Food Consumption Attitudes and Behaviors in King County

For Printer-Friendly pdf version click here.
(Free Adobe Acrobat Reader required, download here)

FOOD CONSUMPTION ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS IN KING 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	2.10	9.24	31.93	56.72
-	Serve Prepared Foods at Home	38.30	19.57	28.09	14.04
-	Eat out for Dinner or Main Meal	25.63	23.11	31.51	19.75

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	0.00	2.53	14.35	83.12
-	Discount Stores	22.78	55.27	15.19	6.75
-	Convenience Stores	51.90	29.54	6.75	11.82
-	Food Cooperatives	67.38	19.74	5.58	7.30
-	Farmers' Markets	50.00	34.32	7.20	8.47
-	Roadside Stands	61.18	32.91	3.80	2.11
-	U-Pick Farms	87.76	11.81	0.42	0.00
-	Directly from Farmers	76.69	16.10	3.81	3.39
-	CSAs or Subscription Agriculture	93.51	3.46	1.30	1.73

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	2.51	18.09	6.53	55.78	17.09

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	2.52	17.65	70.59	0.00	9.24

Knowledge of Food Origin (Percentage)
	How often do you know if the food you buy was...	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Often
-	Grown or produced locally	11.02	21.19	39.83	27.97

Expressed Preference for Food Shopping Behaviors
	Do you prefer to shop at ...	Percent Responding "Yes"
-	Grocery Stores	94.94
-	Discount Stores	58.23
-	Convenience Stores	10.13
-	Food Cooperatives	30.80
-	Farmers' Markets	55.79
-	Roadside Stands	35.65
-	U-Pick Farms	20.17
-	CSAs or Subscription Agriculture	18.78
-	Directly from Farmers	33.04
-	Somewhere Else	12.61

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	50.84
-	Fresh Vegetables	53.78
-	Poultry	6.72
-	Beef	8.40
-	Pork	4.20
-	Lamb	2.52
-	Eggs	14.71
-	Dairy Products (e.g., Cheese/Yogurt)	18.91
-	Processed Foods (e.g., Jam/Salsa)	18.91
-	Other Foods	18.07

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	7.98		37.82		47.90		6.30
-	Fresh Vegetables	8.44		35.86		51.05		4.64
-	Poultry	57.69		23.93		13.68		4.70
-	Beef	68.09		19.15		7.23		5.53
-	Pork	75.64		14.96		4.70		4.70
-	Other Meats	76.92		11.11		6.41		5.56
-	Eggs	34.75		34.75		27.12		3.39
-	Dairy Products (e.g., Cheese/Yogurt)	41.77		30.80		23.63		3.80
-	Processed Foods (e.g., Jam/Salsa)	44.54		33.19		19.33		2.94

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	1.68		20.17		78.15		NA
-	Availability of Name Brands	34.45		48.32		16.81		NA
-	Year Round Availability	15.25		47.46		37.29		NA
-	Price	6.30		38.24		55.46		NA
-	Taste	2.10		8.40		89.50		NA
-	Appearance	9.24		33.61		57.14		NA
-	Variety	1.69		37.13		61.18		NA
-	Available Where Normally Shop	1.68		23.11		75.21		NA
-	Produced Locally	10.97		60.76		28.27		NA
-	Freshness	1.26		4.62		94.12		NA
-	Organically Grown	33.61		45.38		21.01		NA
-	Easy to Prepare	21.94		41.77		36.29		NA
-	Grown in Washignton State	13.78		53.59		33.33		NA
-	Grown in Environmentally Friendly Manner	11.87		42.37		45.76		NA
-	Keeps Local Farmers in Business	5.90		36.29		57.81		NA
-	Comes From Grass-Fed Livestock	33.61		25.63		20.17		17.38
-	Comes From Humanely Treated Livestock	10.92		30.25		50.42		8.41

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	19.40	58.19	19.40	3.02

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	23.50	32.05	17.95	26.50

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	55.70		37.55		5.06		1.27		0.42
-	Maintaining family farms is important to my county's future	50.21		29.96		13.08		5.49		1.27
-	Agr'l Free Trade Agreements are beneficial to consumer	25.21		32.05		29.49		9.83		3.42
-	The general public appreciates what farmers do for land stewardship	28.27		35.86		16.46		15.19		4.22
-	Farmers should be paid to participate in wildlife protection programs	45.53		30.64		14.89		4.68		4.26
-	Local Gov't should restrict non-agr'l development in ag. areas	52.77		31.91		9.36		3.40		2.55
-	Environmental risks of GMO products are not well understood	56.96		27.85		8.02		5.06		2.11
-	It is better to avoid eating foods that contain GMO products	39.83		20.34		24.15		10.17		5.51
-	Foods should have lables that identify if they have GMO ingredients	77.12		14.83		5.93		1.69		0.42
-	Foods should have labels that identify where they are grown	68.12		30.80		4.22		2.11		0.00

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	16.10	32.63	51.27

Self-Provisioning of Food (Percentage)
	Last year, someone in my household ...	Percent Responding "Yes"
-	Had a vegetable garden	34.03
-	Grew fruit	32.35
	Our interest, over the next five years in growing...	Not Interested	Somewhat Interested	Very Interested
-	More of our own food	33.90	34.32	31.78

Characteristics of Respondents
		Percent Responding "Yes"
-	Whether children are in household	45.86
-	Whether respondent ever worked on a farm	24.05
-	Whether parents farmed during childhood	26.89

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	4.24
-	School Related Organization (e.g., parent-teacher group)	25.85
-	Local Church	40.51
-	Local Sports Club	28.69
-	Local Government	11.81
-	Local Environmental Organization	20.34
-	State or National Political Organization	8.47
-	State or National Environmental Organization	16.10

Respondent's Gender (Column Totals 100 Percent)
-	Male	33.90
-	Female	66.10

Respondent's Ethnic Background (Column Totals 100 Percent)
-	Spanish, Hispanic, Latino, Chicano	1.71
-	Black, African American	4.27
-	American Indian	1.28
-	Asian	8.12
-	White, not Hispanic	79.06
-	Other	5.56

Highest Level of Education Completed by Respondent (Column Totals 100 Percent)
-	Less Than High School Degree	1.68
-	High School Degree	10.92
-	Some College	21.43
-	Vocational College	8.40
-	College Degree	36.13
-	Some Postgraduate Work	6.30
-	Postgraduate Degree	15.13

Household Income Before Taxes in 2001 (Column Totals 100 Percent)
-	Less Than $15,000	6.30
-	$15,000 to $24,999	8.82
-	$25,000 tp $49,999	22.27
-	$50,000 to $99,999	31.09
-	$100,000 to $249,999	14.29
-	$250,000 or More	1.26
-	Don't Know/Refusal	15.97

Return to Survey Home