DNA in Viking poop sheds new light on 55,000-year-old relationship between gut companions

Using stool samples from Viking latrines, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have genetically mapped one of the oldest human parasites – the whipworm.  The mapping reflects the parasite’s global spread and its interaction with human beings, a del

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN - FACULTY OF SCIENCE

 

IMAGE: SAMPLE MAP view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN

Using stool samples from Viking latrines, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have genetically mapped one of the oldest human parasites – the whipworm.  The mapping reflects the parasite’s global spread and its interaction with human beings, a delicate relationship that can make us healthier and ill.

Using fossilized eggs in up to 2500-year-old feces from Viking settlements in Denmark and other countries, researchers at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences and the Wellcome Sanger Institute (UK) have made the largest and most in-depth genetic analysis of one of the oldest parasites found in humans – the whipworm.

The study, published in Nature Communications, presents completely new knowledge about the parasite's development and prehistoric dispersal. This knowledge can be applied in efforts to prevent the parasite's drug resistance and its future spread.

The study suggests that human and parasite have developed a delicate interaction over thousands of years, whereby the parasite tries to stay “under the radar” not to be repelled, which allows it more time to infect new people. From other studies, it is known that the whipworm stimulates the human immune system and the gut microbiome, to the mutual benefit of both host and parasite.

While whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) is now rare in industrialized countries, and most often only causes minor problems among healthy individuals, the parasite is estimated to affect 500 million people in developing countries.

"In people who are malnourished or have impaired immune systems, whipworm can lead to serious illness. Our mapping of the whipworm and its genetic development makes it easier to design more effective anti-worm drugs that can be used to prevent the spread of this parasite in the world's poorest regions," says Professor Christian Kapel of UCPH’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.

CAPTION

Latrines from the 1650's found during the excavation of the Copenhagen Metro.

CREDIT

University of Copenhagen

Fossilized latrine poop from Copenhagen and Viborg

Eggs, not worms, made it possible for researchers to examine the genetic material of thousands-of-years-old whipworms. Due to extremely durable chitin in egg capsules, their internal DNA has been well preserved while the eggs have been buried in moist soil.

By examining fossilized stool samples which were previously discovered in the latrines of Viking settlements in Viborg and Copenhagen, the researchers isolated the eggs under a microscope, sieved them from the stool and subjected them to refined genetic analyses that the researchers have been perfecting for years in previous studies.

"We have known for a long time that we could detect parasite eggs up to 9000 years old under a microscope. Lucky for us, the eggs are designed to survive in soil for long periods of time. Under optimal conditions, even the parasite's genetic material can be preserved extremely well. And some of the oldest eggs that we’ve extracted some DNA from are 5000 years old. It has been quite surprising to fully map the genome of 1000-year-old well-preserved whipworm eggs in this new study," explains Christian Kapel.

The researchers examined archaeological stool samples from several locations. These ancient genetic samples are compared with contemporary samples obtained from people with whipworms from around the world. Doing so has provided researchers with an overview of the worm's genome and its evolution over ten-thousands of years.

"Unsurprisingly, we can see that the whipworm appears to have spread from Africa to the rest of the world along with humans about 55,000 years ago, following the so-called 'out of Africa' hypothesis on human migration," explains Christian Kapel.

CAPTION

Whip worm eggs.

CREDIT

University of Copenhagen

Can live unnoticed in the intestine for months 

A whipworm can grow five to seven centimeters in length and live unnoticed in the intestine of a healthy individual for several months. During this time, it lays eggs continuously, which are expelled through feces. In people with weakened immune systems, whipworm can cause a wide range of gastrointestinal diseases, malnutrition and even delay childhood development.

Worms are transmitted via the fecal-oral route, meaning that microscopic parasite eggs in soil can spread to drinking water or food, after which they are ingested through the mouth of a new host.

"The eggs lie in the ground and develop for roughly three months. Once matured, eggs can survive in the wild for even longer, as they wait to be consumed by a new host in whose digestive tract they will then hatch. Their entire life cycle is adapted to survive in soil for as long as possible," explains Christian Kapel.

As such, the golden years for these worms in our part of the world were when our toilet and kitchen conditions, as well as personal hygiene, were significantly different than today.

