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from the use of science-related agricultural better for them, for their communities and the
practices that provide affordable, plentiful and planet. In this situation, people tend to resort
safe food – are now rejecting those practices. So to food producers who they trust (or brands,
does this mean that people are rejecting science labels or certifications as proxies) based on the
and technology, in which case the solution is to perception of shared values.
educate people about the importance of science
and technology? Or should we be looking at this Research into community attitudes to science
problem differently? in food production is starting to move beyond
the idea that rejecting things like GM foods is
The public is right to be concerned about food a rejection of ‘science’ and revealing that our
production. The resources used to produce relationships with both science and food are far
our food are not limitless, and in Australia it is more complex, involving numerous social and
particularly important to consider the impacts cultural aspects.
of food production on our unique and often
extreme environment. We also have public We know there are still high levels of trust in
health issues such as chronic metabolic Australian farmers but Australians generally
diseases that are linked to our food consumption know little about current food production
habits. At an individual level, consumers have practices, which makes it difficult to talk to the
to make choices quickly based on increasingly general public about the risks and benefits of
complex and competing claims about what is agricultural innovations.
Although it might be tempting to fill this
knowledge gap with facts about agricultural
production, we also know from looking at
science communication research on public
education campaigns that increasing knowledge
alone is not the answer to building trust. Shared
values are more important, and understanding
the values that producers and the broader
community share about food production will
be key to improving communication. Although
we still need more research in this area to
understand what these values are, we can
already start to shift the conversation away from
‘educating’ the community about agriculture
and towards thinking about ways to improve
trust in the food system.
Science will always have a role in food
production, but science that is done by and for
the benefit of people. Through our research we
hope to identify new ways of looking at public
engagement with food production and more
constructive ways to engage the community
in conversations about how we sustainably
produce safe, healthy and affordable food now
and into the future.
The Australian Farmer • Issue 2017
