London (8.3.10) – The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has just published new research looking at people’s attitudes to emerging food technologies, including GM food; the findings come from FSA-funded questions in the 2008 British Social Attitudes survey. The survey is designed to chart continuity and change in British social, economic, political and moral values.

Respondents to what extent they agree or disagree with three statements about GM foods:

(a) on balance, the advantages of GM foods outweigh any dangers;

(b) in order to compete with the rest of the world, Britain should grow GM foods;

(c) GM foods should be banned, even if food prices suffer as a result

People’s knowledge of, and attitudes to, food technologies vary considerably. Of particular note, Chapter 7 of the report focuses on attitudes to innovation with regards to GM foods:

1. Compared with 1999, when the same questions were asked, fewer people now said they have a strong attitude to GM food. There has been a gradual increase in public support for GM food (from 10% in 1999 to 19% in 2008).

2. The responses suggest that there is considerable uncertainty about the extent to which GM foods represent a positive development. Around four-tenths of the public neither agree nor disagree that the advantages of GM foods outweigh any dangers, with a further 10% indicating they were unable to select an answer to this question.

3. Similar proportions agree and disagree with the proposition that GM food should be banned, even if food prices suffer as a result – 26% compared with 30%. This suggested that price considerations potentially have an impact in terms of encouraging support for GM foods.

4. The report states that individuals often express a set of attitudes that do not reflect coherent support or opposition to GM foods, suggesting that other factors are at play in influencing specific attitudes in this area. They may include economic and price considerations as well as competing attitudes and behaviour in relation to food.

5. Interestingly, the research also examines which groups of the public are more likely to provide positive and negative assessments of GM foods and the possible reasons for any patterns identified. Attitudes vary markedly among the public, with women, older age groups and those with greater concerns and less knowledge about innovation in food in general being more likely to express a negative view. Less educated and socio-economically disadvantaged groups are much less likely to have an opinion about GM.

6. Generally, women have been shown to be much less positive than men, often attributed to their greater involvement in the purchasing and preparation of food (one-quarter of men agree with the notion that the advantages of GM foods outweigh any dangers, compared to just one-tenth of women).

7. However, in terms of other demographic characteristics, the evidence is mixed, with socio-economic characteristics being highlighted as linking with attitudes in this area by some studies, but not others.

8. Attitudes to science have been identified as the strongest predictor of attitudes to GM foods, and there is some evidence that increased knowledge of this topic tends to be associated with lower levels of opposition.

9. In addition, older age groups are much more likely than younger ones to disagree that the advantages of GM foods outweigh any dangers. The key distinction is between those aged 18-34 and older age groups; 21% of the youngest age group provide a negative assessment of GM foods, compared to more than three-tenths of each of the other age groups.

Interestingly, the report concludes that whilst attitudes to GM foods have become less firm and slightly more positive over time, future developments are likely to be determined not only by a growing familiarity with these products, but their level of availability and the extent and tone of media and public discussion that takes place within Britain. That sits well with other conclusions reached over the years including the answer to the question Do European consumers but GM foods? ““yes – when offered the opportunity” (http://www.cropgen.org/article_200.html)

Like so many othjers, this report is based mainly on “what if”, “would you” and “do you think” questionnaires, not on observing or on asking what consumers actually do in various situations related to food. What is also interesting (and rather odd for a report of 140 or so pages) is the absence of correlation with other studies as illustrated by the small number of items in the bibliography: a total of seven for the report as a whole and just one in the GM chapter – and that a source mentioned in the text but with no indication of what it is or where to find it. No other studies of UK attitudes to GM crops and foods are specifically mentioned even though there have been quite a number of them over the years.

Source:

Food technologies, findings from the 2008 British Social Attitudes survey.
National Centre for Social Research, Social Science Research Unit and Food Standards Agency (March 2010) (http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/bsa08foodtechnologies.pdf)

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