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Consumers confident in Canada’s food system

According to new research from the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, Canadians are optimistic about their food supply even as Canada’s food system faces exceptional pressure and public scrutiny due to the global pandemic in 2020.

The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI) is a national charity with a mandate to help Canada’s food system earn public trust by coordinating research, resources, dialogue, and communications.

The recently unveiled 5th edition of the 2020 Public Trust Research Report, entitled Trends in Trust & The Path Forward, indicates that of the 2,903 Canadians sampled, the proportion who feel that Canada’s food system is headed in the right direction has reached a five-year high. Forty-seven per cent of Canadians are confident about the overall direction of the food system – a 12-point increase compared to 2019.

The Canadian food system’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has also been highly praised by Canadian consumers; nearly nine in 10 (87 per cent) trust that the food system will ensure the availability of healthy food for Canadians.

“Canada’s food system stakeholders should be proud of their efforts throughout the pandemic; that has ensured Canadians uninterrupted access to healthy, Canadian-grown food,” says John Jamieson, CCFI president and CEO. “The fact that Canadians recognize these efforts and are trusting and confident in their food system presents our industry with an extraordinary opportunity to connect with consumers and highlight the potential for the agri-food system to lead economic recovery in Canada.”

Affordability is Top of Mind

As the pandemic continues to take its toll on the economy and unemployment rates, Canadians are most concerned about the cost of food. The current circumstances have highlighted this struggle, with 51 per cent of Canadians indicating they have less money to spend on food as a direct result of the pandemic.

Sustainability – More Than Just a Buzzword

The 2020 research also concluded that the topic of sustainability in food is not just a trend but a requirement to be a trusted and successful food system player. Sustainable food means many things to many people, but for almost half of Canadians (45 per cent) it refers to food options and production practices that address climate change and have a positive impact on the environment. Other key areas of research examined were who Canadians trust when it comes to their food, food safety, environment, and factors influencing food decisions.

CCFI encourages those interested in downloading the 2020 Public Trust Research Report, to visit foodintegrity.ca, or click on the following link: foodintegrity.ca/research/.