CFI Study on Consumer Trust in Food

CFI Study on Consumer Trust in Food

Research from the Center for Food Integrity shows that improved transparency increases consumer trust in the food system. The online survey of 2,000 people explored which attributes are most important to consumers when it comes to trust-building transparency — policies, practices, performances or verification.

CFI CEO Charlie Arnot says consumers really want to learn more about the practices food companies and farmers and ranchers use. He says that farmers and ranchers need to continue telling their story about how they treat their animals and the environment.

Arnot: "So it is important for farmers to think about how we can be more transparent about what we do to protect the environment and what we do to care for animals. How do we do a better job of illustrating those practices? How do we partner with our associations or other organizations to tell the story; to provide videos, to provide feedback, to blog, to post to tell that story in such a way that consumers have a better idea? One of the things we got to do culturally within agriculture is to get past that desire to be exceptional private. One of the things we tell people frequently in farming is that the mantra in farming tends to be, 'We really don't have anything to hide, but it is none of your business.' We've got to get past that 'none of your business' part because the food system and our consumers believe it is their business. So we need to find ways to tell the story and share information in a way that helps people understand our real commitment to doing what is right not just making money."

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