New Age Food! New Age Consumers! With or without Technology Fix Please

Abstract

Examines the role of organic and conventional farming in the supply food chain. In particular addresses whether organic and conventional farmers have different beliefs and values; do organic farmers′ beliefs and values constitute a barrier to the conversion of conventional farmers; are these organic beliefs and values antithetic to modern distribution systems and; do organic and conventional farmers have different views about the economics of organic farming? Addresses these questions through the discriminant analysis of the results of an attitude survey of 117 English farmers which gathered beliefs, values and norms using the theory of Reasoned Action. Concludes that organic and conventional farmers share a common negative economic outlook on organic farming, but they have separate value systems which parallel the “alternative” and “conventional” paradigms identified by the American Research.

Citation

Beharrell, B. and Crockett, A. (1992), "New Age Food! New Age Consumers! With or without Technology Fix Please", British Food Journal, Vol. 94 No. 7, pp. 5-13. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070709210018979