Societal values and mask usage for COVID-19 control in the US.

Societies are looking for ways to mitigate risk while stimulating economic recovery from COVID-19. Facial coverings (masks) reduce the risk of disease spread but there is limited understanding of public beliefs regarding mask usage in the U.S. where mask wearing is divisive and politicized. We find that 83% (±3%) of U.S. respondents in our nationally representative sample believed masks have a role in U.S. society related to the spread of COVID-19 in June 2020. However, 11-24% of these respondents reported not wearing a mask themselves in some public locations. Beliefs about mask wearing and usage vary by respondent demographics and level of agreement with a variety of societal value statements. Agreement with the statement gun ownership is a right based on the U.S. Constitution was negatively correlated with the belief masks had a role in society related to the spread of COVID-19. Agreement with the statements healthcare is a human right and I always wear my seat belt when driving were positively correlated with the belief masks had a role. Only 47% of respondents agreed that "Wearing a mask will help prevent future lock-downs in my community related to COVID-19." Public perception of the importance of mask usage revealed public transportation, grocery/food stores, and schools, as the relatively most important public places for mask usage among those seven places studied. Results suggest that public health advisories about riskiness of various situations or locations and public perception of importance of risk mitigation by location may not be well aligned.

US respondents' willingness to pay for Cheddar cheese from dairy cattle with different pasture access, antibiotic use, and dehorning practices.

Cheese is a widely consumed product in American diets and an important economic driver of US dairy markets. Given the widespread interest in credence attributes of fluid dairy products, the lack of knowledge of demand for animal welfare, environmental, and other credence attributes in cheeses is surprising. Increasing attention surrounding dairy cattle welfare has been placed on the disbudding or dehorning of dairy cattle, in addition to the longer term debates surrounding pasture access and antibiotic use. This work estimates willingness to pay for these attributes of dairy cattle management systems for Cheddar cheese in a nationally representative sample of 749 US household members. Ninety percent of respondents indicated they or someone in their household consumed cheese in the last year. Higher proportions of respondents with children in the household purchased cheese of any kind. Respondents had positive willingness to pay for Cheddar cheese that had the following attributes: USDA-, retailer-, and industry-verified antibiotic use not permitted, required pasture access, and dehorning with pain relief as well as polled (when compared with dehorning without pain relief). As dairy producers face tighter margins and shifting consumer preferences, increasing attention on consumer preferences for cheese may aid in increasing profitability if demanded attributes can be profitability provided.

Traditional attributes moo-ve over for some consumer segments: Relative ranking of fluid milk attributes.

Due to the decrease in fluid milk consumption as a beverage in the United States, the importance for dairy industry stakeholders to understand attribute preferences for consumer segments has increased. This paper uses a representative sample of U.S. residents to determine shopping behavior and a Best-Worst experimental design to examine consumer preferences for select milk attributes. The Random Parameters Logit model revealed the largest preference shares were for price (19.1%), fat content (17.6%), and humane handling (16.1%). Segmentation of the respondents was analyzed using a Latent Class Model, and the demographics of segments were analyzed by probabilistic assignment. This contribution, which may be applied to other products, allows for a detailed understanding of consumer preferences for fluid milk. Demographics such as gender and age were not statistically different across the five classes for this topic, unlike shopping behavior. Class 2 was named "The Balancing Act" due to respondents' balance between animal welfare aspects and the physical characteristics of milk. Class 5 was dubbed "Value and Volume" due to large preference shares for price and container size. A lower percentage of respondents in "The Balancing Act" (12.2%) reported purchasing fat-free skim milk when compared to the percentage of respondents in "Value and Volume" (18.6%). Due to the large preference shares for traditional milk attributes, Class 3 was named "Traditional Milk Shoppers." A higher percentage of respondents in "Value and Volume" also reported always reading the information on meat, egg, or milk products when compared to "Traditional Milk Shoppers" (12.2%). Although price is still important to many consumers, certain segments have preferences or demand for other attributes that may be satisfied by producers to increase market share or price premiums.

