The food industry in Luxembourg. What interests the public and farmers
At the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, the public opinion research institute TNS Ilres conducted a survey. The aim was to find out about Luxembourgers' eating habits and to understand their preferences. It also tried to identify problem areas in food supply and production.
The overwhelming majority of the respondents — 92% — are interested in issues related to food. Of these, 75% are also actively interested in the issue of waste. The European Commission has also drawn attention to this issue by passing a law obliging the countries of the bloc to reduce the amount of waste by 30%.
The excessive energy used to produce food and the carbon dioxide emitted during its disposal makes this legislation necessary. The average amount of food wasted per person in Europe is 131kg per year. This totals 59 million tonnes across Europe.
In the area of eating habits, the results were quite interesting. For example, 57% of respondents had a reduction in their meat consumption. 27% of respondents also have a lower intake of dairy products than two years ago. And 50% of respondents said that they had increased the amount of vegetables they included in their diet. In addition, 10% of respondents admitted that they were not averse to including insects in their diet. However, they are in the minority: 27 per cent are neutral on the subject and 51% do not want to see arthropods and worms in their food.
Among farmers, who were also part of the government's survey, the picture is bleaker. 84% of farmers said that the authorities do not take farmers' interests into account at all. In addition, the farmers believe that the government and the legislation are ineffective.
There are many differences in the opinions of ordinary citizens and farmers. For example, 66% of farmers are of the opinion that the most important thing for consumers is the availability of products. However, only 58% of consumers themselves are in agreement with this statement. For them, quality, animal welfare and the avoidance of pesticides are much more important.