"During the Viking Age and well into the Middle Ages, one didn't have very sanitary conditions or well-separated cooking and toilet facilities. This allowed the whipworm far better opportunities to spread. Today, it is very rare in the industrialized part of world. Unfortunately, favorable conditions for spreading still exist in less developed regions of the world," says Christian Kapel.

Facts:

• The new study provides the first in-depth and complete genetic mapping of the whipworm. Until now, only limited segments of the genome were known.
• The parasite spread from Africa to the rest of the world along with our human ancestors.
• Among other things, the researchers collected stool samples with whipworm eggs from Viking settlements in Denmark, Latvia and the Netherlands.
• The ancient genetic samples were compared with contemporary samples from people with whipworms from many various countries in Africa, Central America, Asia, and Europe.
• The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 604-795 million people are infected by trichuriasis worldwide. Source: Pullan, R. L., Smith, J. L., Jasrasaria, R. & Brooker, S. J. (2014) Global numbers of infection and disease burden of soil transmitted helminth infections in 2010. Parasite. Vectors 7, 37.
• The study is led by the University of Copenhagen's Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Section for Organism Biology and made in collaboration with the Wellcome Sanger Institute (UK).

The power of compost - making waste a climate champion

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

 

IMAGE: THE PRECISION COMPOST STRATEGY COULD HELP REVERSE THE DEGRADATION OF SOIL, BOOSTING CROP PRODUCTION. view more 

CREDIT: SUPPLIED

A new way of using compost could boost global crop production and deliver huge benefits to the planet, according to a study co-led by The University of Queensland.

Professor Susanne Schmidt from UQ’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences said adopting a Precision Compost Strategy (PCS) in large-scale agriculture could improve crop yield, soil health and divert biowaste from landfill where it generates harmful greenhouse gases.

“Instead of relying just on mineral fertilisers, PCS involves supplementing the right type of compost with nutrients to match the needs of soils and crops,” Professor Schmidt said.

“Soils that have become compacted and acidic are then aerated and neutralised.

“The result is they can retain more water, facilitate root growth and nourish the organisms that keep soils and crops healthy.”

Professor Schmidt said soil plays a crucial role in ensuring global food security.

“But currently 30 per cent of the world’s agricultural soil is classified as degraded, with projections that this could rise to 90 per cent by 2050,” she said.

“Our research estimates PCS could boost the annual global production of major cereal crops by 96 million tonnes, or 4 per cent of current production.

“This has flow-on effects for consumers by addressing food shortages and price hikes.”

The study found applying PCS to large-scale agriculture could also help mitigate climate change.

“In Australia alone, more than 7 million tonnes of biowaste ends up in landfill every year where it generates huge amounts of avoidable greenhouse gases and other undesirable effects,” Professor Schmidt said.

“If we repurpose it, we can restore crucial carbon in cropland topsoil.

“There are cost benefits too - diverting just 15,000 tonnes of biowaste could save a local council as much as $2-3 million a year.”

Far North Queensland sugarcane farmer Tony Rossi said his family's company V. Rossi & Sons had been using precision compost for seven years with great success.

“We’ve been able to almost halve our fertiliser use which is so much better for the environment, and our crop yield is the same,” Mr Rossi said.

More than 2,000 examples of compost use in the agricultural sector across the globe were analysed as part of the PCS study.

The research was supported by Fight Food Waste CRC and has been published in Nature Food.

The Rossi Farm in Queensland are experimenting with compost use in sugarcane.

CREDIT

Supplied

Could compost be the new black gold?

CREDIT

Supplied

To improve soils in South Australia that are naturally low in organic matter,

 farmers have been using the Precision Compost Strategy.

CREDIT

Supplied

JOURNAL

Nature Food

DOI

10.1038/s43016-022-00584-x 

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

5-Sep-2022

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

From Health Affairs: Trends in informal patient-to-provider payments in European Union countries

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HEALTH AFFAIRS

Corruption is a major challenge in health care systems across the European Union (EU), where it manifests most visibly as informal payments from patients to providers. In what is believed to be the first study to examine trends in informal payments across the twenty-eight EU states between 2013 and 2019 in relation to changes in public health care expenditure, Giulia Dallera and coauthors from Imperial College London analyzed representative data from Eurobarometer surveys, which included survey responses from more than 80,000 EU citizens. They found that the prevalence of informal payments in EU health care systems increased during those years, but perception of corruption decreased, with significant differences between countries. They also found that higher public health care expenditure was associated with fewer informal payments; however, this relationship became less clear throughout the study period. The authors conclude that their findings can inform further research to investigate drivers of informal payments at the health systems level and to understand the directionality of the relationship between informal payments and public health care expenditure. Their findings also point toward the need to couple public health care investments across EU member states with measures to strengthen health systems to effectively confront corruption.

