A new study provides further understanding into the tides of public opinion around Canadian food, how it's grown, and the relationship consumers want with farmers and those that process their food.
Public Opinion: a study of Canadian conversations online about food and farming, was led by the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity.
It uncovered how food, farming and a handful of hot button issues capture national interest in millions of natural conversations online.
The issues Canadians are most engaged with include climate change and the links to food production, organic foods, and discussions on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Key conversations Canadians were discussing online over the two-year period included: 8 million people were discussing cannabis 2.5 million climate change as it relates to food production 2.1 million genetically modified foods (GMOs) 2 million organic food and farming
The study found millennials and baby boomers were found to be similarly aligned in their views on food issues based on their online conversations.
"This groundbreaking work captured and quantified actual discussion and real sentiment of over 254,900 Canadians talking about food and how it's grown," stated Crystal Mackay, CCFI President. "This kind of research is integral to truly addressing consumer demands and questions in an open and authentic manner."
The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity study measured the discussions related to food and farming of 254,900 Canadians for 24 months on social media, from January 2017 to January 2019.
The study assessed many social platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit using a proprietary artificial intelligence tool to analyze public social media, with no personalized data attached to the findings.
The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity is a non-profit organization that coordinates research, resources, dialogue and training.
Money for this most recent study came from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program.
