Perceptions and Attitudes of Argentine Zoomers towards Sustainable Food Production.

Young people are concerned about climate change. Their activism has attracted the attention of the media and politicians. Some of them are entering the market as consumers for the first time and can express their preferences without parental guidance: they are the Zoomers. Do these new consumers have enough knowledge about sustainability to be able to make choices in line with their concerns? Are they able to push the market towards change? A sample of 537 young Zoomer consumers were interviewed face-to-face in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires. They were asked to indicate their level of concern for the planet and the first word they associated with sustainability, to rank in order of importance sustainability-related concepts and to indicate their willingness to buy sustainable products. The results of this study underline a high concern for the health of the planet (87.9%) and for unsustainable production methods (88.8%). However, the respondents perceived sustainability as consisting of a single main pillar, the environmental dimension (with 47% of the terms referring to sustainability), and two accessory pillars, the social (10.7%) and economic (5.2%) dimensions of sustainability. Respondents also showed a high interest in products obtained through sustainable agriculture, with a high percentage of them willing to pay for these products (74.1%). However, a substantial correlation was found between the ability to comprehend the notion of sustainability and the determination to purchase sustainable items, and vice versa, between those who reported difficulty comprehending the concept and their determination not to purchase these products. Zoomers believe that the market must support sustainable agriculture through consumer choices without paying a premium price. Clarifying the concept of sustainability, enhancing knowledge and assisting consumers in identifying sustainable products, as well as marketing them at reasonable prices, are essential actions for fostering a more ethical agricultural system.

Evaluation of Virtual Water and Water Sustainability of Dairy Production in Trentino Alto Adige (North-Eastern Italy).

Dairy products play a significant role in the human diet, but they are often associated with high freshwater resource depletion. In Italy, the dairy sector represents more than 12% of the total turnover of the agri-food sector. Trentino Alto Adige is the first Italian region in terms of number of dairy farms, but it does not register a quantitatively consistent dairy production. Notwithstanding, it is characterized mostly by small-scale farms whose strengths are the Protected Designations of Origin and typical mountain productions. The present study aims at: (i) accounting for the virtual water VW of the main dairy products (milk, butter and cheese) produced in Trentino Alto Adige; (ii) estimating the renewable water resources based on the water flow assessment of the study area; (iii) assessing water sustainability comparing the virtual water consumption of the dairy sector at a regional level to the water availability. The findings show that the consumptive virtual water related to dairy production represents about 1% of the water availability in Trentino Alto Adige. Italy's domestic dairy production is expanding to meet the growing demand, but the expansion of dairy farming in water-stressed regions should be avoided, preferring instead suitable mountain regions where small-scale farms represent a lively entrepreneurial substrate.

Health Risk Perception, Consumption Intention, and Willingness to Pay for Pig Products Obtained by Immunocastration.

Surgical castration without the use of anaesthesia and/or analgesia is considered to be detrimental for the welfare of pigs and for this reason its abandonment is advocated. Immunocastration is a more welfare-friendly alternative method; however, stakeholders in the pork sector fear consumer rejection due to perceived safety issues of immunocastrated meat. This work aimed to analyse whether Italian consumers perceive a health risk arising from the use of this technique and, if so, how the perceived risk may influence the purchase choices and the willingness to pay for products derived from immunocastrated animals. To achieve this objective, a survey was carried out on a representative sample of the Italian population. The results highlight that consumers perceive different levels of risk related to the use of immunocastration and that this influences purchasing behaviour and willingness to pay. Moreover, it should be noted that the willingness to pay is also influenced by certain demographic factors, since this is positively associated with younger respondents with lower incomes and less knowledge of farming systems, who live in rural areas and have a greater sensitivity to animal welfare. Given the concerns expressed by consumers, particular attention must be paid to the information transmitted if this technology will be widely implemented in pig husbandry.

Exploring Attitudes toward Animal Welfare through the Lens of Subjectivity-An Application of Q-Methodology.

Opinions increasingly influence legislative processes. The case of animal welfare (AW) standards is a clear example of the role played by opinions in political decisions. The issue, to which European citizens have historically been sensitive, has been the subject of numerous consultations and investigations, aimed at considering citizens' opinions regarding breeding conditions. However, these tools and in particular standard surveys, suffer from response biases such as the prejudices involved in the design of questions and the interpretation of the results. To mitigate these problems, we used the Q-methodology, which is an inductive but systematic methodology focused on patterns that explain the ideas of individuals. The purposive sample consisted of 36 veterinary students who were acquiring scientific knowledge about AW. The results, in addition to providing policymakers with food for thought for the further development of AW standards, contribute to testing the use of alternative methodologies to collect citizens' views. This mapping of viewpoints helps to build a more effective form of AW policy making.

Adoption of Precision Farming Tools: The Case of Italian Farmers.

The process of adopting innovation, especially with regard to precision farming (PF), is inherently complex and social, and influenced by producers, change agents, social norms and organizational pressure. An empirical analysis was conducted among Italian farmers to measure the drivers and clarify "bottlenecks" in the adoption of agricultural innovation. The purpose of this study was to analyze the socio-structural and complexity factors that affect the probability to adopt innovations and the determinants that drive an individual's decisions. Preliminary results found high levels of adoption among younger farmers, those that had a high level of education, those with high intensity of information, with large farm sizes, and high labor intensity. A logit model was used to understand the role played by labor intensity and perceived in the adoption process. In light of the Common Agricultural Policy Reform post 2020, the findings suggest relevant policy implications, such as the need to increase awareness of PF tools and foster dissemination of information aimed at reducing the degree of perceived complexity.