Joanna Henryks

Organic food: What we know (and do not know) about consumers

This paper reports on the latest contributions to over 20 years of research on organic food consumers. There is a general consensus in the literature on the reasons why people buy organic food. However, there is also a gap between consumers’ generally positive attitude toward organic food and their relatively low level of actual purchases. Product differentiation based on intangible features, such as credence attributes such as organic, in fast-moving consumer goods categories is enjoying rapid growth. However, there are many difficulties with research in this area, including the errors inherent in research that relies on consumer self-reporting methodologies. Further, in relation to organic food, there is a divergence between consumers’ perception of its superior health features and scientific evidence. Fresh fruits and vegetables are of vital importance to the organic sector as they are the entry point for many customers and account for one-third of sales. Further, although there is a small proportion of dedicated organic food buyers, most sales come from the majority of buyers who switch between conventional and organic food purchases. This paper identifies the practical implications for generic organic food marketing campaigns, as well as for increasing sales of specific products. It concludes with suggested priorities for further research.

Local food: understanding consumer motivations in innovative retail formats

Purpose – This paper sets out to profile the activities and consumers of a unique and successful local food retail outlet in the UK that is based on weekly community markets.Design/methodology/approach – The seminal literature on local food in the UK is reviewed prior to providing a case study on a local food outlet, the True Food Co‐op. This is followed by the results from a detailed survey of its customers.Findings – The increase in availability of and interest in local food over the last decade has been matched by new research findings. Although there is a consensus on the reasons why people buy local food, there are significant gaps in other areas of ones understanding, such as the lack of a clear definition of what local food is. This is frustrating further developments in the sector.Research limitations/implications – Business development strategies that rely on niche markets, such as local food, in fast‐moving consumer goods categories are enjoying rapid growth. However, there are many difficultie...

Community gardens: sustainability, health and inclusion in the city

Food-producing community gardens have taken various forms over the past two centuries and have fulfilled a variety of roles. As we grapple with issues of food security, the use of biotechnology and artificial chemicals in agriculture, rising food prices and the environmental costs of growing and distributing food, the different functions of community gardens are coming under increasing attention. This issue of Local Environment is based on papers first delivered at a National Community Garden Conference in Canberra, Australia. The range of papers explores the key themes that emerged from the conference and deepens our knowledge of community gardens in both theory and practice. In particular, conference participants addressed various aspects of community gardening that centred on issues of sustainability, health and inclusion for urban dwellers.

Organic Food at the Point of Purchase: Understanding Inconsistency in Consumer Choice Patterns

The organic food category, while still small in terms of world food production, has continued to grow in many markets in the developed world. This article focuses on understanding the barriers and facilitators to purchasing organic food at the final hurdle: the point of purchase (POP). A qualitative study has identified seven factors that influence buyer behavior at the POP, and these are consumer intention to purchase organic food when entering the retail outlet; habit; availability; false assumptions; visibility and access of organic food; visual and olfactory cues; and price. These can often be the final hurdle to consumers choosing (or not) organic food at the POP.

Changing the menu: rediscovering ingredients for a successful volunteer experience in school kitchen gardens

This paper explores the role of a school kitchen garden in the lives of its volunteers. The garden, located at the Majura Primary School in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australia, is the first Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden (SAKG) in the ACT. Since its launch on 25 March 2010, it has acted as the demonstration site for SAKG in the ACT. While other schools in the ACT have kitchen gardens, they do not operate under the management of a formal programme such as the SAKG scheme. Literature on school kitchen gardens provides some empirical evidence on the benefits of school kitchen gardens for children (primarily from the pedagogical, environmental and health perspectives), but there is scant literature on the various ways in which a kitchen garden may affect the various stakeholders involved in its community. These stakeholders include parents and volunteers associated with the establishment and ongoing support of the school kitchen garden. This paper begins to address this gap in the literature by exploring the experiences of adult volunteers associated with the Majura Primary School kitchen garden. A key finding was that volunteers experienced unexpected benefits, as well as challenges.

Retail outlets: Nurturing organic food consumers

Consumer choice of retail outlet is often overlooked in explaining purchase behaviour in the organic food market. This paper uses theory from applied marketing research to identify the variables affecting consumer choice of retail outlet and finds that they play a determining role in whether or not consumers buy organic food. A grounded theory approach was used. The results confirmed the importance of variables previously identified in the literature in relation to the individual consumer, such as habit and budget, as well as those that relate to the retail outlet, such as convenience and product range. In addition, two new variables were identified that relate to whom the consumer was buying for and whether they are shopping alone or with others. This study focuses on the vast majority of organic food consumers. They are switchers because they purchase both organic and conventional products, rather than solely organic, or solely conventional. It concludes that choice of retail outlet adds to our understanding of their behaviour and that it facilitates identification of important implications for marketers. At a fundamental level, as some consumers actively seek out organic food on certain occasions it is important for retail outlets make them aware that they sell organic food and to stimulate sales with special offers. Further, smaller retailers, such as food co-ops or health food shops, should focus on providing a limited range of organic products and accept that they will not be able to match the convenience offered by supermarkets in terms of opening hours.

