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FooDSFOOD DEMAND SURVEY

Volume 4, Issue 8: December 15, 2016

Food Demand Survey | Oklahoma State University | info.survey@okstate.eduJayson Lusk | Regents Professor & Willard Sparks Endowed Chair | 405-744-7465

Susan Murray | Research Specialist | 405-744-4857This project is supported by a Willard Sparks Endowment, the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, and the

Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

FooDS tracks consumer preferences and sentiments on the safety, quality, and price of food at home and away from home with particular focus on meat demand. FooDS is a monthly on-line survey with a sample size of at least 1,000 individuals, weighted to match the US population in terms of age, gender, education and region of residence. See the online technical document for more details.

About the Survey

Compared to one month ago, willingness-to-pay (WTP) decreased for all meat products except hamburger which remained virtually unchanged. Pork chops experienced the largest percent decreases in WTP. WTP for all meat products are all lower compared to one year ago.

MEAT DEMAND

Expenditures on food eaten at home increased 3.71% from November to December and expenditures on food purchased away from home decreased 6.18% from November to December. Consumers expect higher beef prices compared to one month ago, while price expectations for chicken and pork remain similar to one month ago. Consumers purchase plans or chicken, beef, and pork remain similar to last month.

FOOD EXPENDITURES

Willingness-to-Pay

Steak Chicken Breast

Hamburger Pork Chop Deli Ham Chicken Wing

Beans & Rice

Pasta

Last Year:December 2015

$7.63 $5.52 $4.51 $3.85 $2.83 $2.45 $2.66 $3.80

Last Month:November 2016

$6.77 $5.07 $4.21 $3.81 $2.10 $2.07 $1.49 $2.18

December 2016 $6.59 $4.93 $4.22 $3.50 $2.06 $2.01 $1.62 $2.89

% change(Nov. - Dec.)

-2.66% -2.76% 0.24% -8.14% -1.90% -2.90% 8.72% 32.57%

Current weekly at home

Current weekly away from home

Anticipated change in at home in next 2 weeks

Anticipated change away from home in next 2 weeks

December 2015 $94.72 $49.95 0.93% -1.05%

November 2016 $93.44 $54.24 0.28% -1.00%

November 2016 $96.91 $50.89 0.91% -0.59%

% change(Nov. - Dec.)

3.71% -6.18% -------- --------

Food Demand Survey | Oklahoma State University | info.survey@okstate.eduJayson Lusk | Regents Professor & Willard Sparks Endowed Chair | 405-744-7465

Susan Murray | Research Specialist | 405-744-4857This project is supported by a Willard Sparks Endowment, the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, and the

Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Consumer Expectations FooDS Page 2

GMOs, E. coli, and Salmonella were the most visible issues in the news over the past two weeks. Awareness decreased for all issues this month. The largest percent decrease in awareness from November to December was for battery cages followed by farm animal welfare. E. coli, Salmonella, and hormones were ranked as the top three food safety concerns in December. The largest percent increase in concern over last month was for farm animal welfare followed by hormones. The largest percent decrease in concern was for mad cow disease followed by pink slime.

AWARENESS & CONCERN TRACKING

Awareness of Food Issues

Food Demand Survey | Oklahoma State University | info.survey@okstate.eduJayson Lusk | Regents Professor & Willard Sparks Endowed Chair | 405-744-7465

Susan Murray | Research Specialist | 405-744-4857This project is supported by a Willard Sparks Endowment, the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, and the

Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Concern for Food Issues FooDS Page 3

Taste, safety, and price remained consumers’ most important values when purchasing food this month. Consumers’ food values remained similar to those in past months with an up-tick in the relative importance of the most important values. Similar to previous months, consumers reported that their main challenge was finding affordable foods that fit within their budget. Avoiding pesticides, added hormones and antibiotics was the challenge experiencing the largest percentage increase, while finding foods my children will eat experienced the largest percent decrease. In December, 5.82% of participants reported having food poisoning, a 29.11% decrease from one month ago. About 6.6% of respondents reported being vegetarian or vegan.

GENERAL FOOD VALUES

Consumer Challenges Consumer Values

Food Demand Survey | Oklahoma State University | info.survey@okstate.eduJayson Lusk | Regents Professor & Willard Sparks Endowed Chair | 405-744-7465

Susan Murray | Research Specialist | 405-744-4857This project is supported by a Willard Sparks Endowment, the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, and the

Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

FooDS Page 4

Several new ad hoc questions were added this month, some which will be reported at a later time. Participants posted the following question: “Crops produced through certain types of genetic engineered that involve the transfer of genes from one species to another (i.e., “foreign DNA”) are currently regulated by three U.S. agencies (the USDA, FDA, and EPA) to check for environmental impacts and impacts on human health. By contrast, crops produced through traditional breeding methods, include hybridization, are not regulated by the U.S. government. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?”Individuals responded on a five-point scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=somewhat disagree, 3=neither disagree nor agree, 4=somewhat agree, or 5=strongly agree) to six statements: i) Regulations on traditional crop breeding are too weak, ii) Regulations on genetically engineered crops involving “foreign” DNA are too weak, iii) New crop breeding and genetic techniques that do not involve “foreign” DNA should be regulated the same as traditional crop breeding techniques, iv) New crop breeding and genetic techniques that do not involve “foreign” DNA should be regulated the same as genetically engineered crops involving “foreign” DNA, v) Genetics and crop breeding should be regulated based on health and environmental outcomes rather than the processed used to create new crops, and vi) I do not know enough about these issues to say how crop breeding should be regulated. The most common answer was “neither agree nor disagree” for all statements. “Regulations on traditional crop breeding are too weak” received the least agreement, and “genetics and crop breeding should be regulated based on health and environmental outcomes rather than the processed used to create new crops” received the highest level of agreement, though similar to that of the remaining statements.

AD HOC QUESTIONS

Regulations on Crop Breeding