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Iowa survey shows greater trust in farming

An annual survey of Iowa consumers shows a greater percentage of them understand how their food is grown and they increasingly trust farmers to do a good job growing it.

Aaron Putze coordinates the Iowa Food and Family Project (Iowa FFP), which conducts the annual survey.

“We had a six point increase in the percentage of Iowans who say that they are very knowledgeable about how the food that they enjoy is grown,” Putze says. “We saw an 11 percent increase in the respondents who believe that farmers are doing a good job of caring for their livestock. And we saw a five percent increase in peoples’ trust that farmers are doing a good job in caring for air, soil and water quality.”

Sixty-one percent of those surveyed believe growers “balance doing what’s right” with profit, while just 14 percent think farmers are “driven solely by profit”, down four points from last year.

The Iowa Food and Family Project was launched in 2011 to facilitate greater confidence among food-minded Iowans about how food is grown and acquaint them with the farmers who grow it. Putze says the survey results indicate the project is making a difference.

“Those who are aware of the Iowa Food and Family Project were 13 points more likely to say that they had an overall positive image of farming,” he says. “They were ten percent more confident that farmers care for the well-being of their livestock—and nine percent more confident, than the sample at large, that farmers are protecting the quality of the state’s water, air and soil resources.”

Putze says those results confirm that the Food and Family Project is having success in “influencing the food influencers”.

AUDIO: Aaron Putze

Photo: The Hender family of Ankeny visited an Iowa farm in late October as part of Iowa FFP’s “You on the Farm” program.  Photo courtesy Iowa FFP