Eileen VanRavensway and Jeff Blend have a substantive paper that is
relevant for your grad student's interest.
It can be accessed on the web (full text) at:
http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/msu/sp97-19.html
Recent evidence suggest the organic consumer is not nearly as concerned
about pesticide residues as is popularly assumed in conventional ag circles:
A national study done by The Packer in 1995 is instructive. When
asked why they bought organic produce, respondents (n=228) gave appearance
as the most frequent reason, freshness/ripness as the second most frequent
reason, flavor as the third/fourth most frequent reason, with concern about
pesticides as the fourth/third most frequent reason (3rd 4th depends on
region). Bottom line--consumers of organic produce were much more satisfied
with their purchases than were consumers of produce in general! Source:
Fresh Trend, 1996, published by The Packer.
Ed Sparling
Professor
Dept of Ag and Resource Econ
B-311 Clark Blg
Colorado State University
Ft Collins, CO 80523
Phone 970-491-6946
Fax 970-491-2067