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<OL> <LI> To categorize food safety risk preferences for at-risk and under-served communities in rural and urban areas of Tennessee <LI> To examine factors that explain any observed differences in food safety perceptions for selected groups in the state <LI> To obtain empirical estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) for reduced risk from consuming unsafe foods for Tennessee consumers <LI> To disseminate findings of the study through outreach programs, development of educational materials, such as fact sheets, convening of food safety focus groups, for linking program with rural communities in the state <LI> To use findings of the study to provide policy directions and guidelines for developing a strong food safety program in Tennessee.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Food safety is a public good with no clearly defined markets for exchange to take place. The United States has a good record of meat and poultry inspection even though more still needs to be done. Foodborne microbial pathogens account for 6.5 to 33 million cases of food borne illnesses resulting in about 7,000 deaths per year. This project uses information gathered through surveys and face-to-face interviews to characterize food safety risk preferences and estimate willingness to pay for safer foods for at-risk and under-served consumers in Tennessee.
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APPROACH: Telephone, mail surveys, and face-to-face interviews will be used in eliciting responses to questions that will be designed to collect information. Logistic regressions and other econometric techniques using SPSS will be applied to data collected. Results will provide empirical estimates of the value that Tennessee consumers put on increased food safety. Data collected will be used in estimating consumer willingness to pay for safer foods, a non-market good, without a clearly defined market. Consumers' demand curve for food shifts when they have new information on probabilities associated with different health outcomes of associated consumption bundles. Consequently, consumers respond to changes in food safety risks no matter how suspect their evaluation of the risks associated with the food commodity consumed may be. The Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) valuation technique will be applied in efforts aimed at eliciting responses to food safety issues in the proposed study. Demographic and socio-economic information such as age, place of residence, gender, race, household characteristics, among others, will be collected from participants. These variables will be incorporated into models for estimating risk preferences.
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PROGRESS: 2004/01 TO 2006/09<BR>
Since human subjects were involved in the survey, Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval on use of human subjects was sought and obtained before administering the 10-page, 7-section questionnaire developed and used for collecting data for the project. Seventy-seven face-to-face interviews of participants were used in collecting data. The questionnaire collected information on knowledge and perceptions of select food safety issues, food shopping habits, and willingness to pay for safer foods for low-income and underserved consumers. Although survey participants showed concern that the food they purchased was safe, many still showed limited knowledge of food safety facts. For example, only 1.3% of participants could correctly estimate how many people were sickened in the US due to foodborne illnesses. About 41.6% indicated that they did not know what the numbers were. Net annual household income of respondents was less than $14,999 for 43% of participants with 34% being on some kind of food assistance. Information on willingness to pay for safer beef, poultry, and fruits and vegetables data was also collected through the survey. While 31% of the respondents were willing to pay an average of $0.50 more per pound for safer beef, 27% were willing to do so for safer poultry. About 35% were willing to pay anywhere from $0.10 to $0.50 per pound more for safer fruits and vegetables.
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IMPACT: 2004/01 TO 2006/09<BR>
In the period of this report, students were trained in the use of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The students acquired data entry and data cleaning skills, data coding and analysis using the above-referenced software. The students were exposed to statistical techniques for analyzing data and encouraged to develop papers and posters in Microsoft PowerPoint software for presentations at professional meetings. Students also learned from the scientists the process of questionnaire development, refinement and the process of seeking institutional approval before administering questionnaires involving human subjects. Students will use data from the project to develop a poster and a paper for presentation at the University-wide research symposium in 2007. Abstracts for those presentations are currently being developed. Experience will enhance skills for students involved in the project.