Eating on the Fringe: Influences on Organic Food Consumption

Date
2016-08-01
Authors
Supervisor
Item type
Conference Contribution
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract

Organic food is defined by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (2009) as food grown and processed without chemicals, fertilisers or genetically modified organisms, using sustainable farming methods such as crop rotation and organic fertilising.

This working paper compares global data on organic food consumption as a prelude to understanding motives for organic food service and consumption. While New Zealand (NZ) markets itself as 100% pure, an overwhelming majority of New Zealanders eats food sprayed with or grown in chemicals, and only 1.16% of land is in organic production (FiBL and iFOAM, 2013).

The paper overviews studies undertaken in Auckland (NZ), the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), to help understand motives for serving and eating organic food. Reasons include environmental concerns, health concerns, and the belief that some organic food tastes better than conventionally grown food. However, price and supply problems limit the organic market generally. Indications for future study are indicated.

This study is particularly relevant to health and wellness tourism because a commitment to organic food may provide a competitive advantage that cannot be developed quickly, as it typically takes three years to convert land to organic use (Department for Environment - Food and Rural Affairs, 2012). It also critically examines New Zealand’s position in the global organic market in the context of the 100% Pure marketing campaign (New Zealand Tourism, 2013).

Description
Keywords
Source
In H. Mair (Chair), Proceedings of the Critical Tourism Studies North America Inaugural Meeting, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada, 1-4 August 2016. Waterloo, ON, Canada: University of Waterloo.
DOI
Rights statement
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in (see Citation). The original publication is available at (see Publisher's Version).