Nearly half of Canadians don't know if food system headed in the right direction.   Ottawa—While just over one third of Canadians think the country's food production system is heading in the right direction, nearly half are unsure whether it is, says a survey conducted for the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI). The survey questions assessed attitudes toward food safety and food affordability and found rising food costs was a concern for 64 per cent of Canadians. That was just ahead of keeping healthy food affordable and 12 per cent higher than worries about the safety of food produced outside of Canada, says CCFI. Other concerns were climate change mentioned by 50 per cent of those polled, food safety by 49 per cent, humane treatment of farm animals at 43 per cent, having enough food to feed Canadians 39 per cent and having enough food to feed people outside Canada at 23 per cent. Women and those over 55 tended to be most concerned about food issues. However, the overall level of concern on most food issues has eased since CCFI did its first survey in 2016. “Regardless of consumer's individual choices, most Canadians want healthy, affordable food,” CCFI said. The agrifood sector needs to explain “what innovative efforts you see being used to keep costs down for consumers.” The survey data also showed that 61 per cent of Canadians have positive views of the country's agriculture system. At the same time, the number of people with a negative attitude has fallen while there has been an increase in the number “who report not knowing enough to offer an informed opinion.” Also, seven per cent “do not feel informed enough about agriculture to know if they feel positive or negative towards the Canadian agriculture industry,” CCFI said. That shows the agrifood sector must “provide Canadian consumers with credible information and deliver resources that enable them to make well-informed decisions about their food choices.” At the same time, only nine per cent of Canadians said they knew a lot about modern agriculture while 48 per cent know a little, 31 per cent very little and 11 per cent knew nothing about farm practices, numbers which are virtually unchanged since 2016. However, 60 per cent of Canadians would like to learn more about agriculture. “Consumers are asking for information about modern farming practices and how their food is grown, which is an opportunity for the agriculture industry to provide transparent and accurate material that demonstrates best practices,” CCFI said The survey highlighted areas where the agrifood sector has lots of explaining to do. About half of those polled said they were strongly concerned about the use of pesticides in crop production and hormones in livestock while there was a lower level of strong concern about drug residues in meat, milk and eggs and only about one-third of respondents said genetically modified crops were a strong concern. On the other hand, most said Canadian farmers were good stewards of the environment, that food produced in Canada is safer than imports, that government food inspection ensures its safe while only a quarter felt organic food is healthier than conventional. CCFI said that with consumers starting to look more closely at food labels and asking questions about what certain labels mean, their attitudes might be different by the time of next year's survey. It also found that “A clear majority and a significantly higher proportion of Canadians compared to a year ago, agree that they have no problem consuming meat, milk and eggs provided farm animals are treated decently and humanely. The research demonstrates an opportunity to provide information to consumers on best practices for animal welfare and show what values Canadian livestock farms operate under.” Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.