Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 9/15/15


The amount consumers were willing to pay for a range of meat products dropped in the month ended in early September, with deli ham dropping the most — about 21 percent — from levels a month earlier, according to Oklahoma State University’s monthly Food Demand Survey.

Steak saw only a slight decrease from last month, down about 2.5 percent. However, consumers’ willingness to pay for steak, chicken breast, deli ham and chicken wings are all higher now than at this time a year ago, the survey showed.

Issue awareness
Regarding issues related to the food supply, the survey indicated that salmonella, E. coli and GMOs were the most visible issues in the news over the past two weeks. The largest percent jump in awareness from August to September was for gestation crates and salmonella. The largest percent decrease in awareness from August to September was for bird flu and antibiotics.

Still, salmonella, E. coli and antibiotics were ranked as the top three concerns during September.

What’s in a name? A lot.
This month, the survey polled consumers’ level of satisfaction “with the decisions and manage practice of farmers these days.” But the survey used the phrase “of farmers” on only one-third of the surveys, used the phrase “of agricultural producers” on another third, and used the phrase “in agriculture” on the rest.

Respondents were most likely to give the high score possible (a 10) when the phrase “of farmers” was used, with 10 percent rating farmers that highly. However, when the phrase was “agricultural producers,” only 5.8 percent gave a “10” rating. And when the phrase “of agriculture” was used, only 5.5 percent rated their opinion a “10.”

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