THE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS - 1

The Chicago Council’s Science and Our Food project

explores public attitudes on food and the opportu-

nities and risks of leveraging scientific techniques in

food production.

Executive summaryThere is a growing interest in food in the United

States: where it comes from, how it is made, and what

it represents. Expanding markets for organic, local,

and non–genetically modified (GMO) foods mirror

this interest, as do policy debates nationwide on food

labeling and agriculture. In many ways, however, the

issues that dominate the public discourse around food

are not the issues that matter the most to Americans.

According to a new survey by The Chicago Council on

Global Affairs, although Americans do find GMOs, an-

tibiotics, sustainability, and transparency important,

they are most concerned with affordability, nutrition,

and food safety.

> Americans want food producers to prioritize food

safety most of all, followed by nutrition and afford-

ability. When asked which issues Americans believe

food producers prioritize and what issues they

believe those producers should prioritize, percep-

tions fall short of expectations by more than 50 per-

centage points on food safety and nutrition.

> A majority of Americans name affordability and nutrition as very important issues concerning the food they buy, followed by a third of Americans who say buying non-GMO and antibiotic-free food is very important to them.

> Americans trust health professionals, friends and family, farmers, scientists, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) most when it comes to information about their food. They trust documen-taries to a lesser degree and the food industry (gro-cery stores, food companies, food packaging) and media (both social and traditional) least of all.

IntroductionFood has become a hot topic. In America chefs are increasingly revered as celebrities, documentaries on food are some of the most watched on Netflix and television, and magazines and websites from Bon Appetite to Modern Farmer are reaching mainstream audiences like never before. There is a renaissance in America’s interest in food and, more specifically, how food is produced.

This interest is permeating national, state, and local policies. Congress is considering a new law that would curtail the capacity of the states to regulate food labels on GMO foods; the FDA is proposing updates to nutri-tional labels; and the Obama administration has just

GLOBAL AGRICULTURE

Hungry for Information: Polling Americans on Their Trust in the Food System

By Marcus Glassman

October 2015

2 - HUNGRY FOR INFORMATION: POLLING AMERICANS ON THEIR TRUST IN THE FOOD SYSTEM

launched a review of how GMO foods are regulated

governmentwide. As policymakers tackle food issues

and seek to build a food system that engenders high

consumer confidence, it is essential that they under-

stand how the public thinks about their food and what

they consider trusted sources of information.

This survey by The Chicago Council confirms that

Americans care a great deal about how their food is

produced: a full 78 percent of Americans say they are

“very” or “somewhat” interested in how the food they

buy makes its way to their plates. The survey also

reveals that the public holds clear opinions about

which aspects of food they find important, the sources

of information they find trustworthy, and what they

believe food producers should be doing.

Americans prioritize affordability and nutrition.If you follow the dialogue on food in the United States,

it can be difficult to decide what is and what is not

important to Americans. Entire marketing campaigns

angle to promote how food was produced: sustain-

ably, without GMO ingredients, locally grown, from a

family farm, without antibiotics. But according to The

Chicago Council’s polling, these are not Americans’ biggest concerns.

Unequivocally, Americans care most about the affordability and the nutrition of the food they buy. Only three in ten surveyed say they consider non-GMO or antibiotic-free to be very important food traits, and even fewer were concerned about food being organic, from a family farm, or locally produced. These results suggest that the public discourse on these hot-button topics may be more noise than substance.

Although concern and awareness on the methods of production are certainly expanding—and the mar-ket share for people seeking non-GMO and organic food is consequently growing—the focus on these issues by media and marketers may have outpaced the actual concern by consumers. Take, for example,

the unsurprising demographics on those who find nutrition most important: women, those making more than $50,000 per year, and those over 35 years of age. In other words, nutrition is most important to those most likely to be concerned about children and fami-

How interested are you in how the food you buy is produced? (%)How interested are you in how the food you buy is produced?

Not at all interested

Not very interested

Somewhat interested

Very interested

32 46 16 5

Source: 2015 Science and Food Survey

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Figure 1

When it comes to the food you buy, how important is it that the food be... (%)

Somewhat important Very important

Affordable

Nutritious

Not genetically modified

Antibiotic-free

Locally grown

Organically grown

From a family farmFrom a nationally

known brand

33 59

34 57

38 32

43 31

50 20

37 17

44 16

42 11

When it comes to the food you buy, how important is it that the food be:

Source: 2015 Science and Food Survey

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Figure 2

Entire marketing campaigns angle to promote how a food was produced: sustainably, without GMO

ingredients, locally grown, from a family farm, without antibiotics. But according to The Chicago Council’s polling, these are not Americans’ biggest concerns.

Although concern and awareness on the methods of production are certainly expanding, the focus

on these issues by media and marketers may have outpaced the actual concern by consumers.

