Economic Assessment of Morel (Morchella spp.) Foraging in Michigan, USA.

Wild-foraged mushrooms represent a natural resource that provides economic value to foragers through both market and nonmarket recreational channels. Despite the importance of non-timber forest resources for sustainable management of forestlands, little attention has been paid to who forages for wild mushrooms, why they choose to forage, where they go, and what economic value is generated. This report draws upon survey data from 78 foragers who are certified to sell their mushrooms and 85 noncertified foraging enthusiasts. Its goal is to understand foraging patterns and values for morels (Morchella spp.) in the State of Michigan (USA). Most foragers spend fewer than 10 days each year foraging, and those who sell their morels are most likely to sell to local restaurants, pubs and bars, and informally to their friends. Certified foragers who choose to sell their morels sell for an average price of $36 per pound ($36/lb) for fresh black or yellow morels. Costs to supply fresh morels ranged widely among the 16 certified sellers who reported full cost details; over 70% of morels were supplied at costs below $30/lb, but some certified sellers incurred costs in the hundreds of dollars per pound. Recreational morel gatherers paid $43 to $335 per trip of foraging morels, with a median value of $93 per trip. Morel foragers also search for other mushrooms with oyster mushrooms (Pleurtous spp.), chanterelles (Cantharellus spp), hen-of the-woods (Grifola frondosa), and chicken-of-the-woods (Laetiporus spp) being the most popular.

Paying Americans to take the vaccine-would it help or backfire?

This research investigates the extent to which financial incentives (conditional cash transfers) would induce Americans to opt for vaccination against coronavirus disease of 2019. We performed a randomized survey experiment with a representative sample of 1000 American adults in December 2020. Respondents were asked whether they would opt for vaccination under one of three incentive conditions ($1000, $1500, or $2000 financial incentive) or a no-incentive condition. We find that-without coupled financial incentives-only 58 per cent of survey respondents would elect for vaccination. A coupled financial incentive yields an 8-percentage-point increase in vaccine uptake relative to this baseline. The size of the cash transfer does not dramatically affect uptake rates. However, incentive responses differ dramatically by demographic group. Republicans were less responsive to financial incentives than the general population. For Black and Latino Americans especially, very large financial incentives may be counter-productive.

Homegrown perceptions about the medical use and potential abuse of CBD and THC.

Despite heightened consumer interest in cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), little is known about public perceptions regarding their medical use and potential for abuse, particularly relative to commonly used medications. Using data from 1,050 U.S. adult respondents from a national survey conducted in 2019, this study found that more than half of respondents perceived CBD, THC, hemp, and marijuana as having medical use. They also perceived the potential for abuse of CBD, THC, hemp, and marijuana as significantly less than potential for abuse of commonly prescribed anti-anxiety and pain medications. At the nexus of medical use and potential abuse, public perceptions classified CBD and hemp as similar to over-the-counter pain relief medications such as Advil and Tylenol and did not classify marijuana as a Schedule I substance. Slightly more than 20% of respondents reported having consumed CBD and/or THC. CBD was consumed more than THC to reduce pain while THC was consumed more than CBD for recreation. There were no differences in the types of medications they were replacing with CBD and THC.

Unscrambling U.S. egg supply chains amid COVID-19.

This article investigates how the shift from food-away-from-home and towards food-at-home at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the U.S. egg industry. We find that the pandemic increased retail and farm-gate prices for table eggs by approximately 141% and 182%, respectively. In contrast, prices for breaking stock eggs-which are primarily used in foodservice and restaurants-fell by 67%. On April 3, 2020, the FDA responded by issuing temporary exemptions from certain food safety standards for breaking stock egg producers seeking to sell into the retail table egg market. We find that this regulatory change rapidly pushed retail, farm-gate, and breaking stock prices towards their long-run pre-pandemic equilibrium dynamics. The pandemic reduced premiums for credence attributes, including cage-free, vegetarian-fed, and organic eggs, by as much as 34%. These premiums did not fully recover following the return to more "normal" price dynamics, possibly signaling that willingness-to-pay for animal welfare and environmental sustainability have fallen as consumers seek to meet basic needs during the pandemic. Finally, in spite of widespread claims of price gouging, we do not find that the pandemic (or the subsequent FDA regulatory changes) had a meaningful impact on the marketing margin for table eggs sold at grocery stores.

Beverage milk consumption patterns in the United States: Who is substituting from dairy to plant-based beverages?

This research used a survey of 995 US households to explore how dairy milk and plant-based beverage substitutes were consumed. Long-term trends of declining beverage milk consumption have been exacerbated in recent years by increasing consumption of plant-based beverages. Although beverage milk consumption has been declining, total dairy consumption in the United States continues to increase, driven by growth in sales of cheese, butter, and yogurt. Using k-means cluster analysis, 3 consumption clusters for US households were identified. The largest cluster, consisting of 61.6% of households, consumed dairy milk with some regularity and consumed little or no plant-based beverages. A second cluster, flexitarian households, consisting of 15.6% of respondent households, frequently consumed both dairy milk and plant-based beverages. The third cluster, plant-based consumers, consisting of 22.8% of households, consumed almost exclusively plant-based beverages. Examining differences in demographics between clusters, flexitarian households were larger, more likely to include young children, more likely to include a vegetarian or vegan, and more liberal than traditional dairy-consuming households. Plant-based households had many similarities to flexitarian households. The flexitarian and plant-based clusters were willing to substitute plant-based beverages for dairy milk for almost all consumption uses.

Environmental and Regulatory Concerns During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from the Pandemic Food and Stigma Survey.

In this article, we present data from the monthly Pandemic Food and Stigma Survey (PFSS), a nationwide representative sample of adults in the United States designed to identify how the pandemic is affecting concerns about food and the environment. Two surveys were conducted in May and June 2020. Our analysis suggests that the public's concern about contracting COVID-19 has been high; however, infection with COVID-19 was not the only concern. A majority of respondents remained strongly concerned about environmental issues, such as climate change, while responses to sudden relaxations of environmental and food safety policies varied. We analyze the PFSS data to identify factors associated with concerns about pandemic and environmental regulatory changes. In general, we find that people whose food security has been threatened by COVID-19 remain concerned about relaxation of environmental regulations, and those most inclined to take steps to reduce spread of the virus, such as wearing masks and social distancing, are more concerned about relaxed regulations than those less willing to take mitigating actions.