Health, Environment, or Economics: Framing of Food Production Labeling in Three Informational Contexts
Embargo until
Date
2014-07-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
Background: Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) was introduced through the 2002 U.S. Farm Bill and requires U.S. grocery retailers to indicate the origin and for unprocessed fresh and frozen meat, seafood, produce, and other foods. Additionally, COOL requires grocers to distinguish fish and shellfish by their procurement method - whether farm-raised or wild-caught. Food origin labeling has salience across multiple dimensions. COOL may, for instance, impact economic vitality by guiding consumers to select products from certain countries over others. COOL may also have implications for public and environmental health by serving as a food safety or sustainability signal. The aims and objectives of mandatory COOL are broadly defined as to provide consumers with information about their food purchases. As such, the meaning and importance ascribed to the COOL, as well as the objectives of the labeling policy more generally, are subject to interpretation and influence from key stakeholders. Indeed, COOL has been a source of conflict between both domestic and foreign stakeholders. This research investigates the impact of this conflict on the framing of COOL. A particular focus of this body of research is the extent to which issues pertinent to human and ecological health are framed both at the point of purchase and in media coverage of the policy as being concert or in competition with marketing, economic, and political considerations in the implementation of COOL.
Aims: This research examines the framing of COOL across a variety of informational contexts. The aims of this work are threefold: 1) To define the relevance of COOL information in marketing seafood prior to and at the point of purchase, 2) illustrate the salience of public health goals relative to economic or trade objectives in the framing of COOL policy aims in the international print news media, and 3) to assess public engagement with mandatory process labeling as a policy issue in the new participatory media.
Methods: This research consists of two phases. The first examines presentations of COOL for seafood prior to and at the point of purchase in Baltimore City grocery stores to determine the extent to which country of origin and procurement method were highlighted relative to other product information. 28 store visits were made to 16 stores located in Central, North, and East Baltimore. All seafood advertisements and labels from participating stores were included in the analysis. These data were coded according to the following criteria in order to assess the prominence of COOL: location of COOL relative to product or other advertisement features; use of color, changes in font. Descriptive statistics were performed to determine the prominence of co-occurrence of certain codes across the dataset while qualitative methods served to illuminate the nature and presentation of COOL in advertisements and in labels.
The second phase of research involves an investigation of the framing of COOL in print and online media. This phase consists of two distinct studies, the first of which is a cross-national comparison of the framing of COOL policy objectives in print news media from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The second of these studies examines blog posts and reader comments in the online participatory media to assess public engagement with COOL relative to another emerging process labeling policy: labeling for genetically modified foods. In both of these investigations, progressive theoretical sampling was used to identify and select relevant news articles and blog posts. The articles and blog posts were then subjected to a thematic content analysis, exploring the relevance of public health in the framing of food labeling policy objectives and advocacy arguments, respectively. In analysis, each theme was assigned a code. The prevalence and co-occurrence of codes throughout the dataset, as well as the amount of coverage, were established through quantitative analysis. Qualitative methods explored the definitions, meanings, and presentations of the themes.
Main Findings: Together, the three studies comprising this work explore the framing of COOL and its relevance to public health and environmental aims across three different informational contexts. In each of the three studies, food safety emerged as a prominent frame and COOL was presented within two roles: as a food safety signal or as a traceability tool. In both functions, COOL was presented as a means for consumers to identify preferred foods and avoid those deemed to be unsafe. In labeling, advertising, and media presentations of COOL, domestic foods were favored over imported alternatives.
Significance: By shifting consumer demand and influencing market practices, food labeling policies broadly, and labeling for country of origin and processing method, in particular, can have a significant impact on human and environmental health, economic vitality, and trade relations. This work employs an innovative approach to examining the extent to which public health was highlighted in the framing of food labeling policy relative to economic concerns across varying informational contexts. The combination of mass media analysis with assessment of point of purchase presentations of COOL yielded a comprehensive profile of COOL within the larger information environment. This research contributes to the food systems literature by providing insight into the societal, cultural, and environmental factors that influence the adoption of food labeling policy as a regulatory tool.
Description
Keywords
Food labeling, Media studies