A recent survey by Proof Strategies found that Canadians’ trust in doctors and scientists has increased by over 10 per cent since the pandemic hit. This is true in most of the world, for example results in Europe show that public trust in science and researchers has soared during the pandemic.
This does not mean that the internet snake-oil salesmen have gone away …. But outside of the most diehard conspiracy theorists, trust in science seems to be on the ascend and faith in quackery is on the decline.
At first blush, this is good news for those of us involved in and who want to advance agriculture and agri-food. Could we be seeing a turn to trust in nutrition advice actually based on scientific evidence rather than the latest fad?
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Now is the time for both governments and industry to step up and emphasize that the security and resiliency of the food supply chain, experienced by Canadians during the pandemic, is not an accident. Canadians have been food secure through the pandemic because of modern agriculture that includes pesticides, chemical fertilizers, precision agriculture and science-based regulations.