American consumers are deeply concerned about the current farm crisis, and about the changing structure of the food and agricultural industries. Moreover, they believe that their needs are best served by a family farm system of agriculture, and support spending tax dollars to put a firmer economic foundation under the farm economy, according to a just-released national survey. The results suggest that consumers believe that family farmers are best available to provide them with lower food prices, better food safety, and demonstrate more concern for the environment and protecting natural resources.
Consumers are concerned about food cost, food safety, and food production.
They are aware and very bothered by growing concentration in the food industry, and a strong majority hold a clear preference for a family farm based system of agriculture. The survey was conducted by Strategic Research Group, Eden Prairie, Minn. from August 3-10, 1999. Respondents were randomly selected from lists of American households. Less than 10 percent of respondents lived in rural communities of less than 50,000 people. The margin of error was 4.7 percent.