Organic Food Research Articles

A Gender-Based Analysis on Online Shopping Decision-Making

This paper focuses on understanding the factors like relative advantage, trust, social influence and personal experience influence on online buying intention. Also, we assess if gender plays a moderating role in online buying. The sample size consists of 256 online buyers from Bangalore city. Seven products are selected for the study namely clothing, cosmetic, education, health, music, organic food and smart phones. The study aims to find if there exists a difference in product purchases made online among gender. The factors that influence most in online purchase is analysed. Factor analysis, Chi Square and regression are conducted to analyse the data for the study. The results show that there are differences in the opinion on online purchase as well as the product preferences among gender. The factors which influence male respondents are merchant trustworthiness and personal online experience whereas for female respondents the factor influencing is personal online experience. It is observed that gender plays moderately significant role on the factors influencing online buying intentions.

Pragmatic investigation of the effect of green and low-carbon economies on food safety in Africa

This research examines the relationship between a green economy—defined as an economy that promotes sustainable development through low-carbon, resource-efficient, and socially inclusive practices—and food safety across 37 African countries from 2005 to 2020. Drawing on data from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA), and World Development Indicators, this study employs the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach to address endogeneity issues inherent in economic analyses. The findings indicate that a shift toward a greener economy significantly enhances food safety, with each one-point improvement in green economic indicators associated with a 0.24% increase in food safety levels. This underscores that as African economies reduce carbon footprints and adopt sustainable agricultural practices, they experience fewer food safety challenges, largely due to improved environmental health and reduced biodiversity loss. The study concludes that prioritizing green economic growth is essential for environmental sustainability and the agricultural sector’s stability. These insights emphasize the need for policymakers and stakeholders to implement green economy strategies that enhance both ecological resilience and food security, ultimately improving health and livelihood outcomes in African communities.This study stands apart from existing literature by uniquely focusing on the relationship between the green economy and food safety within the African context, which remains underexplored despite the continent’s pressing environmental and food security challenges. Utilizing a dynamic panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model, the research rigorously addresses endogeneity concerns to provide robust insights into how environmental management and other green economy policies influence food safety outcomes across 37 African nations. This methodological approach enables more accurate capture of temporal dynamics and causal relationships, offering policymakers context-specific, evidence-based recommendations tailored to Africa's socio-economic and ecological realities.

Consumer Attitude and Purchase Intention towards Organic Food in Kritipur, Kathmandu

This study examined the relationship between consumer attitudes and purchase intentions toward organic products in Kritipur, Kathmandu. Using a 5-point Likert scale survey, data from 57 respondents were analyzed through correlation and regression techniques. The results reveal a considerable positive impact of consumer attitudes, specifically health concerns and environmental care, on purchase intention, with an unstandardized coefficient of 0.854 (p < .001). Consumer attitudes explained 64.7% of the variance in purchase intention, confirming the critical role of favorable attitudes in promoting organic product purchases. However, contrary to the hypothesis, subjective norms had a negative influence on purchase intention (β = -0.261, p = .004), indicating that social pressures may decrease consumer willingness to buy organic products. The findings suggest that marketers should focus on increasing consumers' trust in organic products and emphasize the health and environmental benefits to increase sales. This study expands existing theoretical models by incorporating health concerns and environmental care as crucial factors influencing consumer attitudes towards organic food.

CHANGES IN THE IMPORT OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS TO THE EUROPEAN UNION BETWEEN 2018 AND 2023

Food produced through organic systems is becoming increasingly popular among consumers and farmers worldwide. Growing demand is the primary driver of the organic food market’s development, contributing to the introduction of new products. This article aims to analyze changes in the import of organic products to the European Union (EU) between 2018 and 2023. The study employs data analysis, legal regulation review, and literature examination. It focuses on key trends, regulations, and external factors affecting the organic products market. The analysis includes import directions and identifies the largest suppliers of organic products. The findings reveal an increase in organic product imports, supplier diversification, and shifts in import structure. Importing organic products into the EU ensures the diversity and availability of food meeting the highest quality standards, preferred by many consumers. This is crucial in the context of exploring methods to achieve sustainable development. The article provides insights for policymakers and market participants, highlighting challenges and opportunities for growth within the framework of sustainable agriculture.

