CIFST Webinar: Canadian consumer opinions regarding food purchase decisions

Topic: Canadian consumer opinions regarding food purchase decisions

Agricultural biotechnology produced genetically modified (GM) crops, not only provide economic benefits to farmers, but are beneficial to the environmental, human health, and consumers. At a time when no tool in agriculture can be overlooked when dealing with increasing environmental, food security, and economic pressures, what do Canadian consumers think of GM food, following over 20 years of consumption? This webinar presents the results of a 2018 survey of 506 English-speaking Canadian consumers, about GM food, food labels and purchasing decisions. Results show the two most important factors that impact Canadian consumer food purchase decisions are: price and place of origin (Canadian made). Canadian consumers are responding to surveys about their willingness to consume GM food products in diametric opposition to their actual purchasing behavior. That is, consumers say they mistrust GM foods, but when consumers are making food purchase decisions in grocery stores, price is the key purchase determining factor.

Event Details:

Wednesday, March 31, 2021
12:00 - 12:45 p.m. EST

Our Speaker:

Stuart Smyth -  Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan

Dr. Stuart Smyth is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Saskatchewan, where he holds the Agri-Food Innovation and Sustainability Enhancement Chair.

His research focuses on sustainability, agriculture, innovation and food. Dr. Smyth publishes a weekly blog on these topics at: www.SAIFood.ca. Recent publications include authored books with William Kerr and Peter Phillips, GM Agriculture and Food Security: Fears and Facts, published by CABI (2019) and Biotechnology Regulation and Trade, published by Springer (2017).

Dr. Smyth is involved in social science research with the Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre (https://p2irc.usask.ca/) at the U of S. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (https://icabr.net/).

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