Consumers' perceptions and attitudes toward hunted wild game meat in the modern world: A literature review.

Hunted wild game meat (HWGM) has a complete nutritional profile, and its environmental impact is lower than farmed meat. However, HWGM derives from hunting, which often relates to consumers' ethical concerns. This review aims to clarify which variables are linked to consumers' perceptions and attitudes toward HWGM. Results highlight that the body of literature about this topic is growing, especially in Europe and U.S. Moreover, gender and residence seem to be good predictors of consumers' perceptions and attitudes toward HWGM. Furthermore, some positive drivers were detected. The positive attitude toward hunting and familiarity with hunting resulted to be linked to HWGM consumption. Conversely, food safety consumers' concerns represent one of the main barriers. Finally, the seasonality of the product and the relative lack of HWGM market supply represent barriers to its consumption. Our findings may assist stakeholders in defining targeted marketing strategies and policies.

A Theoretical Framework to Assess the Impact of Flooding on Dairy Cattle Farms: Identification of Direct Damage from an Animal Welfare Perspective.

For the economic sectors, the need to address the challenges posed by natural disasters due to climate change is an outstanding issue. To date, according to the European Commission (2019), there is still a gap in the estimation of the costs of flood in all European countries and the direct impact that these floods have on agricultural activities. More specifically, the damage to livestock has been minimally studied. The aim of this study is is therefore to identify the flood damage that affects dairy cattle farms, focusing on the damage to herds caused by a flood event; in fact, poor welfare conditions of dairy cattle directly affect production and thus farm revenue. To accomplish the aim of this study, a framework was first developed to identify possible damage types. Then, scientific literature focusing on the identification of flood damage to dairy herds was reviewed, and to quantify this damage to herds, literature sources providing information on the magnitude of variation in the identified damage types were used. Thus, our results provide relevant information on the variables that should be taken into account when assessing of the direct damage affecting the overall welfare of a dairy herd after a flood event. This evidence could then contribute to the development of tools aimed at assessing damage to dairy cattle on flood-affected farms.

Quality parameters of hunted game meat: Sensory analysis and pH monitoring.

The aim of the present research is to propose a new, quick and objective method for the certification of hunted and/or culled wild game meat quality and to monitor its origin and the hunting practices adopted by hunters. The expected deliverable is a new labelling scheme for Italian hunted wild game meat that will guarantee high quality and safety standards for consumers and will decrease transaction costs of the supply chains. During the 2015, 2016 and 2017 hunting seasons, 1,056 hunted wild ungulates were sampled. Specifically, alpine chamois (n=537), roe deer (n=113), red deer (n=342) and wild boar (n=64), which were all hunted in the VCO2-Ossola Nord hunting district (Verbania Province, Piedmont, Italy). Samples of the longissimus dorsi were collected to evaluate the nutritional parameters and the acid profiles of the products. As a measure of meat quality, pH values have been recorded after slaughtering by inserting a probe in the semimembranosus muscle. The results were categorized as DFD (pH≥6,2), intermediate DFD (5,8≤pH<6,2) and high-quality meat (pH <5,8). As explanatory variables for the quality of wild game meat, differences based on age, gender and hunting practices were considered. Concerning the latter variables, measures were collected from animals received at hunting districts control centers by trained technicians who also collected information on the hunting practices, i.e., bleeding and evisceration of the carcasses and number of shots. Nutritional values showed low fat (<3 g per 100 g), low saturated fat (<1,5 g per 100 g) and high protein contents. Furthermore, wild game meat has high values of ω3 and CLA, ensuring a positive ω6/ω3 ratio. Differences were found in the concentrations of fat between age and gender, considering that during the mating season, adult males' weight loss can exceed 40%. Hunting practices seem to affect meat quality.