Scientists overtake farmers for public’s trust

Timing is everything, which may explain who Canadians put their public trust in this year. The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity has released results of its annual nationwide survey which shed light on public perceptions in the food system, and who people consider the most trustworthy.

If you produce, process or sell food, and you’re trying to reach the public, this is important information. For credibility, you’d much rather saddle up to professionals and others who are considered trustworthy, instead of those who are poorly regarded.

This year, the top dogs are scientists. They’ve leapfrogged over farmers, the perennial favourite, for the first time.

Farmers are sandwiched between scientists and university researchers. That’s still an enviable position, and it makes sense: farmers have long relied on science to help them grow crops and raise livestock efficiently and sustainably.

The centre considers the results to be a “notable shift that highlights the growing importance of science and research in shaping public perceptions.” Let’s hope the pro-science trend grows. In a culture that’s teeming with false, unfounded information, science can provide evidence that helps people sort things out.

Statistically, 44 per cent of the 2,900 survey participants cited scientists as their most trusted information source. That’s up from 35 per cent last year. Farmers fared very well, at 42 per cent, up eight per cent from last year. And university researchers came in at 39per cent, a leap from 33 per cent in 2024.

Social media influencers were at the opposite end of the scale. Although people like to follow them, they garner little trust. Only 11 per cent of the survey participants considered influencers the most trustworthy sources of food information, the same poor standing as politicians. Influencers climbed one percentage point from 2024, but that’s not saying much.

For its part, the media was up two per cent, to 16 per cent. That too is nothing to brag about, but its chronic poor showing is worth pondering. The media is an important cog in communicating information from scientists, researchers and farmers – groups considered the most trustworthy information sources – to the public. Why would it rate so low?

I think the problem is that the media communicates both sides of a story. When it tells the side that people don’t agree with, it’s considered untrustworthy.

Anyway, for its part, the centre attributes this year’s results to a snapshot of what Canada was like in August, when the survey was conducted.

Features then included a relatively new federal government, US tariffs, the “Elbows Up” pro-Canada movement and global political pressures. All that thrust the essential but often under-appreciated role of Canada’s food system into the spotlight, and made people seek out trusted information, says the centre.