 38 ], Ghana [ 31 ], and Rwanda [ 20 ] and suggests a potential economic benefit to vendors from ensuring safe food. However, consumers made almost no mention of traceability, local sourcing, or asking about food’s origin—in contrast to results found in Vietnam [ 19 , 38 , 39 , 40 ] and high-income countries [ 19 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. Use of informal networks or “buyers’ clubs” were also not mentioned, though such practices have been noted in Russia and Vietnam [ 39 , 45 ].…”

Profiling the consumers of farmers' markets: a systematic review of survey-based empirical evidence

“…In most studies, typical buyers of FMs are identified as being in the high-income category (Anderson et al, 1996; Dodds and Holmes, 2017; Hunt, 2007; Obach and Tobin, 2014; Telligman, Worosz and Bratcher, 2017; A11). Exceptions are buyers in studies that examined the situation in developing countries (Aguirre, 2007; González, 2009; Hoppe, Vieira and Barcellos, 2013; Pisarn, Kim and Yang, 2020; Shakeel Ul and Selvaraj, 2013; A12.1) and some research that examined American consumers (Farmer et al, 2019; Farmer, Minard and Edens, 2016; Garner and Ayala, 2018; Gary-Webb et al, 2018; Leiper and Clarke-Sather, 2017; A12.1 and A12.2), which reported both high-income and low-income customers.…”

“…These studies did not clearly reveal whether FM consumers are more familiar with landraces than consumers associated with other food chains. However, there were examples of both (Joseph et al, 2017; Telligman, Worosz and Bratcher, 2017). Foti et al were the only authors who specifically dealt with consumer purchasing behavior associated with ‘biodiversity-friendly’ plant products.…”

“…and Walsh, 2019; Blanck et al, 2011;Bottcher et al, 2017;Chang et al, 2013;Chen, Yu and Fu, 2021;Crandall et al, 2010;Curtis et al, 2020;Dodds and Holmes, 2017;Elepu and Mazzocco, 2010;Farmer et al, 2019;Foti and Timpanaro, 2021;Garner and Ayala, 2018;Gary-Webb et al, 2018;González, 2009;Hunt, 2007;Karpyn et al, 2014;Kushwah, Dhir and Sagar, 2019;Ma and Chang, 2022;Mack and Tong, 2015;Obach and Tobin, 2014;Pascucci et al, 2011;Rainey et al, 2011;Rice, 2015;Rossi, Woods and Davis, 2018;Schneider and Francis, 2005;Shi and Hodges, 2016;Singleton et al, 2017;Solanki and Inumula, 2021;Spilkova, 2018;Spilková et al, 2013;Telligman, Worosz and Bratcher, 2017;Vargo et al, 2022;Vasco et al, 2018;Waldman and Kerr, 2018)…”

Beef Consumption Pattern in Brazil

“…In general, traceability can contribute to increasing consumer confidence in the entire food system as a means of attesting quality assurance [30]. Knowing about the animal's origin has been proven by studies as important information for European consumers [31,32]. Certain countries are better regarded than others for their seriousness/credibility in food production.…”