Food Safety Daily News

Ohio State survey: Food safety concerns increasing

By Howard J. Siegrist • November 13, 2008

Source of Article: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20081113/NEWS01/811130336

Although Ohioans continue to feel positive about farming's contribution to overall quality of life, their anxiety about food safety continues to increase.

That's significant, because concerns about the economy appear to have overshadowed other types of concerns that respondents were asked about in the 2008 Ohio Survey of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Issues.

The survey is conducted every two years. This year, the 12-page survey was mailed to 3,500 randomly selected Ohioans. The response rate was greater than 48 percent, which is lower than in previous years but still favorable for mail surveys.

According to the survey, 57 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, "Food is not as safe as it was 10 years ago," compared to 44 percent in 2006, and 40 percent in 2002. The number of respondents who "strongly agreed" with that statement jumped from 14 percent in 2002 up to 26 percent in 2008, indicating that feelings about food safety are becoming stronger among some Ohioans.

Neal Hooker, an associate professor of agricultural, environmental and development economics and a project team member at Ohio State University, has conducted research on food safety issues and how they relate to policy. He said some of the increase seen this year could be because of short-term food safety issues that were in the news just before and during the distribution of the surveys, between March and June -- including concerns about food and other products from China and a produce-related salmonella problem at the start of the summer. Nevertheless, it looks like there is a trend on increasing concern in the past several years. People are becoming more aware of food safety issues, but that might be reflected in the numbers the survey showed.

Hooker is working with the Food Policy Institute at Rutgers University examining people's perceptions of food safety risks -- and those findings could illuminate what the researchers uncovered with the Ohio survey.

Among the other findings of the survey:

 Respondents still overwhelmingly agree with the statement, "Overall, farming positively contributes to the quality of life in Ohio," with 87 percent agreeing or strongly agreeing with it. That?226-130?s a high level of support, but the agriculture community must still work to maintain that high level of confidence.

 More than half of respondents (57 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that "Increased regulation of the treatment of animals in farming is needed," a figure comparable to the 51 percent who agreed with the statement in 2006, but about 10 percent higher than the level of concern in 2002 and 2004.

 Concern about global warming decreased slightly in 2008, to 37 percent "very concerned" compared with a high of 41 percent in 2006.

 Concern about various economic issues were the highest among all issues the survey asked about, with 93 percent "very concerned" about the increasing cost of gas and heating fuel; 86 percent about the rising cost of food; 78 percent about the high debt levels of Americans; and 75 percent about the loss of Ohio jobs because of globalization.

Clearly, the economy is front and center as an issue, and concerns about it outweigh those about the environment and agriculture. But I think communities that look at agriculture as a local economic development activity -- for example, growing and marketing local foods as an economic opportunity -- will find that doing so will resonate with residents.

The Ohio Survey of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Issues was first conducted in 2002. It is sponsored by the Social Responsibility Initiative in Ohio State University's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

For more information, or to schedule a presentation about the findings, contact Jeff Sharp at (614) 292-9410 or sharp.123@osu.edu.

Howard J. Siegrist is an extension educator at Ohio State University Extension.

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