The overwhelming majority of people questioned for a survey published yesterday said they believed food prices had increased since the introduction of the euro.
Some 93.3 per cent of the 500 people surveyed said prices had risen. The survey was carried out by Dr Pat Bogue, of Shannon Showcase Consultants, for Agri Aware, the agriculture industry support group.
Only one-fifth of those surveyed said they believed that farmers received a fair price for their produce, according to the survey - "The Price, Country of Origin and Traceability of Food - The Irish Consumer's Perspective".
Other findings showed that four out of every five (81 per cent) of those surveyed tried to buy Irish food when shopping. Women were more likely to do this than men. The older consumers (over 65) were most likely to buy Irish and the younger consumers (under 25) least likely to do so.
Some 87.3 per cent of consumers surveyed stated that the country of origin was important; however, this was only rated as the sixth most important factor when purchasing food.
The survey found that the majority of consumers considered basic food items to represent good value for money.
Milk was seen as a good-value product by 77 per cent of the consumers surveyed. Meat, on the other hand, was considered an expensive product by 57 per cent; half of these felt that the retailer was the main beneficiary from the price of meat. Vegetables represented poorer value for money than did milk and bread.
The vast majority (98.6 per cent) of consumers favour the introduction of a "green" label to identify food as Irish.
Some nine out of 10 consumers consider Irish food to be of a higher quality than food produced in Eastern Europe, Asia or South America. Three-quarters consider Irish food to be of a higher quality than that produced in the rest of the EU.
More than seven out of every 10 consumers (72.7 per cent) said that they would pay more to guarantee food traceability, safety and assurance. Men were less willing than women to pay more.
Three-quarters (75.7 per cent) of consumers were confident of the safety and traceability standards of Irish-produced food. Food scares were found to be the chief reason why the remainder were uncertain of the standards.
Replying to questions on the survey, Mr Mike Mangan, the chairman of Agri Aware, said that his was a non-political organisation and it could not comment on the calls for a boycott of premises which had increased charges since the introduction of the euro.
For him, the main findings were that Irish people wanted more information on the country of origin of food.
Dr Patrick Wall, of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, said there was a lot of mislabelling of food sold in Ireland. A "know your supplier" scheme would be of great assistance.