Survey Says!

Consumers no longer want to be kept in the dark about food 3

Sliced tomato.A new survey came out indicating that (surprise, surprise) only 20% of Americans trust food companies to “to develop and sell food products that are safe and healthy.” While the depth to which food companies’ reputations have sunk is impressive, the phrase from the survey question is both interesting and unfortunate. IBM(!), who performed the survey, put “safe and healthy” together. As a result, we can’t really know which aspect, safety or health, is driving that low number. If I had to bet, I’d say safety since survey results often track media coverage of an issue and there’s certainly been no shortage of food safety news. Still, the idea that people get the fact that big food companies’ products are unsafe AND unhealthy is pretty satisfying

But there was, however, some far more interesting data buried in this survey. First, this:

...[N]early three-quarters (72%) said they trust the store where they buy groceries to properly handle food product contamination recalls.

That number is far above the percentage who trust the manufacturer to handle the recall. Well, that confirms what many of us knew—the sources closest to the consumer are the most trusted. In the case of the survey, it’s the store where people bought the food. But it would likely also apply in direct farm-to-consumer sales or any scenario where the consumer personally knows the producer. In other words, people may naturally understand that the shorter the “food chain,” the safer.

Next and more importantly, we have this:

...63% say they have become more knowledgeable about the contents of food they buy, 77% say they want more information about the content of the food products they purchase, and 76% say they would like more information about its origin.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) say they are willing to dig deeper and seek more data about how food products are grown, processed and manufactured.

I guess our message is getting through. This survey should thus encourage those of us trying to communicate the realities of our food system and draw back the curtain on Big Food’s industrial excesses. Not only are consumers willing to learn about it—they’re demanding it. Let those in business and government who wish to hide the origins and contents of their products beware. The people are with us.


(h/t Bill Marler via Twitter)

Tom is a media and technology professional who thinks that wrecking the planet is a bad idea. He twitters madly and blogs here and at Beyond Green about food policy, alternative energy, climate science and politics as well as the multiple and various effects of living on a warming planet.

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  1. Food Alliance Posted 9:23 am
    24 Jun 2009

    Increasingly, innovative "food companies" are coming to understand that the future for food and agriculture is in higher value, highly differentiated products.People want to know where food comes from and how it was produced. They want the story behind the product. Customers are asking more questions about product origins and attributes. Consumers are looking for value (quality and price), but they are also shopping for products that represent their values.“Sustainability” is the next wave. The problem with reading labels is misleading and unsubstantiated marketing claims. “Natural” claims are increasingly meaningless, and do not address the conditions under which food was produced. “Organic” does not fully address the range of concerns associated with agriculture. “Local” is only part of the story.The key to satisfying customer expectations and accessing new market opportunity is increasing traceability (preserving product identity from farm to fork), transparency (verifying the conditions under which foods are produced and handled) and accountability (holding the business to an independent performance standard).Certification validates and substantiates product claims. As awareness of food issues grows, consumers will become increasingly skeptical about product claims. Social and environmental responsibility is a new dimension of quality. Third-party certification such as Food Alliance offers maximum credibility.Food Alliance is a nonprofit organization that
    certifies farms, ranches, and food processors and distributors for sustainable
    agricultural and facility management practices. By choosing Food Alliance
    Certified products, consumers and commercial food buyers support safe and fair
    working conditions, humane treatment of animals, and good environmental
    stewardship.Over the last 11 years, improved practices in Food Alliance Certified agricultural
    operations and food handling facilities have led to better conditions for
    thousands of workers, more humane treatment of hundreds of thousands of
    animals, reduced use of toxic and hazardous materials, and healthier soils,
    cleaner water, and enhanced wildlife habitat on millions of acres of range and
    farmland.For more info visit: http://www.foodalliance.orgFor a great example of a "food company" connecting consumers to the origin of their food, check out: http://www.findthefarmer.com/ 

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  2. AmandaD Posted 6:26 am
    25 Jun 2009

    I have been trying to learn everything I can about where my food comes recently.  With all of these E. coli scares, the "unknown" dangers of pesticides, and government officials claiming that organic produce is not sustainable, where can you get information that you can trust?  I've learned a lot from Dorothee Royal-Hedinger, a change agent who is spreading news about what’s up with our food.  Her video about what pesticides are, how they're used, and the known dangers associated with them is really great (http://changents.com/change-agents/OrganicNation.tv/vids-and-pics/21214/21387).

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  3. R North Posted 8:19 am
    01 Jul 2009

    Here at Equal Exchange we've been trying since 1986 to get folks (including retailers, our fellow food companies, and the public) the think & care more about where their food comes from, and especially about the farmers and farm workers.  And over that time there's been a monumental change for the better. And we continue to see this moving in the right direction.Tom is right to point out that the survey didn't disentangle people's concerns over health from those over safety, but the reality is that both of those are woven in with many other concerns, including:the environmental impact of food production techniques (like how fertilizers run-off is creating dead-zones)resource/species depletionanimal welfare and crueltysustaining rural farming communitiessocial justice (think the Immokalee workers in FL, or child labor in cocoa)food-miles/CO2qualitypreserving/renewing food cultures (eg Slow Food )and simple curiousity about the back story of what we put in our mouth and feed to our family and guests.At any given time one of these issues might become more or less prominent, but from our accumulated experience we're confident that generally all of these concerns/interests will only continue to increase, both within individuals and across society more generally.  

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