The food of the future will come from technologically advanced farms, said more than 85% of consumers in a recent survey.
Despite this, only half of respondents indicated they wanted to eat food made with the assistance of technology, revealing a major gap between awareness and acceptance.
“There seems to be a bit of a contradiction. People want technology,” SriRaj Kantamneni, the managing director for Cargill Animal Nutrition’s Digital Insights business, said. “But they don’t necessarily understand how it affects their food supply or food system.”
The survey from Cargill polled more than 3,000 participants across three continents. The company recently launched Feeding Intelligence, a website to help consumers learn about new technologies used in agriculture.
Which technologies do consumers want?
The survey also asked consumers for their thoughts on different kinds of new technology used in farming. Notably, none of the responses got more than a 50% approval rating.
- Nearly half (42%) indicated that sensors on agricultural farms would be welcome.
- Less than a third (31%) wanted the use of artificial intelligence in food production.
- Only 29% of those surveyed said that they would be okay with devices that attach to the birds themselves.
- 18% of respondents approved of animal feed that contained genetically-modified ingredients.
“We don't believe that we're going to make the greatest impact from an Internet of Things (IoT) perspective by putting sensors on animals. And, the survey also reinforced this,” Kantamneni said. “Rather than fitting a broiler or a poultry, we might use a sensor in the barn to understand humidity, temperature and water intake. These things are the types of technology that we will see over the next 12 to 18 months.”
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