Farming's image damaged, say 45%

Over 45 per cent of respondents in a survey of attitudes to farming and food felt the image of agriculture had disimproved, a…

Over 45 per cent of respondents in a survey of attitudes to farming and food felt the image of agriculture had disimproved, a press conference heard yesterday.

Commissioned by Agri Aware, the organisation established to promote the image of the industry, researchers found that 45.5 per cent felt the image had disimproved, 32 per cent felt it had improved, while 22.3 per cent felt it had remained unchanged.

According to the authors of the report, Prof Jim Phelan and Ms Anne Finnegan of the department of agribusiness, extension and rural development at UCD, 10.3 per cent of those surveyed thought the image of Irish farmers was bad.

Despite that, the main findings of the survey, "Perceptions of Agriculture," were very supportive of the industry and its role and importance to the rest of the economy.

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Some 91.5 per cent said it was a good investment to give financial support to farmers who maintain the environment, and nearly 75 per cent felt it was a good investment to compensate farmers for crisis in the market.

The survey found that 67.1 per cent of the sample had major concerns with genetically modified foods but this figure fell to 41.5 per cent when they were asked about the risks from BSE.

The survey indicated only 5 per cent never ate meat, 72.8 per cent at meat regularly and 22.3 per cent ate it occasionally. Beef was the preferred meat at 35 per cent and 25 per cent said they ate chicken.

Prof Phelan said a worrying aspect of the survey was that 68.6 per cent of those surveyed assumed they were buying Irish meat in the shops. It also showed that 92.3 per cent wanted the country of origin displayed on meat. Food quality rated higher than price with those surveyed and 66.6 per cent were satisfied with food-safety standards.