Economic considerations of breeding for polled dairy cows versus dehorning in the United States.

This paper examines the costs and benefits of selecting for polled dairy heifers versus traditional dehorning practices. Stochastic budgets were developed to analyze the expected costs (EC) associated with polled dairy genetics. The economic assessment was expanded beyond on-farm cash costs by incorporating cost and benefit estimates to generate industry-wide discussion, and preliminary economic evaluations, surrounding the public acceptance and attitude toward polled genetics versus dehorning calves. Triangular distributions, commonly used to represent distributions with limited data, were used to represent labor costs for dehorning, the likelihood of treatment of calf, and the cost of veterinary treatment. In total, 10,000 iterations were run using @Risk v 6.0 (Palisade Corp., Newfield, NY). The EC of the 4 traditional dehorning methods evaluated in this study ranged from $6 to $25/head, with a mean EC around $12 to $13/head. The EC of incorporating polled genetics into a breeding program ranged from $0 to $26/head depending on the additional cost, or premium, associated with polled relative to horned genetics. Estimated breakeven premiums associated with polled genetics indicate that, on average, producers could spend up to $5.95/head and $11.90/head more for heterozygous and homozygous polled genetics, respectively, compared with conventional horned genetics (or $2.08 and $4.17/straw of semen at an assumed average conception rate of 35%). Given the parameters outlined, sensitivity to individual farm semen and dehorning costs are likely to swamp these differences. Beyond on-farm costs, industry-wide discussion may be warranted surrounding the public's acceptance and attitude toward polled genetics versus dehorning or disbudding of calves. The value of avoiding dehorning may be larger for the industry, and perhaps some individual farms, than initially suggested if additional value is put on calf comfort and possible worker aversion to dehorning. If public perception of dehorning influences market access, the EC of dehorning may be large but that cost is unknown at present.

Survey of US Veterinary Students on Communicating with Limited English Proficient Spanish-Speaking Pet Owners.

Veterinary schools and colleges generally include communication skills training in their professional curriculum, but few programs address challenges resulting from language gaps between pet owners and practitioners. Due to shifting US demographics, small animal veterinary practices must accommodate an increasing number of limited English proficient (LEP) Spanish-speaking pet owners (SSPOs). A national survey was conducted to assess the interest and preparedness of US veterinary students to communicate with LEP SSPOs when they graduate. This online survey, with more than 2,000 first-, second-, and third-year US veterinary students, revealed that over 50% of students had worked at a practice or shelter that had LEP Spanish-speaking clients. Yet fewer than 20% of these students described themselves as prepared to give medical information to an LEP SSPO. Over three-fourths of respondents agreed that communication with LEP SSPOs was important for veterinarians in general, and two-thirds agreed that communication with LEP SSPOs was important for themselves personally. Ninety percent of students who described themselves as conversant in Spanish agreed that they would be able to communicate socially with SSPOs, while only 55% said they would be able to communicate medically with such clients. Overall, two-thirds of students expressed interest in taking Spanish for Veterinary Professionals elective course while in school, with the strongest interest expressed by those with advanced proficiency in spoken Spanish. Bridging language gaps has the potential to improve communication with LEP SSPOs in the veterinary clinical setting and to improve patient care, client satisfaction, and the economic health of the veterinary profession.

The Curious Case of Baby Formula in the United States in 2022: Cries for Urgent Action Months after Silence in the Midst of Alarm Bells.

The shortages of baby formula in the US resulting from the voluntary recall of contaminated products and shutdown of manufacturing facility in February led to increases in the national out-of-stock rate of the baby formula from 18 to 70% over the summer of 2022. This study utilizes social media listening and data analysis to examine how online media reactions to the physical shortage changed over time and how the reaction to the shortage differed from to the initial recall announcements. Improved understanding of reactions to emergent issues in foods through this lens may improve communication efficiency to mitigate potential consequences.

