The Survey Progresses

The survey moves along at a snail’s pace. I pounce on any unsuspecting friend or acquaintance I consider might be amenable to a short verbal questionnaire about Australian food. I haven’t had any refusals so far and everyone questioned has made it beyond the first two qualifying questions.

I have framed the survey around supermarket shopping, label reading and alternative sources for procuring Australian produce. The questions are straightforward and even with the score or so of people approached to this point , everyone has made some comment or given an opinion about their reasons for buying what they buy in the food line.

It’s been an interesting experience and I come away from most question and answer sessions with more food for thought about the buying habits of people and their attitude towards Australian produce. Not everybody is able to take advantage of farmers markets and other markets and not everybody has the time and the inclination to read labels.

Without exception, people questioned are in favour of supporting Australian farmers in theory, if not in practice. Label reading is time consuming and often price is a criterion when an item is picked off the shelf; farmer’s markets are a popular idea but are sometimes seen as not being conveniently close or they won’t have all the items that might be available in the fruit and vegetable section of the supermarkets.

In the following post I have set out the new, revised set of questions , if anyone is interested enough to want to participate by email, leave a comment and I will consider setting up a system