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Survey Reveals Understanding Gaps on
Key Farm, Food Issues
The study, conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide in July and August 1999, is one of the most comprehensive farmer-consumer studies ever undertaken. Specifically, the research asked 1,002 consumers to share their views of modern farming practices and to assess the job farmers are doing in meeting the food demands of the public. The survey also asked 704 of the nation’s farmers and ranchers to assess their own performances - as well as assess consumers’ perspectives about agricultural practices. “While no one should be too surprised to learn that most consumers don’t understand what farmers do to produce their food and clothing, this research shows that many of us in agriculture have miscalculated where consumers’ most pronounced concerns exist,” says Jay Poole, vice president of agricultural relations for the Philip Morris family of companies, one of the nation’s largest purchasers of agricultural products. The survey provided responses to more than 140 questions divided into the following categories: 1) Consumer preferences for the food they eat; 2) Consumer satisfaction with various food characteristics; 3) Farmers’ views of consumer preferences and satisfaction with the food supply; 4) Farmers’ and consumers’ attitudes toward modern food production practices and the impacts of those practices on the environment; 5) Farmers’ and consumers’ views about the healthfulness and safety of the food supply, as well as farm and food policy. The survey indicates that both consumers and farmers are open to biotechnology, particularly when they see its direct benefits. While 37% of consumers say they’ve heard more about the benefits than drawbacks of biotechnology, their support for biotechnology increases to 57% if biotechnology improves the taste of foods, 65% if biotechnology improves the nutritional value of food, 69% if biotechnology increases food production and 73% if biotechnology reduces pesticide use. “These results are not unusual,” observes Bob Pares, vice president of Roper Starch Worldwide. “Consumers are willing to use whatever means are available to achieve desired outcomes. It’s the same trend we’re seeing with alternative medicine.” The research shows that farmers overestimate the level to which consumers have heard drawbacks about several key agricultural production practices, including biotechnology, the use of hormones in milk production, irradiation, and antibiotics used to treat animal diseases. The survey also indicates that consumers haven’t heard or don’t know much about many farming practices. For example, the biggest group of consumers say they haven’t heard enough about either the benefits or drawbacks of the following farming or food production practices to have formed an opinion: 41% on biotechnology, 41% on irradiation, 31% on the use of antibiotics to treat animal diseases, and 28% on using hormones to increase milk production in dairy cows, or organic production methods. “Influential Americans” - those who are more active in community affairs or politics - have heard more than other consumers about both the benefits and drawbacks of most agricultural practices. Despite the controversies surrounding several of these practices, the better-informed “influential” consumers generally are more accepting of some technologies, including biotechnology. “One of the consumer trends we’ve been watching over the last decade is this need to be informed,” notes Pares. “Consumers want to make informed choices, and if the agriculture industry is not putting out the information, someone else will, and the information they share may not always be accurate or in the best interest of agriculture.” While consumers appear open-minded on many farming practices, they are not comfortable with the use of pesticides in food production and will accept higher prices (57%), a smaller food selection (68%), seasonal availability (72%), and biotechnology (73%) as trade-offs for not using chemicals in food production. “Some of these results really surprised us,” notes American Farm Bureau Federation President, Dean Kleckner. “It’s clear that the agricultural industry has not done a good job educating consumers about the benefits of pesticide use. It’s important that we don’t make the same mistake with biotechnology and other new farming practices.” One thing farmers (71%) and consumers (67%) agree upon is that the agricultural industry is doing only a fair or poor job of explaining the benefits and drawbacks of farming techniques to the public. |
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