Canadians felt better about the hog industry last year than they did five years ago, says pollster Susan Jones of Ipsos Reid.
The polling company researched Canadian opinions of hog production and pork safety in 1999, 2002 and 2004.
“Canadian opinions about pig production have improved significantly, especially since 2002,” she said.
Two-thirds of Canadians maintain a positive opinion about farming in general, while slightly fewer feel that way about hog farming.
Environmental and production issues such as ethical treatment of animals and good corporate citizenship dominate consumer concerns about pig production.
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Consumers, while improving their perception of hog farming, increased their desire to see the industry “reduce the environmental impact of hog farm farming,” Jones said.
In all three years of research, the most important issue for non-farming Canadians was ensuring pork safety.
“Canadians already had a high opinion of food safety when it comes to pork, but in 2004 they improved their opinion of its safety and feel it is now on par with chicken and beef,” she said.
Slightly more than half of Canadians view hog production as being unfriendly to the environment and view it to be less environmentally friendly than agriculture overall. That opinion appears entrenched, Jones said, and requires attention if it is going to be changed.
She said the survey showed that most Canadians believe hog farming is well regulated and farmers are committed to improving the environment.
Consumer feelings about animal welfare continue to favour smaller producers over larger “corporate” ones.
“Two thirds believe that farmers place profit over animal welfare,” she said.
On the issue of genetic modification, consumers say they are against the idea but are willing to consider it if manure could be made more environmentally friendly or if disease resistance and meat with human health benefits could be developed.
Fewer Canadians said they knew something about hog farming in 2004 than in 2002.
Twenty-five percent said they knew nothing at all about it when asked last year.
“That didn’t stop them from giving us their opinions about production practices, though,” Jones said.
“They went on to tell us that their interest in learning more about hog production dropped since 2002.”
She told producers attending the Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium Nov. 10 that they must be proactive if they want to improve Canadian consumers’ opinion of their industry.
“Consumers say they are not seeking any information about the industry and rely on newspapers, radio and television to tell them about it and form their opinions,” she said.
“So it is up to your industry to ensure that your voice is heard and keep your message in front of them.”
