Editor’s Note: Disgusting. Food companies think that all they need to do is add the word “sustainable” to an ad campaign, and consumers will fall for it. Unfortunately, this survey shows that they might. Newsflash everyone: GE CROPS ARE NOT SUSTAINABLE! EVER! For more information, please visit OCA’s Resource Center on GE Wheat.

Many American consumers would be receptive to foods containing genetically modified wheat if it is produced sustainably, suggesvs a new survey examining attitudes to food technologies from the International Food Information Council (IFIC).

The survey, the fourteenth conducted by the council, polled 750 US adults to gauge current attitudes toward the newest food technologies.

Although commercially available genetically modified (GM) wheat crops are likely to be at least a decade away, 80 percent of survey respondents said they would be likely to purchase bread, crackers, cookies, cereal, or pasta products containing GM wheat “if they were produced using sustainable practices to feed more people using fewer resources such as land and pesticides.” And consistent with the 2008 survey, 77 percent of respondents said they would buy foods produced through biotechnology if they helped cut pesticide use.

IFIC said that these results suggested there would be “a receptive audience” to products containing GM wheat if or when they become commercially available.

Sustainability awareness rises

The survey also found that when the production of genetically modified (GM) foods is framed in such a way as to promote sustainable practices, consumers are more open to including them in their diets.

Half of consumers said they had heard or read at least “a little” about the concept of sustainability in food production, an increase from 2008, when that figure was at 41 percent. In 2007, only 30 percent said they had heard or read anything about sustainability in food production.