A Series of Consumer Workshops: Informing Alabama Consumers about Organic Agriculture
Adelia Bovell Benjamin *
Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama 36088, USA
Kokoasse Kpomblekou-A Kpomblekou-A
Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama 36088, USA.
Rebecca Gyawu
Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama 36088, USA.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A series of consumer-oriented workshops were conducted to inform Alabamians about organic agriculture. Workshops (N =10) were conducted by the participation of 257 farmers and consumers in nine Alabama, USA cities using a pretest-posttest procedure, an organic food survey and a questionnaire of purchase intent. The mean posttest score was significantly (p<0.0001) higher than the pretest score (5.6±1.8 vs 4.6±1.9). Seventy three percent of the respondents preferred organic to conventional foods and 35% of them did not know where to purchase organic products. Extra efforts should be made to inform farmers and consumers from Alabama, USA about organic agriculture to create demand and respond to shifting market dynamics especially through the extension system.
Keywords: Organic consumer workshop, training program on organic agriculture; organic food survey;, questionnaire of purchase intent