Environmental awareness, economic orientation, and farming practices: A comparison of organic and conventional farmers

被引:90
作者
McCann, E
Sullivan, S
Erickson, D
DeYoung, R
机构
[1] UNIV MICHIGAN, SCH NAT RESOURCES & ENVIRONM, ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 USA
[2] UNIV WISCONSIN, COLL NAT RESOURCES, STEVENS POINT, WI 54481 USA
关键词
environmental attitudes; conservation behaviors; organic farming; agricultural sustainability;
D O I
10.1007/s002679900064
中图分类号
X [环境科学、安全科学];
学科分类号
08 ; 0830 ;
摘要
This study examines similarities and differences between organic and conventional farmers. We explore the factors that underlie farmers' conservation attitudes and behaviors, including demographic and farm characteristics, awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture, economic orientation toward farming, and self-reported conservation practices. A series of intensive personal interviews was conducted with 25 farmers in Washtenaw County, Michigan, USA, using both qualitative and quantitative survey methods. The findings indicate that both groups or farmers share a concern for the economic risks associated with farming, although the organic farmers reported a significantly greater concern for long-term sustainability and a greater willingness to incur present risk to gain future benefits. Organic farmers expressed a greater awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture. Organic farmers also scored significantly higher on a multifaceted measure of conservation practices, although both groups had a fairly high adoption rate. implications of these findings are discussed, relative to economic risks of farming, implications for new farmers, effectiveness of conservation education and government programs, and impact of farm size and crop diversity.
引用
收藏
页码:747 / 758
页数:12
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