A Zogby poll released earlier this month shows that as food recalls — from both imported foods from overseas and foods produced here in the U.S. — continue to make headlines, Americans may be paying more attention to where their food comes from.
Nearly three in four (74 percent) say it’s important to them to know the country of origin for the all types of products they buy, but even more — 85 percent — say knowing where their food comes from is important.
- 90 percent of Americans want the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to hire additional inspectors to increase inspection of food imports
- 96 percent said they take recall warnings seriously.
- Most Americans (67 percent) are satisfied with how the U.S. government gets the message out to the public about recalled products, but 30 percent believe the government’s efforts are lacking.
- Overall, nearly half (48 percent) said they don’t know where the majority of the vegetables, fruits and nuts they consume originate.
- While nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of American adults said they go out of their way to buy local produce and other food products, 32 percent said it isn’t a priority.
Despite overwhelming support for labeling, 5 percent disagree with mandatory country of origin labeling for foods. Of those, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) said compliance would be too costly and it would drive up food prices. Another 27 percent said it doesn’t matter what country food comes from that is sold in the U.S., and 2 percent believe such labeling could be unfair to foreign competitors.
Many food shoppers (70 percent) said they are willing to pay more for produce, poultry, meat, seafood and other food products if they were from the U.S.
But how much are shoppers willing to pay to know their food doesn’t come from a foreign country? One in three (34 percent) would pay up to 10 percent more for U.S. food and nearly half (46 percent) would be willing to pay from 10 percent to 25 percent more. Just 11 percent would be willing to pay 25 percent or more for U.S. foods over cheaper imported foods.
But not everyone is so willing to pay more for food just because it doesn’t come from outside the U.S. — 15 percent wouldn’t be willing to pay more for food from America. Of those, 38 percent said they wouldn’t be willing to pay more because cost is the most important factor in making their food choices, while another 27 percent said it doesn’t matter what country the food they buy comes from.
Read the full release here.