Survey Reveals: Changing Ag to Address Climate Change Not a Priority for Many

Consumers in 10 countries, including the United States, France, Germany, the UK, New Zealand and Singapore, don’t see it as a priority to make major changes to agriculture or their diets to address climate change, according to a new survey. The poll, conducted by Kantar Public, was aimed at assessing the public’s attitudes on ways to address climate change. 
 
Only 18% of those polled rated reducing meat consumption as very important. “Radically changing our agricultural model” was rated as very important by only 24% of those polled. 
 
On the other hand, 57% of those surveyed said that reducing waste and increasing recycling was very important, followed by stopping deforestation at 54%. 
 
EDITOR’S TAKE:

Revealing indeed. Agriculture is not only the original environmentalist, but has made huge strides in recent decades to do their part to improve water and air quality. Efforts already underway to reduce nutrient runoff has lessened the impact on streams and other watersheds by several magnitudes in recent years. Toss in precision ag technologies for more precise placement of fertilizer and crop protection materials to complete that story. Similarly, agriculture has reduced water usage significantly by monitoring plant uptake and soil moisture availability on a daily basis. Then there are a plethora of conservation initiatives that farmers/ranchers have implemented to further protect the environment and provide excellent wildlife habitat. Plus, if we examine the facts, consumers benefit from knowing their food is being produced in a conscientious, sustainable manner while farmers look after their most valuable asset – the land. So, it is not shocking to realize that most people do not see the need to change agriculture to address climate change! As Congressman Rick Crawford from Arkansas said in a recent interview, “In Washington, you have environmental activists, but on the farm, you have active environmentalists.”