Canadians trust on food issues shifting away from traditional authorities

[Canadian millennials, women and foodies had lower levels of trust in the groups making up the food system, according to a new report. Yahoo7 Lifestyle]

A new survey shows that the overall Canadian population is moving its trust on food issues away from traditional authorities and towards personal ones, and that shift is most significant for millennials and people who identify as foodies.

The biggest takeaway is that half of Canadians are unsure about the direction of our food system with concerns about rising food costs and the affordability of healthy food jumping over those about health care and the economy, Crystal Mackay, CEO of the Centre for Food Integrity, tells Yahoo Canada News by email.

Millennials, women and foodies had lower levels of trust in the groups making up the food system, including farmers, grocers, government agencies, environmentalists and food companies, according to the survey released Tuesday by the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity. The centre was launched this year by Farm & Food Care Canada to build public trust in the food system.

For example, 22 per cent of millennials believe that the Canadian food system is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 21 per cent of overall respondents. The percentage was the same for female respondents to the survey, which surveyed 2,510 people in a representative sample of the Canadian population online in 2016. And 28 per cent of millennials agreed that the food system is moving in the right direction, versus 30 per cent overall.

“We will do some more work on understanding millennials and who and what it takes for them to trust in their food,” Mackay says.

Millennial concerns about food issues also differ from those of other groups. The survey found millennials and moms both have concerns about rising food costs and keeping our food healthy and affordable. But millennials had specific concerns about their personal financial situations and the state of the Canadian economy while moms were particularly worried about food safety.

It was surprising to see that concerns about food affordability – particularly the cost of healthy foods – were greater than those about healthcare or the economy, Mackay says.

Foodies expressed a higher level of concern, compared to other groups, on all food issues, the survey found. They were especially concerned about keeping healthy foods affordable, food safety and the safety of imported foods.

And interestingly, foodies were more likely than overall respondents to think that the Canadian food system is heading in both the right (34 per cent) and wrong (26 per cent) direction.

But among all groups, a higher level of concern about food issues didn’t translate to increased knowledge about how the Canadian food system works. Ninety-three per cent of respondents said they know a little, very little or nothing about Canadian farming practices, the survey found — a number unchanged from 2012.

And despite their worries, the positive impression respondents held of Canadian agriculture has increased significantly over the past decade. In 2006, 41 per cent of Canadians said they held an overall positive impression of the country’s agriculture, and in 2016 that was up to 61 per cent of respondents.

The centre plans to do this research annually, Mackay says, using these 2016 results as a benchmark in the future. Click here to read the full report.