Optimizing Cowpea Cultivation in Saline Hydromorphic Soils: A Sustainable Approach for Kaipad Agroecosystems

Kaipad lands, a distinct coastal agro-ecosystem located in northern Malabar, Kerala, are characterized by saline-prone hydromorphic soils that pose significant challenges for traditional rice cultivation. The unique conditions of periodic waterlogging and salinity necessitate the exploration of alternative crops to enhance agricultural sustainability. This study investigates the suitability of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L Walp) as a resilient leguminous crop for cultivation in traditionally organic rice growing problematic soils. Cowpea, known for its adaptability to diverse environmental conditions, nutritional value, and economic importance, presents a promising option for farmers facing the limitations of organic rice production. A pot culture experiment was conducted to assess the impact of potassium solubilizing bacteria (KSB) on cowpea growth and yield in saline hydromorphic soils. Treatments included combinations of KSB with various potassium sources, such as feldspar and mica, used as alternate sources for potassic fertilizers. Results demonstrated that KSB significantly improved growth parameters, including plant height, leaf area, total dry matter production, and pod and grain yields, compared to control. Soil analysis revealed enhanced availability of potassium and other essential nutrients in KSB-treated soils, indicating a synergistic effect on nutrient solubilization in aerobic conditions. The findings suggest that cowpea, supported by KSB application, can be effectively cultivated in problematic Kaipad lands, offering a viable alternative to traditional rice farming while promoting sustainable agricultural practices. This research highlights the potential for diversifying crop production in saline-prone areas, ultimately contributing to food security and economic resilience in coastal agro-ecosystems.

Navigating the Paradox: Materialism, Sustainable Practices and Well-Being in Emerging Markets

In emerging markets, the prevalence of materialistic tendencies has intensified consumption, impacting both the environment and consumer well-being. This research examines the paradoxical relationships between materialism, sustainable practices and consumer well-being through two cross-sectional studies. We explore linear and curvilinear relationships among these concepts across two sustainable practices (organic food consumption) and post-consumption (disposal of electronic waste). Study 1 investigates the relationships between organic food consumption, materialism, hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. In Study 2, we replicate the investigation, focusing on post-consumption practices, particularly the relationship between electronic waste disposal, materialism and life satisfaction as a dimension of subjective well-being. Findings reveal that materialistic values can motivate both sustainable and post-consumption practices, ultimately contributing to consumer well-being. Furthermore, to some extent, materialism can moderate the association between sustainable consumption and well-being. This research provides insights for promoting sustainable consumption and post-consumption practices in emerging markets.

Transformation towards Organic Cassava Production in Yasothon Province, Thailand

With the marked increase in consumer and commercial demand for organic foods and products, organic cassava production has become a viable alternative for small growers because it can lead to the sustainability of the agriculture and food production system. However, few studies have been conducted to enable a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that contribute to the transformation from chemical into organic cassava production systems. This study quantitatively aimed to identify socioeconomic, cassava profitability, and institutional factors that influence the cultural practice transformation towards organic cassava production in a district of Yasothon province, Thailand. We used a structured interview schedule to collect data from 283 sampled cassava growers comprising 236 chemical cassava growers and 47 organic cassava growers in the district during the period from August 2020 to November 2020. Quantitatively, we used the binary logistic regression method to identify the positive and negative factors contributing to the transformation of cassava production systems including growers’ motivations for the transformation. The study findings indicated that income from organic cassava was taken as the main motivation for growers’ decisions to transform (40.3%). We found that organic cassava farm gate price, access to formal credit, labor used and membership in growers’ organizations were positive significant factors that affected the cultural practice transformation. Finally, small cassava growers as well as stakeholders should systemically be considered by policymakers and in strategic intervention through relevant institutions.

Role of Organic Products for Achieving A Sustainable Green Economy

Sustainable green economy is the need of time, and orogenic products can play a decisive role in this goal. Growing demand for organic food is due to the increase in disposal income at urban along with the Government supports, innovative technologies & investments and these factors are the drivers for organic farming and its marketing. These drivers provide immense potential and scope for the Indian organic sector but there are many challenges faced at producers, processors and consumer level, low consumption of Orogenic products is a serious concern of researchers and policymakers. To address this issue, we have studied the phenomenon in rural areas and provided insights to researchers and policymakers about the factors that influence the consumers’ behaviour in rural areas awareness among consumers, the high cost of organic food products, limited availability of organic food products, busy work schedule are Challenges faced by Consumer level We have designed an integrated model based on PCA to study the rural areas consumers’ behavioural intentions towards Orogenic products. 300 useable sample is obtained to analyse by implying PCA- Model. Results revealed that environmental knowledge is a significant predictor and a moderator, but consumers are less educated about ecological issues in rural areas. Results also revealed that Orogenic products and non-orogenic products users or consumers’ preferences are differently influenced by factors studied to measure adoption intentions of orogenic products. Sensitivity analysis results revealed that social influence followed by effort expectance and perceived expectancy of orogenic products are more important for rural areas’ customers. The study also provides empirical evidence of methodological advancement using PCA- Model, Multiple Regression Model and ANOVAand these studies involving human behaviour.