THE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS - 3

lies and those who can afford to be at least somewhat selective about the foods they buy. Affordability is most important to those making less than $50,000 per year—an understandable observation. Food attributes such as non-GMO, organic, or local, however, have no such broad-based demographic support and conse-quentiality have a small, albeit growing, market share.

Americans want food producers to prioritize food safety and nutrition.When asked what issues they believe food producers take into account a “great deal,” only one in five Ameri-cans say food safety, followed by affordability and nutrition. When asked what they think food producers should take into account, three-quarters of Americans say food safety and over half say nutrition, transpar-ency, sustainability, and affordability. The disparities between how the public thinks food producers are performing and how they think they should perform are striking. Survey respondents think producers lack focus on food safety and nutrition by more than 50 points, and lack on sustainability, transparency, and affordability by more than 40 points.

These gaps between perceptions and expectations

may well underlie much of today’s popular food move-

ment—which rejects traditional food systems and pro-

ducers—and the rise of marketing campaigns focused

on organic, non-GMO, and local foods.

Surprisingly, while Americans are more dissatisfied

with producer performance in areas like food safety

and nutrition than they are on the issues of trans-

parency and sustainability, few debates have arisen

surrounding that discontent. This suggests a discord

between what Americans prioritize and the current

dialogue on food.

When it comes to food, Americans trust health professionals, peers, and farmers—but not food companies or the media. One of the major factors surrounding the food dia-

logue in the United States is the issue of trust—where

do Americans seek trustworthy information, and

whom do they believe? Americans consider health

professionals the most trustworthy sources of infor-

How much do you think food producers take the following items to account? And how much should they take the following items into account? (% “a great deal”)

Source: 2015 Science and Food Survey The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

How much do you think food producers take the following items into account? And how much do you think food producers should take the following items into account?

Gap

Should take into account a great dealDo take into account a great deal

Food safety

Affordability

Nutrition

Environmental sustainability

Fighting hunger

Transparency in production

7420

57 17

6613

53 9

45 9

51 9

54

40

53

44

36

42

Figure 3

4 - HUNGRY FOR INFORMATION: POLLING AMERICANS ON THEIR TRUST IN THE FOOD SYSTEM

mation, followed closely by their friends and family,

farmers, scientists, and government—specifically the

FDA. A fair number of people trust documentaries, but

a majority distrust the overall food industry—grocery

stores, food packaging labels, and food companies

themselves. People trust media sources least of all,

including print, broadcast, social media, and blogs.

Only 2 percent of Americans consider blogs and social

media “very trustworthy” sources of information.

The biggest divide on the trust question is age.

Those aged 25 to 34 are the most likely to consider

farmers very trustworthy and are the only age group

to also consider scientists very trustworthy. Younger

Americans are also most likely to consider the FDA

very trustworthy, and the most likely to find print and

broadcast media very untrustworthy. These results

highlight an interesting trend in trust: the youngest Americans are the ones that find some of the most fundamental sources of food and science informa-tion—scientists, farmers, the FDA—most trustworthy, while older Americans do not. Given the pivotal role trust plays in communicating about food, these results are telling.

The distrust Americans hold towards food com-panies observed in the survey, coupled with the demonstrated disconnect between the public’s major concerns (nutrition, affordability, food safety) and the focus of the food debate (GMOs, organic, local), high-lights the need for strong, neutral arbiters of informa-tion. Given the results, health professionals may be the best suited to disseminate information about food in a trusted, impartial manner, followed by farmers and scientists in the case of younger generations.

ConclusionThe findings in this survey suggest that the issues that dominate the current food dialogue are out of sync with Americans’ views on food. Contrary to the visi-bility of the debate about GMOs, antibiotics, and local food, the vast majority of Americans value food that is

When you get information about the food you buy, how trustworthy do you find the following sources? (%)

When you get information about the food you buy, how trustworthy do you find the following sources?

Health professionals

Friends and family

Farmers

Scientists

FDA

Documentaries

Grocery stores

Food packaging

Food companies

Blogs and social media

Print and broadcast media,including online

60 25

23

36

47

45

55

60 5

4

4

3

2

62 11

53 19

58 20

59 23

60

Somewhat trustworthy Very trustworthy

Source: 2015 Science and Food Survey The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Figure 4

Health professionals may be the best suited to disseminate information about food in a trusted,

impartial manner, followed by farmers and scientists in the case of younger generations.

THE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS - 5

above all affordable, safe, and nutritious. Americans view health professionals, farmers, and scientists as trustworthy sources of information about food and nutrition, but they view media sources—traditional and social—most skeptically and the food industry itself without much confidence. Many questions re-main, however, about the reasons behind the public’s views and how the public understands concepts like “nutrition” and “food safety.” Importantly, to what extent might the issues asked about be conflated—for example, how many respondents consider GMOs a safety issue or organics a component of nutrition?