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Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.

Health Affairs podcasts go beyond the journal’s pages to bring you insightful discussions on the latest news and research affecting health policy. On our flagship podcast, A Health Podyssey, Editor-In-Chief Alan Weil interviews the leading researchers and influencers shaping the field’s big ideas. Join Health Affairs editors on Health Affairs This Week as they discuss the week’s most pressing health policy news. All in 15 minutes or less.

Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.

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JOURNAL

Health Affairs

ARTICLE TITLE

Corruption In Health Care Systems: Trends In Informal Payments Across Twenty-Eight EU Countries, 2013–19

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2022

Growth of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners helped offset drop in psychiatrists treating Medicare patients

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Boston, MA—The mental health system is increasingly reliant on psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) to meet the psychiatric needs of Medicare patients, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

“We were surprised by the degree to which PMHNPs are the de facto mental health prescribers in parts of the country,” said corresponding author Michael Barnett, associate professor of health policy and management at Harvard Chan School. “In the states where PMHNPs have no restrictions on prescribing medications, these providers account for 50% of all mental health prescriber visits in rural areas, which was much greater than we had anticipated.” 

The study will be published in the September 2022 issue of Health Affairs. 

Mental health access is a public health crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated. While demand for mental health treatment is soaring, the supply of psychiatrists accepting insurance is dropping, particularly in rural areas.  

To assess how the mental health workforce and patient population have changed over time, Barnett and his colleagues analyzed fee-for-service Medicare claims during 2011-2019. The team focused on the number of PMHNPs and psychiatrists billing Medicare, the volume of outpatient and psychiatric services by provider group, and how these numbers varied by rurality and scope-of-practice regulations, which can restrict whether a PMHNP is able to prescribe medications. 

The findings showed that PMHNPs provided nearly 1 in 3 mental health prescriber visits to Medicare patients nationally by 2019. The number of PMHNPs also increased 162% during 2011-2019, while psychiatrists billing Medicare dropped by 6%. During this period, without growth in the PMHNP workforce, there would have been a decline of nearly 30% in mental health specialist visits in Medicare. Instead, the drop was 12%.  

“This work puts the spotlight on PMHNPs as a critical part of the mental health workforce,” said Barnett. “This is so important because we desperately need new solutions to address the current mental health crisis in this country. Policy that targets the PMHNP workforce could be a key part of the national effort to expand mental health access.” 

Co-author Arno Cai is also from Harvard Chan School. 

This research was supported by the National Institute on Aging (K23 AG058806-01) and the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH112829-01) in the National Institutes of Health.  

“Trends In Mental Health Care Delivery By Psychiatrists And Nurse Practitioners In Medicare, 2011–19,” Arno Cai, Ateev Mehrotra, Hayley D. Germack, Alisa B. Busch, Haiden A. Huskamp, and Michael L. Barnett, Health Affairs, September 2022, doi: 10.1377/ hlthaff.2022.00289. 

Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings. 

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Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people’s lives—not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America’s oldest professional training program in public health. 

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JOURNAL

Health Affairs

DOI

10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00289 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Trends In Mental Health Care Delivery By Psychiatrists And Nurse Practitioners In Medicare, 2011–19

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2022

Understanding the full picture of child poverty

A broader look at family finances can lead to better-designed programs that address child wellbeing

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DUKE UNIVERSITY

DURHAM, N.C. – When people talk about poverty in the United States, most talk about income. But income is just half of the story, says Christina Gibson-Davis, a professor of public policy and sociology at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy and an affiliate of Center for Child and Family Policy.

The other half of the financial equation is family wealth: the value of a family’s assets, like savings and property, minus their debt.  

Gibson-Davis is part of a research team that set out to find how children are affected by net worth poverty, defined as having wealth less than one-fourth of the federal poverty line, a standard set by income. In 2022, for example, the federal poverty line for a family of four living in the contiguous 48 states is $27,750.

