IF a recent a survey on food is to be believed we are producing BMWs and Mercedes, when what consumers really want are Hyuandis and Kias. These are perfectly good cars and will do exactly the same as their more costly counterparts – which were traditionally much more profitable, on the basis of the old adage that big cars were the way to big profits. A survey by the Food Standards Agency has shown that in these tough times consumers put one thing above all others when it comes to priorities. That is price – which is understandable when incomes are being squeezed, thanks to costs rising, when incomes are, at best, static. After price comes health, in the shape of concerns about fat and salt levels – but far behind are issues such as pesticide use and genetically modified (GM) crops. This suggests that while these may be high on the list of concerns of celebrity chefs and food writers they are of little relevance to everyday shoppers, who ultimately decide what does and does not sell. In many ways this is encouraging, since it confirms that people make rational choices. They are right, especially in a recession, to be worried about price; they are also right, given levels of obesity, to be concerned about the fat and salt content of the food they buy for themselves and their family.
View the original article here: Need for educational programme on GM food – News – Farming Life
