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Sociology of Agriculture and Food (SAFRIG)

Beyond the Knowledge Deficit: Trust, Values, and Rural Justice in Sensemaking of PRRS-Resistant Gene-Edited Pigs Lijing Gao*, Lijing Gao, John Tummons, Kevin Wells, Jasper Grashuis, Harvey James,

On April 30, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the gene edit used to breed pigs resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, marking a milestone toward commercial gene-edited livestock in the U.S. food supply. The decision foregrounds questions of rural justice, including who benefits from disease control and reduced antibiotic use, who bears uncertainty about long-term harms, and how accountability is distributed across corporations, regulators, and the broader agrifood system.
We conducted a mixed-methods study in the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources at a Midwestern land-grant university to examine how an emerging campus public forms judgments under scientific uncertainty and contested values. A baseline survey of undergraduates with no instructional exposure (N=257) assessed perceived risks and benefits, trust in institutions and information sources, and acceptance of gene-edited livestock. We then embedded a deliberation activity in a science communication course (N=31), including matched pre/post surveys, a 75-minute Town Hall role-play representing seven stakeholder perspectives, and post-debate positioning statements and reflections. Qualitative materials were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, with prior theory serving as sensitizing concepts related to knowledge, cultural cognition, and risk-society trust.
Baseline results indicate that most respondents expressed at least moderate trust in the safety of gene-edited livestock meat, while only 2.0% indicated no trust. Similarly, 63.6% reported feeling mostly or completely comfortable consuming gene-edited meat and 28.3% were neutral. However, acceptance was often conditional, tied to transparency, labeling, and the availability of long-term evidence.
In the deliberation subset, self-assessed knowledge and confidence increased, whereas shifts in institutional trust and overall support were modest. Qualitative findings show that judgments rested less on technical detail than on value-laden risk framing, institutional accountability concerns, and identity-protective reasoning. These findings suggest that communication and governance strategies must address legitimacy, accountability, and value conflict alongside scientific literacy.