The Challenging Tradeoff of Weighing Biased Consumer Preferences Against Marketing Food with Integrity

Recently I was reading an artcile, "The big Washington food fight" in Politico discussing challenges facing bringing diverse interests and perspectives on food issues under one roof through the Grocery Manufacturers association.

There are a couple things influencing my thinking about this.....the idea that voters and consumers may have systemic biases in their knowledge and preferences in general and specifically about food and technology. The other thing is  related to recent research showing a divergence between public perception of science driven by political leaning....a divergence that widens *with* more education and science knowledge (see http://www.pnas.org/content/114/36/9587 ).

This research was not directly related to food except for genetically engineered food . Biotech related effects were not significant in this paper, but as the article noted the data is from 2006 and perhaps biotech was not nearly as politicized or polarized as it would be reflected in more recent data.

So in this context, what does it mean to say 'the customer is always right' and how do you give the customer what they want?

For instance, sustainable food seems to be high on the list of priorities. However, there are plenty of cases where the most sustainable technology is completely rejected by some segments. I'm thinking here of rBST, various aspects of biotechnology, even processing mechanics like finely textured beef. These are all examples where scientifically, you can produce more food using fewer resources and have a lower carbon footprint.

There seem to be two dominant approaches or paradigms by food companies for dealing with this.

One approach is going all in with the 'negative' or 'free from' labeling regardless of science. This paradigm feigns or fakes transparency in the sense it acknowledges consumer preferences related to knowing 'what is in their food' but adds lots of confusion about substantial differences related to food safety and sustainability. This group is more likely to engage in negative advertising (think Chipotle) and lobbying for regulations related to food labeling requirements (think Vermont). The other paradigm takes a 'less is more' approach in terms of honest disclosure about these technologies.

Production agriculture is caught in the middle. Whichever paradigm becomes the most dominant (both in the marketplace and the ballot box) I fear will determine the fate of the kinds of crops farmers grow and technologies they have access too, types of products we see on the shelves, and the potential for healthier and more environmentally sustainable solutions to challenging worldwide problems.

See also: Food with Integrity is Catching On