Consumer Choice within Fresh Produce

This project set out to question whether fresh produce required more specific labeling of pesticides and fertilizer inputs on fresh produce. Like many questions regarding health, environmental science, agriculture, and politics, there is not one simple answer. After listening to professionals and interviewing customers outside grocery stores, it\u27s clear that the majority of consumers are not pursuing additional information, but that there is a small group of customers who would appreciate it. It also became clear that although fear mentality is of concern to professionals in the food industry, consumers don’t seem to understand the negative effects their participation in believing unsubstantiated science causes. Although the FDA is meant to keep consumer health at the forefront, and despite the looming threat of sensationalized media around “chemical sounding” labels, information is a right to those who seek it, especially when it comes to the food they put into their body. Through the research undertaken in this project, we found the first step in more specific labeling would be to prevent fear mongering by educating the public, to make a more transparent food system possible in the future