Food Consumption Attitudes and Behaviors in Chelan County

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FOOD CONSUMPTION ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS IN CHELAN COUNTY:
A REPORT ON A CONSUMER SURVEY CONDUCTED IN 2002

Frequency of Selected Food Consumption Behaviors (Percentage)
	How often do you…	Once a Month or Less	2-3 Times a Month	About Once a Week	2-3 Times a Week or More
-	Shop for Food at Retail Outlets	1.74	11.74	37.83	48.69
-	Serve Prepared Foods at Home	38.43	22.27	28.82	10.48
-	Eat out for Dinner or Main Meal	31.42	33.19	26.99	8.40

Frequency of Selected Food Shopping Behaviors (Percentage)
	How often do you shop at…	Once a Month or Less	2-3 Times a Month	About Once a Week	2-3 Times a Week or More
-	Grocery Stores	1.31	2.62	15.28	80.79
-	Discount Stores	10.92	44.98	26.64	17.47
-	Convenience Stores	45.41	32.75	9.61	12.22
-	Food Cooperatives	87.44	9.42	1.79	1.35
-	Farmers' Markets	55.65	27.83	6.52	10.00
-	Roadside Stands	53.04	36.52	6.96	3.48
-	U-Pick Farms	91.63	7.05	0.88	0.44
-	Directly from Farmers	64.19	24.02	6.99	4.81
-	CSAs or Subscription Agriculture	84.55	9.55	3.18	2.72

Reasons Given for "NEVER" Shopping at a Farmers' Market (Percentage, if respondent answered "never" to item about Farmers' Market above)
	Why I do not shop at ...	Food is Expensive	Times are Inconvenient	Parking is Inadequate	No Such Outlet Nearby	Other Reason
-	a Farmers' Market	3.70	39.15	4.23	15.34	37.57

Familiarity with "Consumer Supported Agriculture" (CSAs) (Percentage, if respondent answered "never" to item about CSAs above)
	My awareness of ...	Very Familiar	Somewhat Familiar	Not Familiar	Don't Know	Skipped/ Refused
-	CSAs is	1.74	7.83	70.00	1.30	19.13

Knowledge of Food Origin (Percentage)
	How often do you know if the food you buy was...	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Often
-	Grown or produced locally	7.02	21.49	34.65	36.84

Expressed Preference for Food Shopping Behaviors
	Do you prefer to shop at ...	Percent Responding "Yes"
-	Grocery Stores	97.83
-	Discount Stores	68.42
-	Convenience Stores	16.23
-	Food Cooperatives	13.89
-	Farmers' Markets	48.25
-	Roadside Stands	40.44
-	U-Pick Farms	11.16
-	CSAs or Subscription Agriculture	14.83
-	Directly from Farmers	37.44
-	Somewhere Else	15.49

Purchases Made Directly from Farmers (a Farmers' Market, CSAs, Roadside Stands, etc.)
	During last six months I have directly purchased ...	Percent Responding "Yes"
-	Fresh Fruits	65.22
-	Fresh Vegetables	52.17
-	Poultry	4.78
-	Beef	7.39
-	Pork	5.65
-	Lamb	0.00
-	Eggs	13.91
-	Dairy Products (e.g., Cheese/Yogurt)	7.39
-	Processed Foods (e.g., Jam/Salsa)	23.91
-	Other Foods	15.65

Interest in Buying [more] Directly from Farmers (a Farmers' Market, CSAs, Roadside Stands, etc.) (Percentage, [more] added if respondent answered that they already make direct purchases of an item above)
	How interested are you in buying ...	Not Interested		Somewhat Interested		Very Interested		No Opinion
-	Fresh Fruits	11.74		29.57		50.00		8.70
-	Fresh Vegetables	15.22		29.57		46.96		8.26
-	Poultry	61.88		20.18		9.42		8.52
-	Beef	55.31		23.45		13.72		7.52
-	Pork	63.72		20.80		7.96		7.52
-	Other Meats	79.20		11.50		0.88		8.41
-	Eggs	46.49		23.25		24.12		6.14
-	Dairy Products (e.g., Cheese/Yogurt)	57.02		21.93		15.35		5.70
-	Processed Foods (e.g., Jam/Salsa)	54.15		24.89		16.16		4.80

