Filed under: Biotechnology, Farming, Nutrition | Tags: Agriculture, crop production, Farming, plant biotech
Consumers are eager to get their hands on and teeth into foods that are genetically modified (GM) to increase health benefits and even pay more for the opportunity, according to an Iowa State University study.
Iowa State University researcher Wallace Huffman found that when consumers are presented with produce enhanced with consumer traits through intragenic means, they will pay significantly more than for plain produce.
The research is published in the current issue of the Journal of Agricultural & Resource Economics.
Intragenic modification refers to plants that are genetically modified with genes from other plants within their own species, the announcement explained, while transgenic foods refer to plants that are modified with genes from other species.
Consumer traits are those modifications that are seen as a benefit to the consumer, such as enhanced levels of vitamins. Farmer traits refer to traits that benefit farmers, such as pest and drought resistance.
“What we found was when genes for enhancing the amount of antioxidants and vitamin C in fresh produce were transferred by intragenic methods, consumers are willing to pay 25% more than for the plain product (with no enhancements). That is a sizable increase,” said Huffman, a distinguished professor of economics.
Consumers’ acceptance of GM plants is a real turnaround from previous research.
In 2001, Huffman first researched consumers’ willingness to pay for transgenic foods. At that time, he showed that consumers would pay 15% less for foods made from or containing farmer traits introduced by transgenic methods, compared with produce that was not genetically modified at all.
If there remains any hesitation by consumers to eat GM foods, it is difficult to say, Huffman said.
“There still could be a little bit of negative feelings toward a genetically modified product, but they (consumers) see real value being created in enhanced consumer traits, and they are willing to pay for those enhancements that are introduced by intragenic methods,” Huffman said.
It does seem that buying foods made healthier through intragenics does not make consumers uneasy, he said.
Huffman’s experiment involved consumers bidding on both GM and non-GM fresh potatoes, tomatoes and broccoli. The intragenically and transgenically modified products had increased levels of antioxidants and vitamin C.
“The basic idea is that when consumers saw that the intragenic produce had elevated healthful attributes, they were willing to pay more for them,” Huffman said.
Consumers were not willing to pay more if those enhancements were introduced through transgenic methods, he added.
What are your views on eating GM foods?
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