One known factor is that responses vary depending on respondents’ levels of interest in food overall. While nutrition and affordability are the most important issues for the general population, followed distantly by antibiotics and GMOs, those Americans who say they are “very interested” in food view nutrition as far

and away the single most important issue, with GMOs, antibiotics, and affordability tied for not-so-distant second place. Why is this? And how do the select interests of those most interested in food drive the conversation nationally for producers, marketers, and policymakers? How far do they push the conversation away from the national consensus? Further research is necessary to understand these intricacies.

As The Chicago Council’s Science and Our Food project continues, it will explore the drivers behind attitudes towards food production, trustworthiness, and agriscience to answer these questions. The goal is to untangle the discourse and find out what really drives the public’s understanding of science and food.

About the surveyThe analysis in this report is based on data collected

for The Chicago Council by GfK Custom Research

using the KnowledgePanel OmniWeb, a nationwide

online research panel recruited through an ad-

dress-based sampling frame. The survey was fielded

between September 25-27, 2015 among a national

sample of 1,000 adults, 18 years of age or older, living

in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia. The

margin of error is ± 3.0 percentage points, with higher

margins of error for demographic subgroups.

Funding for this survey was provided by The

Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ general operating

revenue. No donations were solicited or accepted for

the explicit funding of this survey.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is an inde-

pendent, nonpartisan organization committed to

educating the public—and influencing the public

discourse—on global issues of the day. The Chicago

Council has been a leading center for public polling

research on the US public and international affairs for

the past 40 years, while its Global Agriculture and Food

program has provided thought leadership on a range

of food and farm issues for the past decade.

About the authorMarcus Glassman is a research associate with the

Global Agriculture and Food program at The Chica-

go Council on Global Affairs, working to develop the

Science and Our Food project. A food safety epidemiol-

ogist, Glassman has previously worked on food safety

policy modernization and Salmonella transmission

research. He holds an MS in public health microbiolo-

gy from the George Washington University and a BA in

medical anthropology from Purdue University.

Contrary to the volume of the debate about hot-button issues like GMOs, antibiotics, and local food,

the vast majority of Americans value food that is above all affordable, safe, and nutritious.

6 - HUNGRY FOR INFORMATION: POLLING AMERICANS ON THEIR TRUST IN THE FOOD SYSTEM

Appendix

Q1. How interested are you in how the food you buy is produced?

Very interested 32%

Somewhat interested 46%

Not very interested 16%

Not at all interested 5%

Table 1

Q2. When you get information about the food you buy, how trustworthy do you find the following sources?

Very untrustworthy

Somewhat untrustworthy

Somewhat trustworthy Very trustworthy

Health professionals 3% 11% 60% 25%

Friends and family 2% 13% 60% 23%

Farmers 3% 14% 59% 23%

Scientists 4% 16% 58% 20%

FDA 8% 19% 53% 19%

Documentaries 5% 20% 62% 11%

Grocery stores 4% 30% 60% 5%

Food packaging 8% 31% 55% 4%

Food companies 11% 38% 45% 4%

Print and broadcast media, including online 11% 37% 47% 3%

Blogs and social media 15% 45% 36% 2%

Table 2

THE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS - 7

Q3. When it comes to the food you buy, how important is it that the food be...

Not at all important

Not very important

Somewhat important Very important

Affordable 1% 5% 33% 59%

Nutritious 2% 5% 34% 57%

Not genetically modified 7% 21% 38% 32%

Antibiotic-free 5% 19% 43% 31%

Locally grown 5% 24% 50% 20%

Organically grown 12% 32% 37% 17%

From a family farm 8% 30% 44% 16%

From a nationally known brand 11% 35% 42% 11%

Table 3

Q4a. How much do you think food producers take the following items into account?

Not at all

Not very much

A fair amount

A great deal

Food safety 3% 19% 55% 20%

Affordability 5% 28% 48% 17%

Nutrition 5% 27% 53% 13%

Environmental sustainability 8% 38% 42% 9%

Fighting hunger 11% 45% 33% 9%

Transparency in production 11% 39% 39% 9%

Table 4a

Q4b. How much do you think food producers should take the following items into account?

Not at all

Not very much

A fair amount

A great deal

Food safety 2% 4% 19% 74%

Affordability 2% 5% 34% 57%

Nutrition 2% 4% 26% 66%

Environmental sustainability 3% 7% 35% 53%

Fighting hunger 3% 12% 38% 45%

Transparency in production 3% 6% 38% 51%

Table 4b

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, founded in 1922, is an independent, nonpartisan organization committed to educating the public—and influencing the public discourse—on global issues of the day. The Council provides a forum in Chicago for world leaders, policymakers, and other experts to speak to its members and the public on these issues. Long known for its public opinion surveys of American views on foreign policy, The Chicago Council also brings together stakeholders to examine issues and offer policy insight into areas such as global agriculture, the global economy, global energy, global cities, global security, and global immigration. Learn more at thechicagocouncil.org and follow @ChicagoCouncil.

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