Factors Utilized by Shoppers When Shopping for Food (Percentage)
	When shopping, how interested are you in ...	Not Important		Somewhat Important		Very Important		Don't Know
-	Nutritional Value	2.17		17.83		80.00		NA
-	Availability of Name Brands	37.39		46.96		15.65		NA
-	Year Round Availability	12.33		44.05		43.61		NA
-	Price	8.30		37.12		54.59		NA
-	Taste	1.31		6.99		91.70		NA
-	Appearance	6.95		36.09		56.96		NA
-	Variety	4.35		42.17		53.48		NA
-	Available Where Normally Shop	4.35		24.78		70.87		NA
-	Produced Locally	12.28		45.61		42.11		NA
-	Freshness	1.30		5.22		93.48		NA
-	Organically Grown	50.88		37.72		11.40		NA
-	Easy to Prepare	18.78		44.10		37.12		NA
-	Grown in Washignton State	11.35		40.17		48.47		NA
-	Grown in Environmentally Friendly Manner	17.72		44.55		37.73		NA
-	Keeps Local Farmers in Business	4.80		18.34		76.86		NA
-	Comes From Grass-Fed Livestock	36.09		29.57		16.96		17.38
-	Comes From Humanely Treated Livestock	14.78		22.61		53.91		8.70

Willingness to Pay for Local Foods (Percentage)
	If they are available, how much extra are you willing to pay for ...	Not Willing to Pay More	10% More	25% More	50% More
-	Locally grown or produced foods	19.11	52.89	25.33	2.67

Knowledge of How Food is Produced (Percentage)
	How often do you buy foods that are ...	Never	Less than Once a Month	Monthly	Weekly
-	Organically grown	41.41	30.40	17.62	10.57

Attitudes Toward Farm Policy and the Environment (Percentage)
		Strongly Agree		Agree		Dont' Know/ Neither		Disagree		Strongly Disagree
-	Labeling products as "Grown in WA" would benefit WA farmers	63.76		30.13		3.06		3.06		0.00
-	Maintaining family farms is important to my county's future	77.29		15.28		3.93		3.06		0.44
-	Agr'l Free Trade Agreements are beneficial to consumer	35.37		25.76		23.58		8.73		6.55
-	The general public appreciates what farmers do for land stewardship	37.72		24.56		17.54		13.16		7.02
-	Farmers should be paid to participate in wildlife protection programs	50.44		26.11		12.83		7.96		2.65
-	Local Gov't should restrict non-agr'l development in ag. areas	40.35		29.39		14.91		7.46		7.89
-	Environmental risks of GMO products are not well understood	53.28		27.07		10.48		5.68		3.49
-	It is better to avoid eating foods that contain GMO products	31.14		20.61		24.56		13.60		10.09
-	Foods should have lables that identify if they have GMO ingredients	68.72		15.42		8.37		3.52		3.96
-	Foods should have labels that identify where they are grown	68.12		24.02		3.49		3.49		0.87

Food/Consumer Cooperative Participation (Percentage)
	Are you currently a member of ...	Current Member	Not a Member, Interested	Not a Member, Not Interested
-	a food or consumer cooperative	4.82	32.46	62.72

Self-Provisioning of Food (Percentage)
	Last year, someone in my household ...	Percent Responding "Yes"
-	Had a vegetable garden	54.35
-	Grew fruit	43.91
	Our interest, over the next five years in growing...	Not Interested	Somewhat Interested	Very Interested
-	More of our own food	31.00	32.31	36.68

Characteristics of Respondents
		Percent Responding "Yes"
-	Whether children are in household	40.00
-	Whether respondent ever worked on a farm	51.09
-	Whether parents farmed during childhood	46.29

Participation in Community Groups/Organizations
	Last year, I attended a meeting for or held membership in ...	Once or Twice
-	Rotary, Lions or other Civic Organizations	9.13
-	School Related Organization (e.g., parent-teacher group)	25.76
-	Local Church	55.22
-	Local Sports Club	25.22
-	Local Government	14.78
-	Local Environmental Organization	9.57
-	State or National Political Organization	7.39
-	State or National Environmental Organization	5.65

Respondent's Gender (Column Totals 100 Percent)
-	Male	27.83
-	Female	72.17

Respondent's Ethnic Background (Column Totals 100 Percent)
-	Spanish, Hispanic, Latino, Chicano	3.00
-	Black, African American	0.00
-	American Indian	3.86
-	Asian	0.86
-	White, not Hispanic	89.27
-	Other	3.00

Highest Level of Education Completed by Respondent (Column Totals 100 Percent)
-	Less Than High School Degree	2.18
-	High School Degree	24.02
-	Some College	30.57
-	Vocational College	8.30
-	College Degree	19.65
-	Some Postgraduate Work	3.49
-	Postgraduate Degree	11.79

Household Income Before Taxes in 2001 (Column Totals 100 Percent)
-	Less Than $15,000	8.70
-	$15,000 to $24,999	12.17
-	$25,000 tp $49,999	27.39
-	$50,000 to $99,999	30.87
-	$100,000 to $249,999	8.70
-	$250,000 or More	0.87
-	Don't Know/Refusal	11.30

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