Profitability of Organic Versus Conventional Rice Production: An Evidence from South Asia

Rice, a staple and cash crop in South Asia, is vital for small-scale farmers, but concerns about the profitability of organic farming challenge its adoption despite its environmental benefits. The present study was conducted in the Rice-Wheat zone of three South Asian countries to make a comparison of profit efficiency in rice production under organic and conventional farming systems and to examine factors affecting profit efficiency. A multistage sampling technique was employed to collect cross-sectional data. Profit efficiency was determined by employing Cobb Douglas's functional form of stochastic profit frontier. Results show that the mean profit efficiency of organic rice growers is 0.89 less than conventional rice growers (0.910) in Pakistan. The mean profit efficiencies of organic growers are higher than conventional growers in Nepal and Bangladesh. Education and the role of the extension department are important factors in increasing the efficiency of organic and conventional farming while access to credit and experience in rice farming are significant in reducing inefficiencies in conventional rice farming. The study concludes that the education of farmers, the role of extension services, and easy credit access are key policy variables to improve profit efficiency.

Young adult consumer’s perception of value proposition towards organic foods: a tweet based analysis using NVivo

Young adult consumer’s perception of value proposition towards organic foods: a tweet based analysis using NVivo

Organic food consumption is positively associated with cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Examine cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between organic food consumption and cognitive function among older adults. In this study, 6077 participants were selected from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the Health Care and Nutrition Study (HCNS) for cross-sectional analyses, and retaining 4882 individuals for longitudinal analyses. Organic food consumption was assessed using a Food Frequency Questionnaire and participants were categorized based on their organic dietary diversity score. Cognitive function was evaluated using the Langa-Weir classification. A multivariable linear analysis was used to investigate the associations between organic food consumption and cognitive function. Cox proportional hazards model examined the association between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and organic food consumption. Our findings revealed a positive association between the organic food consumption and cognitive function among older adults. However, the consumption of organic food was found to significantly reduce the risk of MCI only among females, with a hazard ratio of 0.80 (95% CI 0.65-0.98). Furthermore, both organic animal and plant food consumption were independently linked to a 27% and 20% reduction in the risk of incident MCI, respectively. This research results underscores the cognitive benefits of organic diets, particularly in mitigating the risk of MCI among females. Recognizing the sex-specific nature of this association suggests the importance of considering gender perspectives in the formulation of dietary interventions aimed at cognitive health.

Digitalization's effect on everyday entrepreneurs in the French organic wine industry

Everyday entrepreneurs comprise a substantial portion of the entrepreneur population. This paper focuses on everyday entrepreneurship, and on its ability despite limited resources to seize opportunities. Specifically, it investigates the impact of digital platform on the performance and activities of everyday entrepreneurs in France's organic wine sector. To this end, we construct a difference-in-difference model for the period 2011–2020. We compare the performance and growth of 66 organic wine producers before and after they joined Les petites caves—a digital platform dedicated to the promotion of organic wines. Subsequently, we compare this target sample with a control sample. The results show that, after digitalization, the target sample achieves higher sales; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization; net income; and return on assets and equity than that of the control sample. The effect of digital platform on economic performance is more pronounced for younger ventures. These findings show that recourse to new digital technologies thanks to a bricolage ability contributes to everyday entrepreneurs' operational growth and sustainability and enhances their value creation. This study recommends everyday organic wine entrepreneurs to exploit digital platforms to promote local products, improve marketing and economic performance, and revitalize winemaking territories.

Blockchain-based food traceability system and pro-environmental consumption: A moderated mediation model of technology anxiety and trust in organic food product

Blockchain technology is increasingly recognized as a transformative tool for enhancing clarity and responsibility in the organic food supply chain, where concerns about product authenticity and safety are paramount. By offering provable and translucent information about the origination, production processes, and administration of organic items, blockchain helps to reduce information asymmetry and builds consumer trust, which is critical for purchase decisions in the organic food market. Drawing on insights from the trust theory and the stimulus-organism-response framework, this study uses a moderated mediation model to explore how technology anxiety negatively moderates the direct and indirect influences of blockchain-based food traceability systems on trust in organic food products and organic food purchase intention. Using a targeted sample of 5326 consumers in Vietnam, the PROCESS macro approach (models 8 and 4) is utilized to examine the formulated hypotheses. The results demonstrate that blockchain-based food traceability systems notably enhance consumer trust in organic food products and their intention to buy these products. Trust in organic food products serves as a mediator in the connection between blockchain-based traceability and purchase intention, while technology anxiety weakens the positive impacts of blockchain technology on trust and purchase intention when anxiety levels are high. This research makes crucial contributions to the literature by offering a mechanism-based explanation of how blockchain technology enhances consumer trust in organic food products and integrates technological anxiety as a moderator, providing a deeper understanding of how technological innovations shape consumer behavior. In light of the findings, several critical recommendations have been proposed for practitioners and policymakers.

