New insights into consumer food from Purdue explorer

According to the June 2024 Consumer Food Insights (CFI) report, the general public has little knowledge of the US farm bill that politicians are debating on Capitol Hill.

The survey-based report from Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS) assesses food spending, consumer satisfaction and values, support for agricultural and food policies, and trust in information sources. Purdue experts conducted and evaluated the survey, which included 1,200 U.S. consumers.

“About a third of American adults have never heard of the law, while a similar percentage have heard of the law but don’t know what programs it supports,” said the report’s lead author, Joseph Balagtas, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue and director of CFDAS. “The farm bill is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and touches every part of the food system.”

New survey questions last month probed consumers’ attitudes toward the farm bill, which the CFI team broke down by self-reported political ideology: liberal, moderate or conservative. The survey asked respondents to rank six broad policy areas that align with sub-indicators of CFI’s Sustainable Food Purchase (SFP) index, from most to least prioritized.

The results show that there are both similarities and differences between what consumers want in agricultural law and what they consider important in their own food consumption.

“Our data shows that consumers consistently rank taste, affordability, and nutrition as the most important values ​​when shopping for groceries. When we asked them to rank their priorities for the Farm Bill, affordability/economic sustainability and nutrition also ranked high,” Balagtas said. “But taste was not a consumer priority for the Farm Bill. And while consumers don’t rank environmental sustainability as an important value for their own groceries, they do rank it as a high priority for the Farm Bill.”

Consumers may have certain beliefs, such as that climate and the environment are important to address at a policy level, he said. But their individual purchasing behavior may not reflect the same sentiment as their decisions, which are guided more by taste and affordability.

Two key components of the farm bill—farm subsidies and government spending on food and nutrition assistance—are hotly debated topics in the political world. Yet most American adults (about 70%) favor both farm subsidies (including reduced premiums for crop insurance, price supports, and conservation incentives) and spending on food and nutrition assistance, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

“When we break down the results by self-identified political ideology, we see that support is bipartisan,” Balagtas said. “Majorities of liberals, moderates, and conservatives support both farm subsidies and federal nutrition assistance.”

There were no major changes in food spending and inflation expectations or estimates in the previous month. However, when sorting inflation expectations and estimates by political ideology from June 2022 to June 2024, differences emerge.

Despite a downward trend in consumer inflation estimates and expectations over time, liberal consumers are more likely to estimate and predict lower levels of food inflation than moderate and conservative consumers. In June 2024, conservative consumers estimated that food prices had risen almost twice as much as liberal consumers estimated.

“Given that inflation is a common topic of conversation in political discussions and can be a polarizing issue, it is worth revisiting inflation expectations and keeping an eye on food prices in the months following the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election,” said Elijah Bryant, a survey research analyst at CFDAS and one of the report’s co-authors. “This can provide more insight into whether political bias is influencing these estimates.”

Food insecurity rose slightly to 13% in June. The percentage reporting SNAP is higher on average among liberals (20%) compared to moderates (17%) and conservatives (13%), according to the latest 30 months of data.

“The correlation between SNAP use and political preferences is consistent with the level of support these three groups show for government spending on food and nutrition assistance,” Bryant said.

The SFP index rose two points, to 72, from March 2024. Americans still score higher on taste, economy and safety sustainability, and relatively low on social and environmental sustainability.

“We see differences in food sustainability scores across political affiliations,” Bryant said. “Liberals have higher SFP scores on average than moderates and conservatives, largely driven by higher scores in environmental, social, and nutritional sustainability.”

Vegetarian or vegan eating is more common among liberal consumers. The percentage of vegetarianism or veganism among this group is about twice as high as among moderate and conservative consumers.

Liberal consumers also report choosing unconventional foods more often than moderate and conservative consumers. Such products include free-range eggs, plant proteins, and organic foods.

“But when it comes to recycling and reducing waste, we see similarities among consumers of all political persuasions,” Bryant said.

“It’s understandable that we see differences in what consumers believe about the food system based on their political leanings,” Bryant said, particularly in the level of agreement with statements about the link between the food system and the environment.

A majority of liberal consumers believe that eating less meat is better for the environment (70%), compared to only 31% of conservative consumers. Similarly, 71% of liberals think that agriculture contributes significantly to climate change, compared to 29% of conservatives.

“However, most consumers agree that local food is better for the environment, regardless of political leanings,” Bryant said.

The Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability is part of Purdue’s Next Moves in Agriculture and Food Systems and uses innovative data analytics shared through user-friendly platforms to improve the food system. In addition to the Consumer Food Insights Report, the center offers a portfolio of online dashboards.

Author: Steve Koppes