Quantifying "local food" online and social media in the United States for 2018-2021.

Background: Interest in local food has been growing, driven by increased attention from consumers, supporting policies, and interest in offering supply by local producers. Nonetheless, a definition of "local food" remains elusive, varying with purposes, geographies, and perceptions. This study quantifies online media mentioning local food in 2018-2021 using online and social media listening and analytics. In addition, a sub-search devoted to local food security and access was conducted due to a high proportion of mentions devoted to food security in the initial search. Variations in mentions and net sentiment quantified for individual US states are also presented. Results: The local food pantry sub-search arose after finding a large share of the general local food media was referencing local food access rather than production or other topics. The interest in local food access was more apparent during crises periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, during which even a larger portion of mentions are devoted to the local food pantry sub-search topic. Mentions quantified from the sub-search are mostly expressing concerns about worsened food insecurity during the pandemic and encouraging others to do things like donate food to local pantries. Conclusions: Online and social media can play an important role towards active communication in local communities on topics, such as food availability and access. In addition, online media can facilitate more efficient emergency management.

Online Media Attention Devoted to Flour and Flour-Related Food Safety in 2017 to 2020.

ABSTRACT: In light of extended stay-at-home periods during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, recent societal trends have revealed an increased use of online media to remain connected. Simultaneously, interests in at-home cooking and baking, particularly of "comfort foods" have increased. Because flour is a crucial component in many of these products, we analyze how the U.S. public, in social and online media spaces, references "flour" and its use. We also quantify the share of media mentions about flour that are devoted to flour-related food safety risks and/or risk mitigation. It was found that the volume of mentions about flour and its use fluctuate seasonally, often increasing ahead of the winter holiday season (November to December). Further, the volume of interest rapidly increased in March 2020 when stay-at-home orders were issued. The share of media devoted to flour-related food safety risks or associated illness was extremely small but generally corresponded with flour recall announcements or other public risk communications. Overall, the interest in flour and its use remains seasonal and predictably related to societal trends, such as increased baking at home during the holidays or 2020 stay-at-home orders. However, awareness of flour-related food safety risks seems largely absent on the basis of online media data collection and analysis, except in immediate reactions to flour recalls. This study suggests that more flour safety education programs may be desired to support consumers' informed decision making.

The anatomy of natural disasters on online media: hurricanes and wildfires.

Increasing prevalence and scale of natural disasters fuel the need for new approaches to evaluating, and eventually mitigating, their impact. This analysis quantifies and compares online and social media attention to hurricanes and wildfires over time and geographic space. Hurricanes studied included: Michael, Maria, Irma, Harvey, and Florence. Fires studied included: Woolsey, Mendocino, Carr, and Camp. It was hypothesized that total volume of online media content, measured in posts and mentions, varied measurably over the phases of the disasters. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that the anatomy of the disaster, specifically the number and timing/dates, of posts and mentions varied inside versus outside impacted zones/geographies. Social media content, in sheer volume, related to hurricanes was larger than that devoted to fires. A mismatch between the time periods that people post about natural disasters on social media and the times when aid is needed to rebuild was found. Mentions fell rapidly after landfall for hurricanes, and long before fires were officially contained or extinguished. This rapid fall in media attention may leave directly impacted populations without help and support during the rebuilding process. Greater understanding of volume of posts over time, or the anatomy of disasters in online media space, may help government agencies, private industry, and relief organizations understand public attentiveness before, during, and after various types of natural disasters.

Perception versus reality of the COVID-19 pandemic in U.S. meat markets.