The team looked at wealth and income information, as well as cognitive and behavioral data, of children ages 3 to 17 years. The data was collected from 2002 to 2019 by the Panel Study of Income Dynamics.

Their analysis indicated that net worth poverty is linked to lower cognitive scores and increases in problem and behavior scores in children. The new research appears Sept. 6 in Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, an open access journal.

“We now know that wealth deprivation likely has effects on children,” Gibson-Davis says. “Typically, people talk about the harms of income poverty, yet net worth poverty can also contribute to adverse outcomes. We have been focusing on one type of poverty and ignoring another.”

“Very few families are just income poor,” Gibson-Davis says. “Most poor parents experience net worth poverty. We should think about policies that focus on building wealth.”

Interventions such as the earned income tax credit focus on increasing cash flow to households. But that only has limited effectiveness if a family doesn’t have an economic buffer. Building financial security through wealth can help families overcome tough financial periods.

Their findings suggest policies that speak to both income and wealth might have bigger impacts for children, such as distributing “baby bonds” to apply to a child’s future education.

Providing reparations are another way. Previously, the same research team looked at who experiences net worth poverty and found that Black families with children are more likely than white families with children to have net worth poverty.

Parents who are net-worth poor may be limited in the investments they can make in their children, Gibson-Davis adds, which includes everything from housing, schooling, social peers and greenspace.

“Wealth is really fundamental to a child’s well-being,” Gibson-Davis says. “It affects children’s visions of their future and what they think is possible.”

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under Award Number R21HD107249. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

CITATION: “Net Worth Poverty and Child Development” C. M. Gibson-Davis, L.A. Keister, L.A. Gennetian and W. Lowell. Socius (2022). DOI: 10.1177/23780231221111672. Paper online: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23780231221111672

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DOI

10.1177/23780231221111672 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Net Worth Poverty and Child Development

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2022

Nuclear cauldrons: studying star burning with radioactive and neutron beams

Using Earth-based particle accelerators, scientists measure the reactions that take place in stars to produce carbon

DOE/US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

image: Schematic showing how neutrons in stars can cause stars to burn more quickly by stealing the energy from carbon as it is freshly created in a highly excited form (called the ‘Hoyle state’) to produce stable carbon in its “ground state." view more 

Credit: Image courtesy of Jack Bishop, Texas A&M University

The Science

Researchers have found a new way of measuring the decay of a special configuration of carbon called the “Hoyle state,” an excited form of carbon-12. Since the 1950s, scientists have theorized that carbon-12 would easily form in this state in stars from three helium-4 nuclei, called alpha particles. This carbon-12 in a Hoyle state would then decay to simple ground-state carbon and in the process release energy. One goal of the new experiment was to determine if researchers could reliably see in reverse how the Hoyle state breaks apart into three alpha particles. The researchers then used this method to test the importance of neutron upscattering in the fusing of three alpha-particles to create carbon. Neutron upscattering is where a neutron interacts with a resonance (a vibration) and de-excites it, stealing the resonance’s energy. Scientists have theorized for decades that this process makes stars burn faster than expected.

The Impact

This experiment was the first in the world to use a new type of advanced detector to study the properties of the Hoyle state. The detector has a level of sensitivity that made the previously impossible experiment of measuring the neutron upscattering a reality. The researchers’ analysis of the data from the experiment suggests that upscattering plays a less important role in the formation of carbon in stars than originally thought.

Summary

Measuring reactions that take place within stars is difficult. The necessary high temperatures and densities are impossible to replicate on earth. Therefore, researchers rely on measuring related reactions that can be performed in the lab. The goal of this project was to understand how the presence of neutrons in stars affects the fusing of three alpha-particles (helium nuclei) together to form the Hoyle state of carbon-12. The neutrons can increase how quickly the three alpha-particles fuse together through neutron upscattering. Measuring this reaction in the lab relies on the time reverse of this reaction—breaking apart carbon with neutrons to form three alpha-particles.

