NEW YORK — Consumer attitudes about natural and organic products, as well as the environment, are decidedly mixed, according to Parade magazine's 2007 What America Eats Survey, which was released last week.
Only 8% of respondents said it was “very important” for a product to be organic, vs. 34% who said it was “not important at all.” All-natural products carried a little more weight with respondents, 15% of whom said it was very important for a product to be all-natural, vs. 15% who said it was not at all important.
Similarly, recyclable packaging and having an “environmentally friendly” label were each considered very important by 12% of respondents and not at all important by 16%. However, the survey also found that 70% said it was either very likely or somewhat likely that they will purchase a product that won't harm the environment, even if it is more expensive.
Convenience foods are more important than ever to grocery shoppers, the survey found, but only 1% of shoppers said they are serving supermarket-prepared meals for their family dinners. The vast majority of respondents to the survey, 87%, said that when they do have family dinners, those dinners are home-cooked, vs. only 5% that opt for restaurant takeout for at-home family dining.
Sixty percent of respondents said they sit down to a family meal most nights or every night, while 18% said they do so “a few times a week.”
Other findings from the survey:
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Eighty-two percent of respondents said they use convenience foods, defined as foods that are pre-made fresh, frozen/refrigerated, or canned/packaged, and 22% said they are purchasing more such products than they did two years ago.
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More than half of all respondents, 55%, said food is never prepared in advance of the day it will be served.
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Forty-eight percent said they use a shopping list every time they shop.