The impact of non-traditional irrigation water on consumers' perception of food and non-food items: a field experiment in the United States
Date
2021
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The Agricultural and fashion industries are both heavy users of water, which can
result in detrimental consequences for areas that experience high rates of drought. A
commonly proposed solution to address agriculture’s and fashion’s impact is the use of
alternative sources of water for the irrigation of edible and inedible crops. Several
studies have measured consumer preferences towards the use of recycled water for the
irrigation of food products but there is no other known study investigating how
consumers will respond to nonfood products that are produced with recycled water. We
conducted a framed field experiment to compare the effect of alternative water sources
on participants' monetary bids on food and nonfood items produced with recycled and
conventional irrigation water. The results we derived suggest that individuals respond
least favorably in the food items that were irrigated with recycled water compared to
the nonfood products that were produced with recycled water. Hence, this finding
indicates that inedible crops irrigated with recycled water are not stigmatized as usually
happens with edible crops irrigated with recycled water since, for most consumers, the
origin of the recycled water on them is too apparent. These findings should be useful
for policymakers to gradually convey to the public the benefits of recycled water in the
use of recycled water in the irrigation of food and nonfood crops. This study proves that
a big portion of individuals are more acceptable towards the use of recycled water in the
irrigation of cotton compared to its use in the irrigation of strawberries.
Description
Keywords
Non-traditional irrigation, Irrigation water, Consumers' perception, Food items, Non-food items, Sustainable development