Role of Availability on Actual Purchase Behavior of Organic Food Products: An Application of Theory of Planned Behavior

Aim: This paper examines how consumers' purchase intentions and actual purchase behavior for organic food products are related to the moderating effect of availability and its relationship with those two variables. Methods: Using structural equation modeling, a structured survey of 250 participants revealed that the three components of the theory of planned behavior-attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control impacted consumers' purchase intentions. Results: Findings revealed a strong correlation between purchase intention and actual purchase behavior of the consumers towards organic products. Furthermore, it identifies a few areas for future work that would benefit wholesalers, retailers, marketers, consumers, and scholars. Conclusion: Food provides indispensable nourishment, which leads to a healthy life. However, it has recently come to light that many food products have become unhealthy due to farmers' excessive use of pesticides and chemical-based fertilizers, resulting in several illnesses. Currently, it has been observed that many consumers are attracted to organic food that is healthy, tasty, and free from chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers. To increase the study's accuracy and utility, further research might be done on additional aspects, such as significant price premiums, a lack of knowledge, confidence in organic certification programs, and quality.

Mindful eating is associated with a better diet quality in the NutriNet-Santé study

Mindful eating (ME) is a promising approach for promoting healthy eating. Although an association between ME and healthier eating habits has been indicated in the literature, data remain limited. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between ME and several nutritional indicators, including overall diet quality, consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF), organic foods, food groups, and intake of energy and nutrients in a large population sample. In 2023, 13,759 participants of the NutriNet-Santé cohort study completed the Mind-Eat Scale, assessing total ME (range: 1-5), and its six sub-dimensions, and at least three 24-hour dietary records. Multivariable linear regressions were performed to analyze the association between ME (independent variable) and various indices reflecting the nutritional quality of the diet: two scores reflecting the adherence to the French dietary guidelines (sPNNS-GS2) and the Mediterranean diet (MEDI-LITE score), the consumption of UPF (using the NOVA classification), organic foods and food groups, and energy and nutrient intake (dependent variables), adjusted for socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics. ME was positively associated with French dietary guideline (β=0.33; 95%CI: 0.30, 0.45) and Mediterranean diet (β=0.37; 95%CI: 0.30, 0.45) scores and with organic food consumption (β=9.72; 95%CI: 8.84, 10.60). Furthermore, ME was negatively associated with energy intake (β= -36.79; 95%CI: -50.92, -22.67) and UPF consumption (β= -1.55; 95%CI: -1.81, -1.29). ME was also associated with the intake of several food groups and nutrients. Overall, ME was associated with a healthier diet. These results suggest that ME could be an interesting lever for promoting healthy eating habits. Further studies are required to better understand the relationships between ME, dietary intake, and health, particularly through the use of longitudinal studies.

Examining consumers attitude and willingness to purchase organic products: Empirical evidence from emerging market

Consumers are increasingly interested in organic products. This study explores the correlation between consumer organic awareness (COA), environmental attitude (EA), health consciousness (HC), perceived expensiveness (PE), willingness to pay (WTP), attitude (ATT), organic purchase intention (OPI), and organic purchase behavior (OPB) towards organic food. The study examines how ATT and OPI mediate the association between the aforementioned factors and OPB. Data was acquired from 505 respondents by convenience sampling. This study employs Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) using SPSS AMOS 26 to investigate the hypotheses of the suggested conceptual model. The study indicated that variables like COA, EA, HC, WTP, ATT, and OPI have a substantial impact on the OPB. EC is the most significant predictor of ATT, OPI, and OPB in organic food buying, while PE had the least influence. The antecedents COA, EA, HC, and WTP have a strong indirect impact on OPB among respondents via ATT and OPI. Finally, theoretical and practical ramifications are explored.

