METHODS Participants were selected through convenience as well as snowball sampling. The subjects were either students in Dr. Shieva Davarian’s SOCL 109-02 Social Research Methods class or acquaintances of the researchers .The participants that were targeted were between the ages of 17 and 22 and were currently enrolled in a university or secondary education program in the United States of America. In total 25 people responded to the survey in which there were 17 female respondents, 7 male respondents, and 1 respondent who did not indicate their gender. However for six of the survey questions some of the participants were excluded due to response error. The study specifically gathered data from Loyola Marymount University, which is a …show more content…
After completing the survey the Likert scale questions were reverse coded, to make one the least likely and five the most likely. At that point the results for each category were added together to create an average score. The open-ended questions were used to determine a general trend for why people choose the diets they consume.
RESULTS
Quantitative Looking at Figure 1 we see that respondents tended to buy and consume conventional foods (score of 104 out of 120) and organic products (score of 101 out of 120) the most, while home grown, gluten free, and vegetarian/vegan products were bought and consumed significantly less. Similarly in Figure 2, which rates the importance of food choices, respondents drastically preferred organic products (score of 106 out of 120) to all other types of foods. Ninety-two percent of participants believed that sustainable food costs more than conventional products, and 64% of participants believed that consuming sustainably should be a mandated practice. However participants had varied responses on who had the greatest influence on sustainable consumption (see Figure 3). At the top, participants rated communities (score of 79 out of 112), legislation/ governments (score of 72 out of 112), and individuals/ households (score of 70 out of 112), while food producers and the general public scored slightly lower. When it came to incorporating sustainability into
Over the last few years, awareness of organic food has risen. Due to this, the demand for organic food is a factor which is influencing the farmers to switch to use this technique, and it is being sold in specialty stores and conventional supermarkets. Organic products contain numerous marketing claims that it is healthier, it offers more value, and the farming is more environmentally friendly than traditional foods, so, how does one determine if organic is the way to go? Some argue that there is evidence that supports and demonstrates why organic foods and farming are better overall, while others insist that conventional foods and agriculture can offer the same benefits as going organic. There is no right or wrong answer. Within this
From the now popular recyclable cloth grocery bags, to the organic garden at the White House, food, and the food industry is changing. The popularity of organic and whole foods is on the rise. Processed foods are increasingly advertising that they are additive and preservative free, and all sorts of products now offer a “gluten-free” variety. The popularity of what is now being called the sustainable food movement, leads many to wonder why are some people willing to pay more, sometimes double, for organic produce, meat, eggs, and milk. Will this prove to be just another trendy American fad, or are there real health benefits from eating organic and whole foods? While the organic market only represents approximately 3% of the total food
Throughout the US there has been the big concern of where the food we eat comes from and if it is healthy. Everyone wants healthy food, yet we fail to eat the healthy food that is right in front of us, instead we eat industrial made food that causes the death of thousands of people each year. In the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, you explore the pros and cons of our five main food chains; industrial,industrial organic, organic, sustainable, and hunter gatherer. In all ways, the sustainable food chain is the best food chain to feed the US. Animals and plants are developed naturally without any chemicals or pesticides and all of the produce is grown and sold locally and harvested by hand.
Eight college students attending the University of Louisville were interviewed. Within this group, half were females and the other half were males. Among the females, two were biracial and the other were African American. Of the individuals who
The study design included a sample of 80 high schools and 52 middle schools with an unequal probability of selection, ensuring representativeness with regard to region of country, urban city, school size, school type, and ethnicity. The sample has been followed through adolescence and early adulthood (with ongoing data collection). More than 20,000 students participated in the first wave of data between years 1994 and 1995.1 Approximately 15,700
Michael Pollan, in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, advocates for organic, locally grown foods. He contends that processed foods, unlike organic foods, are
In the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, Pollan explains and describes each of the four major food chains in America; Industrial, Industrial Organic, Local Sustainable, and Hunter-Gatherer. The book was written to inform people about how the food is treated, made, processed, and farmed. However, with four major food chains, the question that arose was, which food chain is the best to feed America? The adjective “best” could be categorized as many things, including taste, accessibility, and affordability. The food chain Industrial Organic is the best way to feed the United States of America.
Participants in this study were online graduate male and female students at Southern New Hampshire University (N= 14; 7 women and 7 men), ranging in age from 21-30 years old.
Participants in this study were online graduate male and female students at Southern New Hampshire University (N= 20; 10 women and 10 men) ranging in ages of 30 or younger.
A wide variety of reliable and peer reviewed studies performed by other researchers were included in this evaluation, as well as several of these researchers’ own studies, providing a stronger basis for the results. These studies varied on what particular aspects of organic foods or health benefits were being observed (quality of meat, eczema, etc.) as well as the demographics observed (pregnant women, nonpregnant adults, children), an approach which offers a broad view of the topic. Out of all the qualities and benefits of organic foods observed in these studies, only less exposure to pesticide residue and antibiotic resistant bacteria were statistically significant. The quality of meats were not remarkably different; similar rates of contamination due to Salmonella and Campylobacter suggested similar quality. Furthermore, unfavorable aspects of organic food production were also mentioned by several of the studies included in the evaluation. These ranged from increased amount of E. coli in organic fertilizer and actual produce to risk of Campylobacter infection due to winter consumption of organic meat (Smith-Spangler et al, 2012). The results of these studies indicate that health benefits of organic foods are not remarkably significant, an implication that is imperative as
The strengths of the study is that is cost effective and does not require a lot of funding. Another strength is that George Mason University has a very diverse population, thus there is a high chance of obtaining a racially and culturally diverse group when randomly selecting the participants. Furthermore, the study also included staff and not only student in order to diversify the participant’s backgrounds as well. In addition, having both female and male participant’s makes it more diverse opposed to how many other studies that have solely focused on one gender. Although the study has many strengths, there are also some limitation to take note of. One of the major limitations is that the study is working with a very small sample size. In
Thesis: Choosing to purchase and consume organic food is a smart and healthy choice for you and your family.
Sociologists use many different designs and methods to study society and social behavior. Most sociological research involves ethnography, or “field work” designed to depict the characteristics of a population as fully as possible.
In recent years, many people don’t go more than a few days without hearing about organic foods in one way or another, whether it be through the media, friends or the numerous labels at the grocery store. For me, whenever someone brings up organic foods, they always put them on a pedestal of health caused by people’s recent disgust with the industrialized way we produce foods, which, to be fair, is not unfounded. I had assumed it was a bunch of gibberish, however, the data suggests a more ambiguous answer.
Barlow, B., Hemminger, L., and Schlegel, B. (2006). Is Organic Food Worth the Extra Cost? Retrieved from Environmental Health Perspectives website: http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2006/114-2/ss.html