Exploring Agritourism Experience and Perceptions of Pork Production

The interest of consumers in farming activities is evident and agricultural producers have responded to this increasing interest in a number of ways, including inviting visitors to farm operations through tourism or farm visits. Livestock industries, in particular, are interacting with the public in numerous ways, including via marketing channels for their products, interacting with community leaders and community members in regard to location siting and regulations, and inviting people onto their operations via agritourism. An improved understanding of who visits agricultural locations (particularly livestock operations) and consumers’ perceptions about livestock agriculture is needed in order to begin to understand the possible relationships between on-farm experiences and consumers’ perceptions. Thus, it is important to gain a deeper understanding in consumers’ interests, including their levels of concern for production process attributes, such as animal welfare, relative to product attributes like price and taste. This analysis investigates the demographics of consumers who have (and have not) visited various agritourism operations, studies differences in preferences for (or perceptions of) animal welfare relative to other pork attributes between consumers who have or have not visited a livestock operation, as well as amongst consumers with varying levels of involvement in household food production. Indeed the relationships explored are between having visited a livestock operation and the perceptions. This study found that 69% of participants had visited a livestock operation (pig farm, dairy farm, and/or horse farm) at some point. The majority of respondents agreed that agriculture was an important industry, yet, those who had visited livestock operations were more likely to note concerns about the impact of livestock operations on water quality in their county.

PORK PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN CHINA:A REVIEW OF THEIR DEVELOPMENT,CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS IN GREEN PRODUCTION

This paper reviews the changes in pork production in China,the largest pork producing and consuming nation in the world.The pork sector in China has changed dramatically since the 1990s,with large-scale intensive pork production systems replacing the former,exclusively family-based pork production systems.Modern breeding,feeding,vaccinating,and management technologies are widely used now.However,smallholders still account for a large proportion of the total production.The intensification and specialization of the pork sector is expected to continue in the future,but there is increasing awareness and pressure to develop more environmentally-sustainable production systems.The relative shortage of domestically produced feed,the low utilization efficiency of feed ingredients,the large emissions of nitrogen and phosphorus to the environment,the high use of antibiotics,and the presence of residual metals in manures are very large challenges for the pork sector nowadays.To solve these problems,techniques including new feed resource utilization,precise feeding,low-protein diets,alternatives to antibiotics and increased manure recycling are all important topics and research directions today.With new techniques and management approaches,it is possible to build more sustainable pork production systems in China.

Flavor release from traditional dry-cured pork during oral processing

The rate of flavor release in the mouth from traditional dry-cured pork was evaluated in this study.It was hypothesized that a slow steady release of flavor would occur on chewing and hydration.To test this,high salt dry-cured pork was chewed and held in oral cavity without swallowing for 4 different chewing stages(B,NC_(30),C_(30),EC).Saliva and food bolus from 16 healthy subjects were collected during oral processing,and analyzed for saliva flow rate,total saliva protein content,saliva pH,conductivity,saliva and sodium,and taste components.Results show that oral processing behavior and salivary release have important effects on flavor release of dry-cured pork.Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE)analysis showed that oral processing has a certain effect on the protein composition and concentration in saliva.This study suggests that the interaction between food and saliva that accompanies chewing can lead to significant changes in sensory perception during oral processing.

Tradeoffanalysis of the pork supply and food security under the influence of African swine fever and the COVID-19 outbreak in China

China is the world’s largest consumer of pork and grains.However,African swine fever(ASF)and the COVID-19 outbreak have greatly impacted the pork supply and food security in China.How can food security and the pork supply be ensured under the dual impacts of COVID-19 and ASF?This is a major problem to be urgently solved by the Chinese government.This study indicated that the main pork production and sales areas in China were separated,which reflected the spatial imbalance between the supply and demand.The total area of suitable selected sites for pig farms in China is 21.5 million ha.If only the areas with levels of high and moderate suitability are considered as potential sites for pig farms,the potential pork production can reach 56.1 million tons in China,which is slightly lower than demand.Due to the impact of the ASF epidemic,the food consumed by pigs has been reduced by 34.7 million tons.However,with increasing pork productivity in the future,the self-sufficiency rate of grains may further decline.On the premise that the quality of people’s life is not affected,the diversification of meat supply channels should be realized in an orderly and sustainable way,which might alleviate the pressure on food supply.This study provides a theoretical reference for the spatiotemporal layout of the swine industry and addresses the issue of food security in China under the influence of ASF and the COVID-19 outbreak.

Transparency in Meat Production： Consumer Perceptions at the Point of Sale

As a result of a large number of food scandals, societal interest in transparency in the food sector has grown considerably. Hence, the creation of transparency in the production process has been the focus of recent legislation. In addition to tracking and tracing, one finds in the public discussion an increasing number of demands for further information on such issues as food safety, animal and environmental protection and the sustainability of food production processes. However, it has not yet been sufficiently clarified which information about the production process--and thus which level of transparency--is actually desired or can actually be processed by consumers at the point of sale. In order to analyze this topic from the viewpoint of consumers, a large-scale empirical study has been conducted. This research uses an adaptive conjoint analysis to determine what transparency expectations consumers have with regards to information on packaged pork. Initial results show a very heterogeneous demand for information. Furthermore, consumers＇ demand for more information sometimes does not match their actual benefit profiles. The results provide insight into consumers＇ information needs and their willingness to pay for greater transparency; they also have interesting implications for meat processors＇ product development strategies.