Survey shines light on regenerative ag, food affordability

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Most consumers are unfamiliar or only slightly familiar with regenerative agriculture, according to the August 2024 Consumer Food Insights Report.

Forty-three percent of survey respondents said they were “not at all familiar” with the term “regenerative agriculture,” and another 28% were only “slightly familiar.” Further, 14% said they were “moderately familiar,” 9% said they were “very familiar,” and 6% said they were “extremely familiar” with regenerative agriculture.

“This reveals an opportunity for producers and industry leaders interested in expanding regenerative agriculture practices in their operations to clearly communicate to consumers what regenerative agriculture means to their operations,” said Joseph Balagtas, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University.

Definition: Regenerative agriculture includes farming methods that result in improved soil health, carbon capture, improved biodiversity and healthy water resources.

The CFI Report also assessed trends in food values by asking respondents to rank the most important factors when buying food. Taste and affordability have been the most important attributes for the nearly three years.

“Our August results are consistent with results every month that we’ve asked this survey since January 2022,” Balagtas said.

“The No. 1 value of importance to consumers first and foremost is taste, followed closely by affordability. A little bit further down the line is nutrition, and way down at the bottom — not that they’re unimportant, but relatively unimportant — are environmental impact and social responsibility.”

Other report insights include:

• Consumer support for regenerative agriculture adoption is lower when the cost is passed to consumers via higher prices or taxes.

• Maintaining affordable food prices ranked highest among the seven attributes explored related to regenerative agriculture.

• Food inflation expectations for the next 12 months decreased by 0.4 percentage points for the second month in a row.

• Food insecurity is highest among those without any college education.

Learn more about the report at https://tinyurl.com/mph43ep9.