The project included researchers from Texas A&M University, Ohio University, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Birmingham, the Université Paris-Saclay, and the Korean Institute for Basic Science. Using a beam of high-energy neutrons at the Edwards Accelerator Laboratory at Ohio University, the researchers fired neutrons into TexAT, a detector developed and built at the Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M. The researchers then measured the likelihood of the breakup of carbon-12 into three alpha-particles. They found that the propensity of carbon-12 to break apart into three alpha-particles is lower than previously expected from theoretical models. This indicates that the influence of neutron upscattering on the formation of carbon-12 is smaller than originally expected. This result settles a question that has existed for approximately 50 years on the influence neutron upscattering can have on the way a star burns to create heavier elements.

 

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics; by the National Nuclear Security Administration through the Center for Excellence in Nuclear Training and University Based Research; by the Nuclear Solutions Institute at Texas A&M University; and by the UK STFC Network+.  

Characteristics of older forests can buffer effects of climate change for some bird species

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: HERMIT WARBLER view more 

CREDIT: HANKYU KIM

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Old-growth forests and managed forests with old-growth characteristics can provide relief from climate change for some bird species, research by the Oregon State University College of Forestry suggests.

The study led by former Oregon State doctoral student Hankyu Kim builds on earlier research led by co-author Matt Betts, a professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, that showed that old forests with big trees and a diversity of tree sizes and species can offer refuge to some types of birds threatened by a warming climate.

The latest findings bear important implications on conservation decisions regarding mature forests, the scientists say, and have even greater relevance because of the new Inflation Reduction Act, which calls for increased resources to map and protect the United States’ remaining old-growth forests.

The research, published today in Global Change Biology, looked at forest “microclimates.” Microclimates are local atmospheric conditions, in areas ranging from a few square meters to many square kilometers, that differ from those of the surrounding area.

Microclimates tend to be most pronounced in areas of rugged and varied topography such as coastal areas, islands and mountains like Oregon’s Cascade Range, home to the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest where Kim and Betts did their research.

The OSU scientists and collaborators from Oregon State and the United States Forest Service analyzed eight years of breeding bird abundance information from an HJ Andrews watershed as well as subcanopy temperature readings and ground- and LiDAR-based vegetation data. They concluded that at locations with cooler microclimates, some bird species tended to do better – a phenomenon they describe as the “buffering effect.”

Some species also fared better in places where the forest had more compositional diversity, referred to as the “insurance effect” because diversity helps ensure the presence of the insects the birds feed on when they most need nutrition and energy – during breeding season.

“To my knowledge, this is the first empirical evidence of any microclimate effect on songbird populations, and of the insurance effect on free-ranging birds,” said Kim, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Each species may have a slightly different range of thermal optima – the range of thermal conditions they feel comfortable with – and it could be the same for the interaction between forest ecosystems and birds.”

Under the current warming regime, he explained, some birds interact with the forest ecosystem to their benefit, while others will find it hard to breed there because the availability of food has changed for the worse.

CAPTION

chestnut-backed chickadee

CREDIT

Hankyu Kim

The scientists found that for five of the 20 bird species they analyzed, abundance trends tended to be either neutral or less negative in cooler microclimates, and the negative effects of warming on two species were reduced in locations with greater forest compositional diversity.

The five species benefiting from the buffering effect were the Swainson’s thrush, chestnut-backed chickadee, hermit warbler, varied thrush and Wilson’s warbler. The Wilson’s warbler and the red crossbill were the two with statistical evidence of benefiting from the insurance effect.

“If plants leaf out earlier in warm microclimates, causing arthropods to emerge earlier, there is a danger of migratory birds mistiming their breeding with peak food availability,” Betts said. “Since leaf-out timing varies by plant species, forests with more plant diversity often have a longer period of insect availability.”

The other 14 birds in the analyses were the dark-eyed junco, hermit thrush, McGillivray’s warbler, Pacific-slope flycatcher, brown creeper, black-throated gray warbler, golden-crowned kinglet, Hammond’s flycatcher, hairy woodpecker, Pacific wren, red-breasted nuthatch, red-breasted sapsucker, western tanager and yellow-rumped warbler.

Seven of the 20 species showed overall declines in abundance over the eight-year study, 2011-18. Nine showed increases and four did display a detectable trend.

“Trends of abundance of five species declined at greater rates in warmer locations than in cooler areas,” Kim said. “That suggests microclimates within forested landscapes do provide refugia for those species. Declining species that are sensitive to warm conditions, like the Wilson’s warbler, hermit warbler and chestnut-backed chickadee, seemed to benefit the most from refugia effects.”

