Americans disagree about food values, study says

Divide over organics, GMOs has created ‘ideologies’ that aren’t connected to politics

A new report paints a picture of two Americas divided over something that’s a critical part of their daily life — food.

On one side are those who care deeply about the food they eat and how it is produced. These Americans embrace organic foods, are suspicious of genetically modified crops and are guided by the belief that they’ll live a long time if they prioritize nutrition and exercise.

On the other side are those who pay little attention to how the food they eat winds up on their plate. These folks are more likely to doubt that scientists have a clear idea about what makes for a healthy diet and to fall short of their own eating goals.

Here’s the twist: Democrats and Republicans are about equally likely to find themselves in either camp.

These are the findings of a report from the Pew Research Center, which surveyed 1,480 American adults about their food values.

The researchers found that many people don’t just have opinions about their food, they have full-blown food “ideologies.”

“Food has become a flashpoint in American culture and politics,” the researchers wrote in their report, which was published Dec. 1. “The way Americans eat has become a source of potential social, economic and political friction.”

You can get a good idea of which side a person is on by asking how he or she feels about organic and genetically modified foods.

In general, the more people prefer organic foods, the more skeptical they are of GM foods.

Among the 16 percent of survey takers who care “a great deal” about GM foods, 75 percent believe these foods are worse for their health than conventional alternatives, and 81 percent say organic foods are superior. However, among the 46 percent of survey takers who don’t care much or at all about GM foods, only 17 percent have concerns about their nutritional value and 35 percent think organic foods are better.

Also, 76 percent of those who care most about GM foods say that some or most of what they eat is organic. Meanwhile, 75 percent of those who aren’t concerned about GM foods say little to none of the food they eat is organic.

Overall, 55 percent of Americans in the study said they thought food produced organically was better for their health than food produced by conventional means. That compares with 3 percent who felt organic food was worse and 41 percent who thought both methods were the same.

In addition, 39 percent of all people surveyed said they thought GM foods were worse for their health than conventional foods, while 10 percent said GM foods were superior. Nearly half (48 percent) of respondents said both were about the same.

People who care deeply about GM foods follow through on their beliefs at the grocery store (or farmers’ market) — 89 percent said they buy organic foods, 74 percent buy foods with GMO-free labels and 89 percent say they check nutrition labels before making purchasing decisions.