New report provides insight on consumer food spending, satisfaction, sustainability

Sam Polzin, a food and agriculture survey scientist for the center and co-author of the report, said the goal is to create a useful public resource. “Informed decisions are one way we can build a better and more sustainable food system,” he said. “We are sort of democratizing food data that previously was limited by resources and access.” Larger corporations have the resources to conduct consumer surveys themselves, but the data isn’t shared; and some of the data is publicly available, but over longer periods of time and in difficult-to-understand government or academic reports, he said.

“We also are covering new territory, like examining sustainability as a factor in food purchases, and establishing baselines in certain areas,” he said.