Those who grow, raise and produce our food rely on technology to provide food that is safe, nutritious, abundant, affordable and produced sustainably. While technological advances can clearly help agriculture meet the growing demand for healthy, affordable food while reducing environmental impact, the technology must be accepted and supported by consumers for it to be viable. Gene editing, for example, shows tremendous promise, including enhancing nutrition, increasing disease resistance in plants and animals, and helping farmers use fewer inputs and natural resources and combat the challenges of a changing climate. The long-term success of gene editing depends on gaining early public support and market acceptance.
Historically, it was assumed that sound science was enough, but The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) peer-reviewed and published consumer trust model shows that communicating shared values is three-to-five times more important to earning trust than competence or sharing facts. New research conducted by CFI in July 2021 with the support of the United Soybean Board (USB) measured consumer attitudes to understand what specifically drives acceptance and rejection of technology use in food and agriculture. The research resulted in a model to classify existing and emerging agricultural technology along a continuum of key factors that drive consumer acceptance (the model is based on work by Siegrist and Hartmann in Nature Food, June 2020 issue). The model identifies aspects of the technology that align with consumer values, as well as aspects that represent obstacles to consumer support. Knowing these acceptance and rejection factors will enable food producers and technology developers to create and implement strategies that are more likely to earn support as new innovations are developed and launched. Several consistent acceptance themes were identified in the 2021 research, including: 1) Belief that food resulting from technology use is safe to consume, 2) Information about the use of technology to produce food is readily available, enabling an informed choice of voluntary exposure, 3) Benefits outweigh perceived risks, 4) Technology can help ensure a consistent supply of food, and 5) Technology promotes greater sustainability by making more with a lesser environmental impact.
U.S. Soy is one example of an industry actively engaging in strategies to earn social license – working to gain acceptance of technology as farmers produce soy for human consumption and as feed for aquaculture and livestock. USB is engaged in the CFI Coalition for Responsible Gene Editing in Agriculture, a collaboration of organizations that have developed trust-building strategies including a responsible use framework. USB and the Coalition created a communications guide that details five research-based approaches to earning trust in gene editing, along with consumer-facing videos, graphics and articles that incorporate these recommendations. Earning market acceptance of gene editing and other innovations will be beneficial as the aquaculture industry engages with an increasingly discerning supply chain, food customer and public that expects sustainably produced food.