Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent R. Amanor-Boadu / While understanding consumer decisions about food choices is complex, the nature of wines makes it even more difficult to decipher how consumers arrive at their choices. Given the perceived importance of "local", how willing are consumers to pay for locally-produced wine? And, what characteristics of the wine influence the premium that consumers pay for it? These are the two related questions that this research seeks to address. The research uses a case study approach to explore how five wine characteristics of local Kansas wine influence the premium consumers are willing to pay. The five characteristics are appearance, aroma, body, taste and finish. The study uses four pairs of wine in the following groups: sweet white, dry white, semi-sweet red and dry red. Each pair is made up of a Kansas wine and a non-Kansas wine. A very well-defined set of focus group participants were invited to taste these wine without knowing the identity of the wines and score them according to their characteristics and then provide an indication of how much they are willing to pay. The case results indicate that the focus group participants were willing to discount Kansas wines in all cases of the four pairs. The factors affecting the discount were finish for sweet white wines, appearance for sweet red wines, taste and aroma for dry white and dry red wines. The implication of this exploratory case study is that while most local residents proclaim their willingness to pay a premium for local wines, when tested against national or international competitors, consumers are unwilling to pay a premium for these local wines because the local wines lack the desired quality the international wines have. The information is important because it provides direction for an entrepreneur seeking to develop local wines to focus on understanding and addressing the characteristics which influence consumers' willingness to pay a premium even as she determines which particular wines current players in the local Kansas industry has the potential to be competitive if they address the characteristics upon which they are penalized by consumers. This, despite this being an exploratory case study, it provides important direction for entrepreneurial action.

This thesis focuses on the past, present, and future of food sustainability on Maui. It begins by explaining ancient Hawaiian agriculture and how this complex system of agriculture was deeply rooted in the customs and traditions of the Hawaiian people. The second section explores how this sustainable agricultural system changed after the arrival of Captain Cook in 1778. After western settlement, land that was once a communal resource became privatized. As land ownership shifted, the traditional subsistence agricultural system of Hawai’i began to change. Export crops such as sugar cane and pineapple became more widespread. As these crops shifted the way land was utilized in Hawai’i, the islands reduced the amount of crops grown for local consumption and became increasingly reliant on imported foods. The last section stresses the necessity of increasing the production of locally grown food on Maui. It discusses the locally grown food movement that has developed on Maui, and addresses the obstacles that prevent more food from being grown locally. Lastly, it suggests strategies to increase the amount of food produced for local consumption so that Maui can secure a more sustainable agricultural future.

This study investigates the determinants that influence adult Kentuckians’ preference to buy organic and/or locally grown food based on their age, gender, income, education level and metropolitan versus nonmetropolitan living status. Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) provides the conceptual framework of the research and the appropriateness of the theory. Data for this analysis are from a 2009 Kentucky statewide survey. The analysis shows that: There is a significant difference in food purchasing habits of Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan adult Kentuckians; the factors associated with the purchase of organic and locally grown foods are different; and, those who purchased locally grown and organic foods shared similar beliefs.

Städerna växer och samtidigt ökar efterfrågan på närodlade och ekologiska grödor. För att klara av att producera närodlat och mer hållbart skulle ett alternativ vara att odla i så kallade vertikala växthus. I Kiruna finns Sveriges största malmgruva som drivs av företaget LKAB vars olika processer leder till spillvärme. I Kiruna är klimatet kallt jämfört med större delen av Sverige och därför erfordras uppvärmning om odling ska kunna ske året runt i ett växthus. Examensarbetets uppgift är därför att undersöka hur man kan utnyttja spillvärme till ett vertikalt växthus i samband med en ny kontorsbyggnad på LKABs gruvområde. LKABs nya kontorsbyggnad har ett kvadratiskt avtryck på marken med ett hörn i sydlig riktning. Fördelningen mellan växthus och kontor kan förenklas genom att kvadraten delas på diagonalen där den södra halvan är växthus och den norra halvan kontor. Eftersom solförhållandena för odling är speciella i Kiruna har växthusets väggar en lutning som är anpassad efter solens låga infallsvinkel vilket gör att växthusets area minskar med varje våningsplan. Som yttermaterial till växthuset används glas och som stommaterial används stål. Ett hydroponiskt odlingssystem används där plantorna sätts direkt i en cirkulerande näringslösning och på så sätt kan systemet utformas med horisontella odlingsrör i flera vertikala odlingsplan. För uppvärmning av växthuset kommer spillvärme från LKABs verksamhet att utnyttjas, i examensarbetet undersöks två olika alternativ av spillvärmekällor och resultatet är att båda de alternativ som undersökts kan utnyttjas för uppvärmning av hela växthusdelens volym. / While the cities are expanding the demand for locally grown and organic crops is increasing. To be able to produce locally and more sustainable crops, one option could be to grow in a so-called vertical greenhouse. In Kiruna the largest ore mine in Sweden is operated by the company LKAB. Various processes in the mining industry lead to waste heat. In Kiruna, the climate is cold compared to most parts of Sweden, and therefore requires heating for the cultivation to be able to take place all year round in a greenhouse. The project’s task is to explore how to utilize waste heat from the mine to a vertical greenhouse in the context of a new office building at LKAB's mining area. LKAB's new office building has a square footprint on the ground with one of the corners in the south direction. The division between the greenhouse and the office can be simplified by the square divided diagonally where the southern half is the greenhouse and the northern half the office. Since the sunlight is limited in Kiruna the greenhouse walls has been design to adjust to the sun’s low position. The sun’s low position requires a sloped facade in the south direction. The greenhouse’s floor area decreases with each floor. As the external material for the greenhouse glass is used and as framing material steel is used. A hydroponically system is used where the seedlings are put directly in a circulating nutrient solution and in this way the system can be designed with horizontal pipes in several vertical cultivated floors. The greenhouse will be heated with waste heat from LKAB's industry, the project examines two alternatives of waste heat sources, and the result is that both of the alternatives studied can be used to heat the entire volume of the greenhouse.