The Food System Doesn't Change Without Proper Incentives

The Food System Doesn't Change Without Proper Incentives

Tim Hammerich
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

Food companies and other buyers of agricultural products may want to provide more transparency to consumers, but it's not realistic for that burden to all fall on the farmer. President and CEO of Newleaf Symbiotics, Brent Smith, says for a system like this to work, either consumers will have to pay more for premium-type products, or farmers must be incentivized.

Smith... "The demands of a consumer are definitely increasing, whether it's, you know, organic or it doesn't even have to be that the quality of what they're getting. But then how do you, how does that translate to then the, let's say the food [companies] that have to provide that to the consumer? And so the dairy is a perfect example. Cattle would be another perfect example. The challenge is how do you, how do you trace it in that impact? And then, how do you get that value back? Ultimately, it's going to have to start with the consumer. So if you follow the value chain all the way down, the consumer will have to pay more for what they're wanting. There was actually some progress happening along that and then inflation hit. And then the consumer wasn't as picky. And so I think eventually what you're going to have is you're going to have products on a shelf, and I'm talking food products on a shelf that will be higher level. I think there'd be full traceability of impact and sourcing. And you've seen a little bit of that today. And that's what's going to then give the incentive for the food [companies] to incentivize that grower."

Again that’s Brent Smith of Newleaf Symbiotics.

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