Organic Consumerism: Education and Convenience

According to the Hjelmar and Keebaugh et al. articles, the primary factors associated consumers actively purchasing organic foods over their non-organic alternatives is a matter of convenience and education. In my idea of convenience I also include price as it is often more convenient to purchase foods within their means and within my definition of education I include political, ethical, and health reasons, as well as college education, because these are all education on some level.

In the Hjelmar article, it was interesting to see that most people would not go out of their way to purchase organically unless they were strongly motivated by some other factor. They often purchase it because of its availability and visibility in supermarkets. They do not want to have their lives impeded in any way just because they chose to eat organically. Even though I understand that this article is primarily exploratory, my main critique of this article is that they had such a small sample size. I do not think it would be large enough to draw major conclusions from.

The Keebaugh et al. article highlighted the correlation between a person's level of education and the likelihood that they would purchase organically, while the Hjelmar article briefly touched upon several educational factors that led people to choosing organic, such as political or ethical reasons. An interesting observation is that the highest percentage of students who purchase organically int he United States are humanities majors as opposed to natural science majors, who are one of the lowest percentages. I find this surprising because the majority of evidence proclaiming organic foods are more beneficial, nutritionally and environmentally, come from food and agriculture scientists.

In regards to the Hjelmar article, would increased availability of organic foods in supermarkets lead to more people purchasing them? Would an increase in pro-organic food advertisement lead to an increased consumption? And in regards to the Keebaugh et al. article, what would be the best way to increase organic food purchasing among young college students, who are more likely to purchase non-organically?