Ripe attitudes

Vegetarian Times, Oct, 2004

American attitudes about food am changing--one might say ripening. Food and Farming 2004, a study conducted by Roper Public Affairs for the Organic Valley Family of Farms found that:

* 70 percent of Americans are concerned about the health risks of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals used in food production;

* 71 percent believe small-scale family farms are more likely to care about the safety of the foods they produce than large-scale factory farms;

* 85 percent trust small family farms to produce safe, nutritious foods;

* 73 percent would be influenced in their shopping if labels specified whether a product is produced with pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals.