Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Rural families' use of herbs and/or health foods : a descriptive study(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 1982) Phillips, Laura LeeItem Organic produce demand estimation utilizing retail scanner data(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1999) Trost, Daniel Roland.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David E. Buschena; Gary Brester (co-chair)Retail demand relationships for organic and non-organic bananas, garlic, onions, and potatoes are examined using scanner data from a retail co-operative food store located in Bozeman, Montana. A level version Rotterdam demand specification is used in a six-equation system to estimate Hicksian demand elasticities. The own-price elasticity for organic onions is negative and significant. All other own-price elasticities are not significantly different from zero. This indicates consumers may not be very price sensitive for the goods in question. With few exceptions, the cross-price elasticities which are significant are also positive. Income elasticities are mostly significant and positive. Elasticity measurement may be somewhat imprecise due to a lack of variability in prices and an ambiguous error structure. Key factors influencing the quantities of the produce items purchased include the number of children in a household, the average age of adults in a household, and employment status of the primary grocery shopper. Educational status did not have any significant impact on quantities purchased.Item Food and fiber system literacy levels of Bozeman's Community Food Co-Op's core consumer group(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2010) Miller, JoLynn Charlene; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Martin J. Frick.The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the food and fiber system knowledge and perception levels of the core consumer group at the Community Food Co-op in Bozeman, MT. Data for this study were gathered through a survey mailed to the sample population. Of the 350 surveys mailed out, 120 useable surveys were returned for a 34.3% response rate. Data were collected in three sections: (1) food and fiber system knowledge, (2) food and fiber system perceptions, and (3) demographic information. The knowledge section consisted of 35 statements in which respondents answered True, False, or Don't Know to statements corresponding to the seven food and fiber system literacy concept areas. The perceptions section also included 35 statements to which respondents answered strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree to statements corresponding to the seven food and fiber system literacy concept areas. SPSS was used to analyze the data by conducting Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and t-tests. Many conclusions were drawn from the data. The typical shopper in the core consumer group at the Community Food Co-op is a woman in her 50's with an annual household income of approximately $60,000. Males had a significantly higher knowledge score than females. Members who had taken an adult education class (formal or non-formal) related to agriculture had significantly higher knowledge scores than those who did not. The concept area titled Natural Resources and the Environment scored the highest in knowledge, lowest in perceptions, and highest in interest for future educational opportunities. Finally, the concept area titled Agricultural Policy received the lowest knowledge scores, but the highest perception scores. The data presented interesting implications and recommendations not only for the Community Food Co-op in Bozeman, MT, but for the agricultural education community as well. Researchers found that internet is the main source of food and fiber system news for most respondents, with newspapers as the second most used source. Future research should be conducted that examines the relationship between knowledge scores, perceptions scores, and interest levels.