Disruptions to meat markets during the COVID-19 pandemic spurred mass media attention. While media deeming the U.S. food system 'broken' garnered a great deal of attention, the actual production and meat availability data does not support this conclusion. The U.S. meat supply chain, while certainly strained and with measurable consequence during periods of adjustment, proved ultimately resilient and rebounded quickly. Increased attention on meat supply chains may drive continued efforts to improve resiliency, but analyses of online media and U.S. production and cold storage data do not support a narrative that the system 'broke', but was perhaps 'strained' and 'responded efficiently'. Findings indicate that public sentiment about U.S. meat supply overall was not as dominated by pandemic-era concerns as may be hypothesized.

What do U.S. consumers care about regarding beef and its supply chain?

Stated levels of concerns regarding different aspects of beef and its supply chain in the U.S. were studied for a representative sample of 1275 U.S. residents. In addition to top concerns, frequency of general beef consumption and different beef subprimal cuts were collected. Sixty-two percent of respondents indicated eating beef at least twice per week; ground beef was the most frequently purchased beef item. We find that price and food safety prevailed as the most prominent considerations for U.S. residents regarding beef and it's supply chain, though employee welfare, supply chain issues and beef availability have gained prominence in light of the severe disruptions to the industry induced by COVID-19. Concerns regarding cattle emissions, cattle welfare, beef availability and food safety were more prevalent amongst younger consumers. Marketing campaigns highlighting the industry's efforts on improving such matters may be particularly meaningful to younger age groups.

Social pressure, altruism, free-riding, and non-compliance in mask wearing by U.S. residents in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

Human behavior, such as wearing a mask in public, affects the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic. A nationally representative survey of 1198 U.S. residents was used to study demographics, perceptions, and stated beliefs of residents who indicated they believe masks have a role in society in response to COVID-19 but self-reported not wearing masks in at least one public place studied. Individuals who believed wearing masks protected others were more likely to report voluntarily wearing them, providing possible evidence of altruism. Perceiving social pressure negatively impacted the probability of voluntary mask wearing amongst those who believed masks have a role in society, suggesting social shaming may not increase compliance among these individuals. Free-riding is one possible explanation for why an individual respondent may self-report belief that mask wearing has a role in society and simultaneously self-report not voluntarily wearing a mask in public locations. Alternatively, incomplete knowledge, confusion about the role of masks in controlling spread of COVID-19, or fatigue are all possible explanations for why adults who believe masks play a role demonstrate less than optimal compliance themselves with mask wearing. Promotion of altruism, rather than social shaming, is more likely to increase mask wearing based on this analysis. Tactics to improve public health initiative compliance and participation may change throughout the duration of the pandemic and/or may differ between segments of the population. Increased understanding of human behavior as it relates to mask wearing can inform public health communications and construction of incentive-aligned messaging to improve public health-related behaviors and associated outcomes.

Revisiting the Digital Divide in the COVID-19 Era.

The digital divide limits opportunities for those without ready access to Internet. Movement online of essential activities during COVID-19 took inadequate Internet service from inconvenient to emergency/crisis for many households. A negative correlation between rurality and Internet speed was found at the county level, highlighting the struggle for rural areas. Schools tackle challenges of providing equitable educational access by attempting to provide access for students, while even households with service available struggle to maintain sufficient speeds and/or can afford it. Essential activities moved online, yet sufficient Internet is an essential public service that remains unattainable for many US households.

Dairy product purchasing in households with and without children.

Dairy products are considered a staple in the American diet due in part to their nutritious content and appealing flavor. Consumption patterns may differ among age segments influenced by preferences for fat content and taste in dairy. Furthermore, having children in their household may influence the amount, frequency, and type of dairy products that a consumer chooses to purchase. This study finds that households that frequently bought food for children generally purchased larger quantities of fluid milk and more fluid milk with a higher fat content. Households with children also bought yogurt more frequently than other households. Labeling information of interest to the largest proportion of respondents was price; unsurprisingly, expiration date was second most common on meat, eggs, or milk product packaging. Although the scientific and cultural debate of the benefit or harm of consuming dairy continues, it is clear that the segment of the population that frequently purchases food for children is interested in dairy as part of the diet of the children. It would be interesting to see whether this finding has a spillover effect on the consumption habits of adults making the purchases. Future studies can build on this work by evaluating whether there is a spillover effect from purchasing specifically for children and the general dairy and protein product purchasing habits of those households.