Mapping Point-of-Purchase Influencers of Food Choice in Australian Remote Indigenous Communities

Closing the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians relies, in part, on addressing the poor levels of nutrition in remote Indigenous communities (RIC). This article identifies and maps key influencers of food choice at the point-of-purchase (POP) in Australian RIC and identifies gaps in our knowledge. It is based on a narrative review of the literature pertaining to food in RIC from a range of disciplinary perspectives including nutrition, ethnography, public health, anthropology, and remote health to map POP drivers of food choice. In particular, the role of habit is identified as a key factor that has previously not been discussed in the literature. The conceptual framework can be used as a basis for future POP research in RIC and provides guidance for social marketers, public health, nutrition, and policy workers operating in this field.

Social media and health information sharing among Australian Indigenous people

Abstract Despite the enormous potential of social media for health promotion, there is an inadequate evidence base for how they can be used effectively to influence behaviour. In Australia, research suggests social media use is higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than the general Australian population; however, health promoters need a better understanding of who uses technologies, how and why. This qualitative study investigates what types of health content are being shared among Aboriginal and Torres Strait people through social media networks, as well as how people engage with, and are influenced by, health-related information in their offline life. We present six social media user typologies together with an overview of health content that generated significant interaction. Content ranged from typical health-related issues such as mental health, diet, alcohol, smoking and exercise, through to a range of broader social determinants of health. Social media-based health promotion approaches that build on the social capital generated by supportive online environments may be more likely to generate greater traction than confronting and emotion-inducing approaches used in mass media campaigns for some health topics.

Supporting Healthier Food Choices in Remote Indigenous Communities: Developing a Food Choice App

ABSTRACT This article posits the development of a healthier food choice app as a means of contributing to facilitating nutritionally superior food selection among indigenous Australians living in remote communities. A significant health gap exists between indigenous and non-indigenous people in Australia. Further, indigenous Australians living in remote communities carry a significant and disproportionate share of this gap. One contributor to poor health is poor nutrition: current food consumption in remote communities is a diet dominated by highly processed foods and characterized by high levels of sugar, refined cereals, and low intake of fruit and vegetables coupled with excessive sodium intake and deficiency in a number of micronutrients. Employing two marketing-based concepts, the dual processing model of nutritional labeling and habit, as the basis for the development of a healthier food app, we contend that a food choice app has the potential to disrupt habitual behavior and generate new learning about healthier food choices in remote indigenous communities. The app would be based on the George Institute’s FoodSwitch app, which enables users to scan barcodes of food products at the point of purchase and determines if the food item is a healthy choice and otherwise suggests healthier alternatives. The proposed app would utilize existing imagery used by the Jimmy Little Foundation, a not-for-profit organization working in remote indigenous communities promoting healthier food and lifestyle practices, and would provide information in a culturally appropriate and clearly communicated form.

Tinkering at the Limits: agricultural shows, small-scale producers and ecological connections

ABSTRACT Agricultural shows in Australia are typically depicted as celebrations of colonisation and scientific and technical modernisation in food production. The historical focus of shows is on competition to maximise perceived quality and yield of goods, from wheat to cattle. Through these frameworks, shows are often understood as supporting industrial-scale agricultural practices that promote an ecologically-blind approach to food production. However, we suggest that competitions in contemporary agricultural shows play a role in contesting the limits of such anthropocentric thinking. We focus on a hitherto unexplored aspect of agricultural shows: small-scale growers who exhibit produce in their annual local show competitions. Through a case study drawing on interviews with exhibitors and judges, combined with participant observation at the 2012 Royal Canberra Show, we highlight the complex relationships between people, place and more-than-humans in this unique cultural site. In so doing, we suggest that exhibiting in the show can intensify urban and peri-urban small-scale producer engagement in practices of ‘tinkering’. This facilitates embodied encounters with the limits of both human mastery and those of the materiality of non-humans involved in food production. Through the ongoing, adaptive processes of tinkering encouraged by such competitions, we suggest that exhibiting in agricultural shows can support the growth of ecologically informed, place-based understandings of the food system and challenge binaries of the rural/city divide.