Sustainability Strategy for Organic Rice Agribusiness Development in Banggai Regency

The solution to reduce the negative impact of inorganic farming is to change to organic farming. The definition of organic farming is an agricultural cultivation system that uses natural organic materials. This study aims to analyze the level of sustainability of organic rice development in the social, economic, ecological, technological and infrastructure dimensions, governance and farmer ethics and develop a prioritization strategy for the sustainability of organic rice business development in Banggai Regency. The number of samples was 47 respondents. The data analysis method uses the RAP (Rapid Appraisal) method while for the determination of sustainability strategy decisions using SWOT Analysis and AHP. The results showed that the level of sustainability of the ecological, economic, social, technological and infrastructure dimensions, ethics and morals showed quite sustainable, and the development dimension showed very sustainable. Strategy selection is in quadrant I (IFAS 1.507 and EFAS 2.266) by focusing on aggressive growth in the development of sustainable organic rice agribusiness with strategic steps, namely: Optimizing organic rice production through the use of production input subsystems; optimizing extension activities in company-assisted farmer groups, inviting non-organic rice farmers to join the organic rice agribusiness business, expanding paddy fields to increase organic rice production, optimizing promotional activities for organic rice products, maintaining the quality of organic rice, making Sinorang Village and Sumberharjo Village into Organic Rice Agrotourism Villages, improvement and modification of organic rice packaging, provision of RMU assistance, and agricultural machinery equipment and developing self-reliance of organic rice farmer groups.

Antioxidant activity and physical quality of ice cream with the addition of the coffee extract from local Kotamobagu

The production of local Kotamobagu coffee extract used the ground coffee taken from organic robusta coffee producers in Kotamobagu City, North Sulawesi Province. This study aims to determine the addition of local Kotamobagu coffee extract to the antioxidant activity and physical quality (overrun, pH & melting point) of ice cream. This study used a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 5 treatments, namely the addition of local Kotamobagu coffee extract of P0: 0%; P1: 5%; P2: 10%; P3: 15% and P4: 20%. with 4 replications. The variables measured were antioxidant activity, overrun, pH and melting point. The results of the analysis of variance showed that the addition of local Kotamobagu coffee extract had a significant effect (P <0.05) on antioxidant activity and overrun but had the same effect on the pH and melting point of ice cream. It was concluded that the addition of local Kotamobagu coffee extract up to 20% produced ice cream that had increasing antioxidant activity content with physical quality that met the requirements of SNI 01-37131995.

Aerogarden: An aeroponics innovation project linking artificial intelligence and sustainability

Every year, 10.8 to 19.1 billion tonnes of CO2 are emitted through food exports, which accounts for roughly 21% - 37% of the world’s global total emissions. In the urge to expand businesses and ensure availability of all crops throughout the year, the quality of air is being compromised. The demand for crops rises in tandem with population growth and improvements in human well-being. In addition, most of these exported crops lose their nutritional value due to the unhealthy exposure of preservatives and other farming chemicals. There are multiple factors involved in crop production: land, labour, transportation, storage etc. Aeroponics is a relatively new farming system that eradicates numerous problems by using less land and water and requiring minimal labour and nutrients. The aim of this project is to convert the aeroponic farming unit into a 100% carbon-neutral, self-reliant unit called Aerogarden by integrating modern technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI). Every household having an Aerogarden unit can access fresh organic vegetables and microgreens that actually retain their nutritional value. By achieving this goal, non-agricultural nations' dependence on food imports will lessen, which will ultimately result in a reduction in the sector's carbon footprint. By giving people a way to directly support the international movement, the project also aims to support the UN's initiative to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Comparison of total phenolic content in organic and conventional carrot under different drying conditions using non-destructive analysis techniques

Current evidence indicates that the higher nutritional value of organic foods, compared to their conventional counterparts, significantly impacts consumer demand. However, the application of thermal processes during processing may lead to a loss of nutritional values, including total phenolics and antioxidants, thereby failing to meet consumer expectations. Phenolics, known as some of the most potent natural antioxidants and are typically assessed through biochemical tests based on the concentration and reactivity of antioxidant compounds. However, the extraction methods can affect the accuracy of phenolic content measurement. In this study, the total phenolic (TP) (mg/100 g) capacity of fresh, hot air (HA)-dried, and intermittent microwave (IMW)-dried organic and conventional black carrots were compared, and the detectability of these compounds using a colorimeter and FT-NIRS was evaluated. PLSR models developed for estimating the TP content using FT-NIRS resulted in successful outcomes (IMW: R2val = 0.78, RMSEP = 51.4 mg/100 g; HA: R2val = 0.70, RMSEP = 63.0 mg/100 g). The highest prediction accuracy was achieved with drying treatments at 300 W (R2val = 0.95, RMSEP = 5.1 mg/100 g) and 450 W (R2val = 0.83, RMSEP = 50.7 mg/100 g), as well as at 80 °C (R2val = 0.90, RMSEP = 21.0 mg/100 g). The drying methods significantly influenced the TP content and the accuracy of TP prediction in samples. Additionally, organic carrots contained a higher level of total phenolic compared to conventional.