Public perceptions of threats from mosquitoes in the U.S. using online media analytics.

Mosquito-borne illnesses present a public health threat. This analysis quantifies general online mosquito media, and the Zika virus [ZIKV) specifically, from 7-20-2016 to 10-20-2018 in five U.S. geographies. The ZIKV sub-search comprised a shrinking share of online media about mosquitoes over time. Net sentiment, numerical scoring of search result positivity/negativity bounded between -100 and +100, was assessed. Mean net sentiment for the general mosquitoes search was -51; -55 for ZIKV. The ZIKV search revealed more variation in weekly net sentiment with a standard deviation of 14, compared to 10 for mosquitoes. Seventy-seven percent of the weeks had a net sentiment for the mosquito search that was more positive than the ZIKV search. For the 23% of the time the ZIKV search net sentiment was more positive than the general mosquito search, there were mentions of scientific advances, such as the potential for vaccine development associated with the post. Greater emphasis on public health threats from mosquitoes may be necessary to stimulate public action on mosquito-borne illness control. This analysis serves as an illustration of the potential for online/social media analysis to inform health officials of public interest/focus, and perhaps inform effective communication campaigns to combat public health threats.

Initial Reports of Foodborne Illness Drive More Public Attention Than Do Food Recall Announcements.

ABSTRACT: Recall announcements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are important communication tools. Nonetheless, previous studies revealed that the effects of recalls on consumer demand are small. Social media analytics can provide insights into public awareness of food safety-related incidents. This study included social listening data to analyze how the public, in social and online media spaces, responds to, interacts with, and references food safety recalls and/or initial announcements of foodborne illness outbreaks as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Analysis results suggest that mentions quantified in the social and online media searches moved closer in step with the CDC's initial reports of foodborne illness outbreaks than did FDA and FSIS recall announcements. Issuance of recalls may not be a popular source of food risk information in the social media space compared with reactions to the CDC's initial illness reports. This relative popularity reflects people more often sharing or posting about illness risk regardless of whether a recall occurs, suggesting that recall announcements by the FDA and FSIS may not induce changes in consumers' behavior, whereas initial illness reports by the CDC may. Although recalls by the FDA and FSIS may not generate social media posts, their primary role is to take potentially unsafe food items off grocery shelves. Online media analytics provide policy makers with information to guide effective food risk communication; initial CDC reports drive immediate attention more than do FDA and FSIS recalls.

Public Perceptions of Veterinarians from Social and Online Media Listening.

The public perception of the veterinary medicine profession is of increasing concern given the mounting challenges facing the industry, ranging from student debt loads to mental health implications arising from compassion fatigue, euthanasia, and other challenging aspects of the profession. This analysis employs social media listening and analysis to discern top themes arising from social and online media posts referencing veterinarians. Social media sentiment analysis is also employed to aid in quantifying the search results, in terms of whether they are positivity/negativity associated. From September 2017-November 2019, over 1.4 million posts and 1.7 million mentions were analyzed; the top domain in the search results was Twitter (74%). The mean net sentiment associated with the search conducted over the time period studied was 52%. The top terms revealed in the searches conducted revolved mainly around care of or concern for pet animals. The recognition of challenges facing the veterinary medicine profession were notably absent, except for the mention of suicide risks. While undeniably influenced by the search terms selected, which were directed towards client-clinic related verbiage, a relative lack of knowledge regarding veterinarians' roles in human health, food safety/security, and society generally outside of companion animal care was recognized. Future research aimed at determining the value of veterinarians' contributions to society and, in particular, in the scope of One Health, may aid in forming future communication and education campaigns.

Perceptions of Prominent Animal Welfare and Veterinary Care Organizations in the United States.

