10-22 IAN Consumers Lack Trust

 New consumer research by a coalition of farm organizations confirms that consumers care about who produces their food, but are misinformed about the family farmers who really grow and raise the majority of food produced.Extensive research from April to July showed that the farmer is still held in substantial esteem by the public. But research also showed consumers have reduced trust in modern farming techniques and profound doubts about how their food is produced.

Here’s Douglas R. Jones, Executive Director, of an Idaho group named Growers for Biotechnology. He has an interesting viewpoint: “There’s less than 2% of the population involved in production agriculture and every generation gets further from the farm. In my age group everybody knew somebody who was a farmer. They went out to the field and saw a cow, an ear of corn, etc., but that’s not true today. The perception is that it comes from the back room of your local grocery store. Obviously that’s not true. Farmer’s markets have become more popular and that’s good because people do get to know who a local producer is.”