Future of Food: Journal on Food

Comparison of motives to buy organic foods among middle income urban consumers of the state of Mexico, Mexico

Pedro Arturo Martinez Hernandez
Universidad Autónoma Chapingo
Ema Maldonadom Siman
Diana Stephany García García
José Luis Zaragoza Ramírez
Raymundo Rodríguez de Lara
Citlalli Celeste González Ariceaga

Expansion of organic food production requires increasing the number of organic food consumers. The aim of the study was to explore the relative importance of motives to buy organic foods in consumers of the state of Mexico by applying a 21-item questionnaire, each item with a set of fixed options, the consumer decided which of the options was closer to his/her own opinion. Frequencies expressed as percent of respondents by option within an item were compared by Chi-square. Questionnaires analysed were 618. Decision to buy organic food was found in over 50% (p<0.05) of the respondents, indicating that there is a need to increase the visibility among consumers of the organic food advantages. Above 50% (p<0.05) of the respondents thought that organic foods were better than non-organic, this believe is a stronghold to gain organic food consumers. For 30% (p<0.05) of the respondents a major restrain to buy organic foods is that they are difficult to find and there was low availability; 80% (p<0.05) of the respondents buy organic food as a personal decision no matter other´s people opinion about organic foods; still there is a need to build-up a social environment favourable to buy organic foods. Consumers’ trust in all links of the organic food chain needs to be strengthened as there were around 40% (p<0.05) respondents that their trust was not higher than average. It was concluded that drivers to increase the number of organic food consumers among the population of the state of Mexico are increasing availability, diversity and visibility of organic foods, expanding the knowledge of the benefits of organic foods over non-organic and strengthen consumers’ trust in all links of the organic food chain.

Keywords : consumer trust; organic food availability; benefits of organic foods; healthy consumption. ,Universidad Autónoma Chapingo .

Myanmar High School Students’ Perceptions of College and International Readiness in Western Society

Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
International students are more likely to experience mental health issues and increased stress. Mental health is often surrounded by negative societal stigmas that act as barriers to seeking support and tend to lead to greater mental health concerns. International students tend to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers rather than seeking out counseling services. However, this study shows that LGBTQIA+ international students were less likely to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers due to fear of their sexual orientation being discovered and their families finding out about their identity. This study examines how LGBTQIA+ international students talk about their experiences on and off campus in relations to their socioemotional well-being. Specifically, this study sought to better understand the complexities of LGBTQIA+ students’ identities, and the challenges they faced in terms of their socioemotional well-being. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Keywords : international students, socioemotional well-being, mental health, identity development, intersectionality, LGBTQIA