U.S. agriculture has found itself the whipping boy of environmentalism, consumerism, humanitarianism and a plethora of other isms. Indiana Farm Bureau President Don Villwock recently said, “There are a lot of people out there telling lies about us.”

Mace Thorton, with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), said there are groups of people who feel it is their goal in life to thrash our food, fiber, and fuel production system. Agriculture leaders are flummoxed about how to respond to this torrent of criticism. New research from the Center for Food Integrity (CFI) has provided some clues.

CFI is a nonprofit organization that conducts consumer research to find out what people think about the food industry and to help the food sector better respond to criticism. Since 2006, CFI has been intensively surveying consumers on a variety of food issues.

CFI also studies what approaches are the most affective in changing consumer perceptions and attitudes about food. In the most recent batch of research data they, discovered that the biggest concern U.S. consumers have about food is safety.

Remember the 1976 thriller Marathon Man starring Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider and Laurence Olivier? There is a memorable scene where Olivier keeps asking Hoffman, “Is it safe?” That is what consumers today are asking.
According to CFI research, food safety is the top food concern. Not surprising, since just about every week there is another food recall. Instead of seeing this as proof that our food safety system is working, the media and most consumers see it as confirmation our food supply is not safe.

Yet, the exciting news is what happens when these consumers are exposed to the facts about the food they eat. According to the CFI study, their attitudes improve and they become more trusting of the food they eat, the food production system, and the ability of government regulatory agencies to protect the food supply.

While this is great in a research study, in the real world, where do people get their food facts? According to CFI, more and more are going online.
Between 2009-10, there was a jump in the number of people who got their food facts from a website. This is not always good, because many web sources have inaccurate or false information or even hidden agendas.

What will prove even more discouraging to agriculture is that websites from farm and food organizations are not viewed as credible sources.

What is viewed as credible are the opinions and recommendations of friends and family. Uncle Joe may not be the most informed source, but he has credibility. CFI executive Director Terry Fleck said that is the first step toward reaching consumers: Building trust. If they trust you as an individual or as an organization, they will be more likely to be influenced by what you say.
According to the research, a message of shared values is the most effective tool for reaching consumers.

What I found as interesting as what consumers felt was important was what they did not care much about. According to the CFI data, animal care was not a top priority for more than 60 percent of the respondents.

Global Warming was near the bottom of consumer concerns. Coming in dead last, however, was concern for the food supplies of developing nations.
The average U.S. consumer is more concerned about the safety of his food and the living conditions of chickens and pigs, than about the availability of food for fellow humans in poor countries.

So, let us in agriculture sow a message of trust to counter those who preach mistrust. Let’s share the fact that our food supply is the safest in the world. And let’s find a way to show people the food and fiber system, centered here in the Heartland, is the hope and salvation of millions of other people around the world.

Support of American agriculture is not only good for our stomachs, but essential for those other stomachs around the world that are not quite as full as ours.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.