“American Potential Responses to Deliberate Food Contamination: A Risk Perception and Communication Study” (original) (raw)
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Public Attitudes and Perceptions of the Vulnerability of the US Food Chain to Agroterrorism
2005
This study uses results from marginal effects estimates across the foods and points of the food chain to rank the foods and food chain points in order of intensity of likelihood of a terrorist attack. The results show that young people, low incomers (<$35,000), those with medium to low knowledge about food chain and food safety, those skeptical about grocery abilities on food safety, and those with low education were likely to feel that certain foods are more likely to view likelihood of terrorist attacks possible.
Making Sense of Emergency Advice: Public Perceptions of the Terrorist Risk
Security Journal, 2007
, the U.K. Government launched an 8.3 million pound campaign to inform the public about how to respond to emergency situations, disseminating an advice booklet to 25 million households. The specifi ed objective of the campaign was to relay information about what members of the public should do to prepare for major emergencies, such as a terrorist attack. Although the booklet provides generic advice about a range of emergency situations, at the time of distribution, media and political attention became fi rmly fi xed on the sections containing information about chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) strikes. In this paper, we present the fi ndings of questionnaire-based research into public perceptions of emergency advice. Based on responses from 116 participants, we refl ect on the effi cacy of Government communications, the impact of the advice booklet on behavioural intentions and the fi t between interpretations of the guidance offered and wider attitudes towards terrorism. Qualitative methods of analysis are deployed to explore individual fears about terrorism and collective levels of trust in Government. Our research raises prescient questions about future communication strategies and public policy making. Drawing upon risk society and governmentality perspectives, the paper examines the extent to which citizens are responding to Government information and the way in which the individualization of the terrorist risk meshes with an extant process of responsibilization articulated through policies on crime control, security and welfare. In conclusion, we outline the potentialities and the pitfalls of a burgeoning politics of risk that appears to be driving contemporary policy initiatives in the U.K.
Perceived Threats to Food Security and Possible Responses Following an Agro-Terrorist Attack
The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks exposed vulnerabilities to U.S. homeland security and defense, leading U.S. officials to analyze threats to domestic and international interests. Terrorist attacks against food and water supplies (agro-terrorism), were deemed a national security threat because of the assessed fear, economic instability, and social instability that could occur following a food shortage. Research indicated a comprehensive response plan does not exist across the federal, state, and local levels of government to mitigate the public's possible responses to a perceived threat to food security and food shortages following an agro-terrorist attack. This ethnographic case study analyzed the perceived threats to food security and the possible responses to food shortages in Yuma, Arizona (the "winter lettuce capitol of the world"). Coleman and Putnam's theories of social capital served as the theoretical framework for this study.
2014
Sei-Hill Kim, has always provided me with insightful comments on my research throughout my graduate years. I owe much of what I have learned to him. Working with him has been an invaluable experience that helped me grow as a researcher. I am very grateful to my other committee members, Dr. Andrea Tanner for her invaluable comments on this manuscript, Dr. Brooke Weberling McKeever for always providing me with warm support during the process, and Dr. Ken Watkins for sharing his knowledge and wisdom. I need to thank my dear friend, Caroline Foster, for editing this manuscript. I am also truly grateful to many colleagues, friends, and family members near and far who have listened, encouraged, and provided everyday life happiness. Thank you, all, especially Drs. Jeong-Nam Kim, Kathy R. Forde, and John C. Besley, who have supported me in my academic journey. I owe thanks to my sisters, Sang-Yeon and Sang-Hee, and my brother, Sang-Wook. I especially appreciate my youngest sister, Sang-Hee Oh, who has always believed in my strength and helped me get through all the difficulties that I encountered during my doctoral study. Most importantly, I greatly appreciate my loving parents, who have always been there for me. Without their faith, love, and support, I would not have been able to start and complete this dissertation. v
Consumers Response to a New Food Safety Issue: Food Terrorism
13th World Congress of Food Science & Technology, 2006
Deliberate contamination of some component of the food supply with the intention of doing physical or economic harm or creating fear (terror) defines food terrorism. Food is one of several vectors used to induce intense prolonged fear with imagined or real future dangers. It has been used around the world. Witness such examples as 1978 mercury in Jaffa oranges in five European countries, 1984 salmonellae in a salad bar in the U.S., 2003 rat poisoning in school breakfasts in China. More than four thousand U.S. consumers were surveyed to ascertain their level of concern about food defense measures relative to food safety and their preferences for allocating resources to defend the food system compared to defending other infrastructure such as airlines, public transportation or national monuments. Contrary to actual food defense expenditures, consumers indicated that 13% more should be allocated to food systems than to airlines. Twenty-six percent were not confident the food supply is safe; 55% were not confident the food supply is secure. Segmenting the representative sample into archetypes, based on attitudes, shows that those who have a high fear level as well as those who are risk averse allocated the most to defending food. Food defense has become another factor in the quest for safe food consumption. Consumers are more concerned about food terrorism than food safety.
Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science, 2012
Recent national plans for recovery from bioterrorism acts perpetrated in densely populated urban areas acknowledge the formidable technical and social challenges of consequence management. Effective risk and crisis communication is one priority to strengthen the U.S.'s response and resilience. However, several notable risk events since September 11, 2001, have revealed vulnerabilities in risk/crisis communication strategies and infrastructure of agencies responsible for protecting civilian populations. During recovery from a significant biocontamination event, 2 goals are essential: (1) effective communication of changing risk circumstances and uncertainties related to cleanup, restoration, and reoccupancy; and (2) adequate responsiveness to emerging information needs and priorities of diverse populations in high-threat, vulnerable locations. This telephone survey study explored predictors of public reactions to uncertainty communications and reassurances from leaders related to the remediation stage of an urban-based bioterrorism incident. African American and Hispanic adults (N = 320) were randomly sampled from 2 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse geographic areas in New York and California assessed as high threat, high vulnerability for terrorism and other public health emergencies. Results suggest that considerable heterogeneity exists in risk perspectives and information needs within certain sociodemographic groups; that success of risk/crisis communication during recovery is likely to be uneven; that common assumptions about public responsiveness to particular risk communications need further consideration; and that communication effectiveness depends partly on preexisting
Frontiers in Public Health, 2020
Trust in public health officials and the information they provide is essential for the public uptake of preventative strategies to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. This paper discusses how a model for developing and maintaining trust in public health officials during food safety incidents and scandals might be applied to pandemic management. The model identifies ten strategies to be considered, including: transparency; development of protocols and procedures; credibility; proactivity; putting the public first; collaborating with stakeholders; consistency; education of stakeholders and the public; building your reputation; and keeping your promises. While pandemic management differs insofar as the responsibility lies with the public rather than identifiable regulatory bodies, and governments must weigh competing risks in creating policy, we conclude that many of the strategies identified in our trust model can be successfully applied to the maintenance of trust in public health officials prior to, during, and after pandemics.
Food is a fundamental requirement of every human being and so, unsurprisingly disruption of supply has been a major tactic in human conflict down the centuries. If security issues on food supply are to be consider to food supply chain, apart from measures aiming at preventing food from accidental hazards (covered mainly form HACCP systems), food business operators would have to take additional measures to prevent intentional hazards. These kinds of measures are usually not compulsory, and, most probably, they will not be in the future. On the other side, if one handle food in more relaxed system, it could become an attractive target if the aim would be to disturb one of most important infrastructure (food supply chain) or a country’s (region’s) image. This study has two aims: 1) to evaluate terrorism risk perception through a series of hypothesis drown from a social cognitive model of individual response to terrorism, and 2) to show how the results of the field inquiries are used in...