U.S. residents' perceptions of the impact of prominent animal welfare and veterinary care organizations on pet animal well-being and health care may not be linked to the organization's stated mission and effectiveness in advancing it, but to the level of recognition people have for the groups. An online survey of 1000 U.S. residents was used to understand the perceived impact of organizations with self-stated dedication to pet animal well-being. Using a Likert-scale, respondents ranked 13 prominent organizations as having a low to high impact on pet animal well-being and health care. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) had the highest perceived average impact, while People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had the lowest. A best-worst scaling (BWS) choice experiment was conducted with 7 of the initial 13 organizations to elicit relative rankings by forcing tradeoffs by respondents. Consistent with the Likert-scale results, the ASPCA was ranked as the most impactful organization. The ASPCA's perceived impact on pet animal well-being and health care may be linked to their high level of recognition among respondents, as this was the organization that respondents most frequently reported having seen/heard stories related to animal well-being and health care.

#Eggs: social and online media-derived perceptions of egg-laying hen housing.

Enormous quantities of data are generated through social and online media in the era of Web 2.0. Understanding consumer perceptions or demand efficiently and cost effectively remains a focus for economists, retailer/consumer sciences, and production industries. Most of the efforts to understand demand for food products rely on reports of past market performance along with survey data. Given the movement of content-generation online to lay users via social media, the potential to capture market-influencing shifts in sentiment exists in online data. This analysis presents a novel approach to studying consumer perceptions of production system attributes using eggs and laying hen housing, which have received significant attention in recent years. The housing systems cage-free and free-range had the greatest number of online hits in the searches conducted, compared with the other laying hen housing types. Less online discussion surrounded enriched cages, which were found by other methods/researchers to meet many key consumer preferences. These results, in conjunction with insights into net sentiment and words associated with different laying hen housing in online and social media, exemplify how social media listening may complement traditional methods to inform decision-makers regarding agribusiness marketing, food systems, management, and regulation. Employing web-derived data for decision-making within agrifood firms offers the opportunity for actionable insights tailored to individual businesses or products.

#GoingtotheFair: a social media listening analysis of agricultural fairs.

Agricultural fairs provide one of the last frontiers, and largest stages, for showcasing livestock agriculture to the public. However, public funding, attendance revenue, animal biosecurity, and public health concerns are all aspects worthy of conversation and increased research attention given the interaction between livestock animals and the general public in fair and festival settings. A prominent social media listening and data analytics platform was used to quantify online and social media chatter concerning agricultural fairs during a 27-mo period. A general search for online media referencing agricultural fair keywords was designed; social and online media mentions of agricultural fairs (n = 2,091,350 mentions) were further queried according to their reference to livestock, fair food, or the major agricultural product producing species of dairy and beef cattle (n = 68,900), poultry (n = 39,600), and swine (n = 31,250). Numbers of search results were found to be seasonal and Twitter was the single largest domain for all fair-related results; in contrast, the majority of livestock-related media was generated by news sources rather than from Twitter. On a weekly basis, the percentage of fair livestock mentions with species-specific reference was highly variable ranging from 0% to 86.8% for cattle, 0% to 85.7% for poultry, and 0% to 76.9% for swine. In addition to quantifying total search hits or mentions, the positivity/negativity of the search results was analyzed using natural language processing capabilities. The net sentiment quantified is the total percentage of positive posts minus the percentage of negative posts, which results in a necessarily bounded net sentiment between -100% and +100%. Overall net sentiment associated with mentions of agricultural fairs was positive; the topics garnering the highest positive sentiments were fair food and cattle (both 98% positive). Online discussion pertaining to agricultural fairs and swine was overall positive despite references to swine flu outbreaks. In conclusion, livestock and animal products had positive net sentiment over the time period studied, but there are multiple aspects of agricultural fairs worthy of further investigation and continued vigilance, including zoonotic disease risk and public perceptions of livestock industries.