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Survey: consumers more aware of farmers’ role in food supply during COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic is causing consumers to think more about where their food comes from, according to a recent survey by G&S Business Communications.

Caryn Caratelli, managing director, says the survey showed that Americans are becoming more aware of farmers’ role in the food supply chain.

“Fifty-eight of Americans say that at the coronavirus crisis has made them realize that farmers’ role in society is more critical now than what they thought it was a year ago,” she says. “Forty-five percent want to hear from farmers and ranchers about how they’re keeping our food supply safe.”

She tells Brownfield it provides farmers an opportunity to communicate with consumers.

“The agriculture industry has an opportunity through the pandemic- it’s an awful thing but it is bringing a focus back onto the industry and consumers are listening for the first time in a long time,” she says. “We need to make sure the industry takes that opportunity to tell our story that no country produces food as efficiently or as safely as the US.”

Survey respondents also indicated they believe that people and organizations across the food supply chain, including farmers, should “proactively communicate the actions they are taking to secure a safe and quality supply.”  

More than 1,000 people who are a representative sample of the population were surveyed in mid-April.