Seán MacConnell,Agriculture CorrespondentA new survey of consumers' attitudes to farmers has found that people believe retailers, and not farmers, are the major beneficiaries of the price of food.A new survey of consumers' attitudes to farmers has found that people believe retailers, and not farmers, are the major beneficiaries of the price of food. Seán MacConnell, Agriculture Correspondent, reports.
The survey, carried out by the Agri Aware organisation, found that 60 per cent of consumers believed retailers profit most from the prices paid for bread, milk, vegetables and meat.
Only three in 10 consumers who took part in the survey said they believed farmers are getting a fair price for their food.
Agri Aware was founded in 1996 by Bord Bia, the FBD Trust, the Irish Dairy Board, the Irish Farmers' Association and the Irish Farmers' Journal to promote a positive image and greater understanding of the Irish farming and food industry.
Two-thirds of the 500 people surveyed in September believed farmers benefit least from the retail price of food.The majority of consumers felt that meat was either expensive or very expensive. A total of just over 40 per cent of those surveyed believed bread was excellent or good value for money but that dropped to 19.5 per cent when they were asked about meat.
Just over 38 per cent felt milk was excellent or good value but this dropped to 28 per cent when they were questioned on vegetables.
The consumers also said they believed retailers and food processing companies benefited most from the prices paid for meat. A total of 45 per cent believed the shopkeeper got most for meat and 31.8 per cent believed the lion's share went to processors.
Compiled for Agri Aware by Dr Pat Bogue of Shannon Showcase Consultants, the survey found that only 28.4 per cent of consumers felt they paid a fair price for good food.
People living in rural areas were most likely to consider they were paying a fair price for their food.
The survey showed that 87.8 per cent of respondents considered agriculture as important/very important to the Irish economy and nine out of 10 considered agriculture had a beneficial effect on the environment, a substantial increase on a similar study carried out two years ago,
Just over 57 per cent of respondents considered the image of farmers as producers of quality food to be good, while 30 per cent considered it to be fair. Some 47.2 per cent considered the image of the agricultural industry to be good and 40 per cent considered it to be fair. The public thought the main problem facing farmers was poor incomes.
When asked a series of true/false questions, almost one-third of respondents did not think that the average farm income in 2002 was under €15,000, and almost half did not think that 40 per cent of farms had a farm income of less than €6,500.
On other issues, over one-third of consumers surveyed who lived in urban areas, visited the countryside weekly and a further 32 per cent visited the countryside monthly, either to visit friends or family or for leisure.
Dr Bogue said the more urbanised society became, the more pressure would come on the countryside, as had been seen in more urbanised parts of Europe.
Asked if Agri Aware had any role in resolving difficulties between some landowners and walkers and other groups, its deputy chairman, Mr T.J. Maher, said it did not.