Focus group research shows that consumers are deeply sceptical about today’s food system. Farmers need to talk about optimum health, not optimum efficiency, says one industry advocate
by DON STONEMAN
A point of pride for the hard-working farm community is that it is one of the most trusted groups in North American society. But deeper probing of consumer focus groups in the United States in 2009 showed that the confidence reposed in it comes with a caveat.
Consumers still trust farmers but, when asked, they aren’t sure that modern agriculture is farming anymore, says the head of Kansas City-based Center for Food Integrity (CFI).