Farm survey highlights city support

Urban-dwelling Kiwis are keen to support improved farming practices by changing their food-buying habits, writes Matthew Littlewood.

A major survey has revealed the urban public are not against farmers: they just want to see improvements in practices.

A project by Our Land and Water explores baseline Kiwi views of farmers and farming, and paints a picture of what positive behaviour changes across the food system might look like.

Our Land and Water is a collective made up of AgResearch, ESR, GNS, and other government agencies and academic institutions.

The results were gathered from surveys of more than 300 visitors to the Open Farms Day held on March 1, where more than 3500 members of the public visited 45 farms.

According to the surveys conducted as part of the project, visitors left their farm experience keen to support farmers efforts by changing their food purchases, 72 per cent of the survey respondents indicated that they would be more likely to buy direct from farmers and 64 per cent said they were more willing to pay a premium for sustainably grown food.

Project leader Dr James Turner of AgResearch said there were a lot of surprises from the survey.

‘‘We want better land and water quality for New Zealand, and we also want a more prosperous New Zealand, including our rural communities,’’ Turner said.

‘‘A lot of people think achieving one of these means sacrificing the other, but we’re connecting over 100 scientists who think that together we can find ways to build a more sustainable food system that improves New Zealand’s land, water and people’s lives.’’

Turner said the goal of the project was to better understand the impact of personal experiences on the farm, and how these might change perceptions and behaviour among the New Zealand public.

‘‘This gives a chance to set a baseline to build on to track changes in rural-urban trust and support for sustainable farming,’’ he said.

‘‘You see some coverage in the media – certainly in comments left on stories – that seem to suggest that there is this urban