Betts found it interesting that the study led by Kim – whose results Betts said were “collected independently and more rigorously” than those in the research he led in 2017 – showed the same species in decline and the same species benefiting from forests with old-growth characteristics.

“The earlier paper was less well done because we didn’t measure microclimate directly,” Betts said. “Our hypothesis was that microclimate buffering should work for a high proportion of the declining species. This current paper is the first time that’s been shown.”

Brenda McComb and Sarah Frey of the OSU College of Forestry and David Bell of the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station also took part in this research, which was supported by the National Science Foundation.

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DOI

10.1111/gcb.16353 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Global Change Biology

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2022

Local food boon spurred by pandemic may be short-lived, new research reports

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENN STATE

 

IMAGE: NEW RESEARCH SHOWS THAT WHILE LOCAL FOOD OUTLETS RECEIVED SIGNIFICANTLY MORE ATTENTION FROM CONSUMERS AS A RESULT OF THE PANDEMIC, THOSE IN THE LOCAL FOOD COMMUNITY SHOULD NOT EXPECT THE ELEVATED INTEREST TO CONTINUE. view more 

CREDIT: JOSHUA SCHEINBERG / PENN STATE

The COVID‐19 pandemic affected American households in countless ways, but according to researchers, some of the most tangible shifts are taking place in the food system.

A combination of supply chain issues, tighter budgets, concern about shopping in public spaces, and increases in at-home preparation has led to a greater interest in sourcing food locally, but the question remains how long that interest will last. A team of researchers from Penn State’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education conducted a study to find out.

Their results, recently published in the journal Agribusiness, indicate the boon to local food producers may be short-lived, especially if consumers are feeling a sense of anxiety.

“During the pandemic, food consumption changed and so did the sourcing of that food,” said Martina Vecchi, assistant professor of agricultural economics at Penn State and lead author on the study. “A lot of people started exploring different ways of purchasing food and we wanted to understand the determining factors in their decisions.”

Using an online survey, the researchers asked 1,650 participants to reflect on the pandemic and their willingness to buy food locally. Their results suggest that thinking about the pandemic increased anxiety, reduced a sense of community belonging, and lowered the price premiums that respondents were willing to pay for local fruits, vegetables and meat.

“The main mechanism that drives the decreased willingness to pay for locally produced food is anxiety,” Vecchi said. “We didn't expect this, but managing anxiety might be one of the most important things we can do to protect general health were there to be another health crisis.”

The researchers began the survey by inducing or “priming” a subset of participants to think about the impact of the pandemic on either their personal life, finances and health or on their local community and its members. They found that both prompts or “primes” increased participants’ levels of anxiety, slightly reduced their sense of community, and significantly decreased the hypothetical price premium participants were willing to pay for local food.

“We thought of those as the two mechanisms that could influence the willingness to buy this type of product: anxiety and sense of community,” Vecchi said. “We assumed that as people got more anxious because of the pandemic, they would buy more local food because they thought it was safer. We also thought it might strengthen their sense of community and would therefore reflect a higher willingness to pay for local food.”

The results show a trend in the opposite direction. As anxiety increased, sense of community decreased. Vecchi explains that the rise in local food sales during the pandemic may simply be a byproduct of supply chain issues and fears about supermarkets, not a reflection of permanent changes in consumer behavior.

“It doesn't appear that their actual willingness to invest in local food was higher,” Vecchi said. “Sure, they were paying for local food, just because they felt that was the safest option, but it's not that their actual willingness to pay for it was higher.”

The researchers explained that while local food outlets received significantly more attention from consumers as a result of the pandemic, those in the local food community should not expect the elevated interest to continue.  

“My advice to policymakers and farmers is to try and deal with consumers’ anxiety and their sense of community first,” Vecchi said. “We have to solve for that if we want to sustain a vibrant local food economy.”

In addition to Vecchi, the research team includes Edward Jaenicke and Claudia Schmidt of Penn State’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education.

The work was funded by a Rapid Response to COVID‐19 Grant by the College of Agricultural Sciences' Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hatch appropriations.

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JOURNAL

Agribusiness

DOI

10.1002/agr.21754 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Local food in times of crisis: The impactof COVID‐19 and two reinforcing primes