Public opinion survey on GE foods A study

Public opinion survey on GE foods A study by April 16 th 2010

THE STUDY Our Focus Objective GM foods; including Bt Brinjal To assess awareness, knowledge and perceptions of urban India on GE foods esp. Bt Brinjal Research methodology Quantitative study, using structured a questionnaire Target Group • Individuals aged 18 years+ • From SEC A/B/C/D/E households 2

THE STUDY Coverage Towns Sample Size Achieved 1000 750 5500 1026 1001 1013 1001 752 806 5599 Delhi Kolkata Mumbai Bangalore Guwahati Indore Total Fieldwork Timing March – April, 2010 3

PRESENTATION STRUCTURE A. B. C. • Awareness and Knowledge of GE/GM Foods • General Attitude Towards Regulations and Consumer Rights – Food Purchases • Summary 4

AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE OF GE/GM FOODS A. • Awareness and Knowledge of GE/GM Foods 5

HAVE HEARD OF PUBLIC INTEREST TOPICS… 6 Base 5599 Close to half of the people polled have heard of GE/GM Foods or Bt Brinjal – low in comparison to other topics of public interest Only third claim exposure to GE/GM Foods issue Any difference of more than 4 -5% would be statistically significant ; given the range of sample sizes covered.

HEARD OF TERM & CONCEPT OF GE/GM FOODS Awareness- in a list of topics Base 5599 Awareness on focused exposure Awareness of Explanation (may or may not know the term) Those who know about GE/GM Foods (Claim Awareness before and after explanation is read out) Once the Explanation is read out, a higher proportion CLAIM familiarity. 7 Any difference of more than 4 -5% would be statistically significant ; given the range of sample sizes covered.

KNOWLEDGE OF GE/GM FOODS 45+ yrs 25 -44 yrs Student 29 30 Housewives 40 Salaried - mid/senior level Salaried - salesman/clerical/junior executive Self employed Professional 28 18 -24 yrs 21 Housewife OCCUPATION SPL. INT. GROUPS Not Working/ Retired 25 Other Individuals AFFLUENCE By Occupation, Education 28 By Affluence, Spl 23 Groups, Age, Int Female Gender 31 Male 21 56 36 62 Businessman 42 29 SEC E 24 23 14 22 SEC D SEC C 24 SEC B 30 SEC A 42 All Base: 932 to 3092 for different segments Petty Trader/ Shop Owner Skilled/Unskilled Woker Youth 18 -24 EDUCATION AGE GROUPS GENDER – BY DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTS Graduate/Post Graduate SSC/HSC/Some College 10 Knowledge Ref Q 1/2 a/2 b) (Claim Awareness before and after explanation is read out) 20 30 31 Illiterate/ Some Schooling 27 0 44 12 All 40 50 60 70 Base: 42 to 2396 for different segments Overall knowledge very limited 27 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

KNOWLEDGE OF GE/GM FOODS – BY DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTS Knowledge higher among more affluent , better educated, white collared workers. Knowledge levels very low among house-wives defined as decision makers in food purchases Very low levels of knowledge among the illiterate sections of the people polled. Very low levels of knowledge cutting across all age groups 9

AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE OF GE/GM FOODS- IN SUM • Relatively low awareness of GE/GM Foods compared to other issues of public interest • Claimed awareness and knowledge is higher among the more affluent, better educated individuals and White Collared workers, very low among women, illiterate and across different age groups. 10

GENERAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS REGULATIONS AND CONSUMER RIGHTS – FOOD PURCHASES B. • General Attitude towards Regulations and Consumer Rights – Food Purchases

INFORMATION DESIRED WHILE PURCHASING FOOD Information Desired (Ref Q 6 a/Q 6 b) All Packaged Foods ü Whether pesticides are used or not 89 ü Whether it contains Genetically modified ingredients or not 69 ü Use of natural or organic ingredients 79 Unpackaged Foods ü Whether pesticides are used or not 82 ü Whether it contains Genetically modified ingredients or not 61 ü Use of natural or organic ingredients 73 Base 5599 Majority of the persons, desire to have information on GE/ GM food. It is higher among those with knowledge of GE/GM. Any difference of more than 4 -5% would be statistically significant ; given the range of sample sizes covered. 12

INFORMATION DESIRED WHILE PURCHASING FOOD Packaged Foods bought loose Base 5599 More than half would like information on GE/GM foods access to such information is sought both for branded packaged and unpackaged foods. 13 Any difference of more than 4 -5% would be statistically significant ; given the range of sample sizes covered.

INFORMATION DESIRED WHILE PURCHASING FOOD- PRIOR TO POLICY FORMATION Need for Information (Ref Q 8) All Yes, information should be available 78 No, information need not be available 18 Don’t Know/Can’t Say Base 3 5599 A majority of the individuals feel they have the right to access information related to GM crops, before the government makes a decision on GM crops. Any difference of more than 4 -5% would be statistically significant ; given the range of sample sizes covered. 14

NEED FOR INFORMATION ON GE/GM FOODS- PRIOR TO POLICY FORMULATION Base 5599 Majority would like information to be available 15 Any difference of more than 4 -5% would be statistically significant ; given the range of sample sizes covered.

ORGANIZATIONS TRUSTED FOR TESTING AND CERTIFICATION OF FOODS Base 5599 A majority trust independent/ impartial Govt. organisation for both testing and certification of GM foods; Low trust for manufacturers of GE/GM seeds Any difference of more than 4 -5% would be statistically significant ; given the range of sample sizes covered. 16

Citizens’ Right to Protest On Such Issues, against a government decision. 17 Base 5599 A majority assert they reserve the right to protest or right to say no. Any difference of more than 4 -5% would be statistically significant ; given the range of sample sizes covered.

CITIZENS’ RIGHT TO PROTEST - AMONG THOSE WITH KNOWLEDGE OF GE/GM FOODS All Don’t Know/Can’t Say Base No Knowledge of GE/GM Foods 89 95 82 7 4 10 1 8 5599 Yes, citizens have the right to protest or right to say no No, citizens do not have a right to protest or right to say no Have Knowledge of GE/GM Foods 4 Citizen’ Rights (Ref Q 9) 564 329 …. . Irrespective of their knowledge on GM/GE foods. 18 Any difference of more than 4 -5% would be statistically significant ; given the range of sample sizes covered.

GENERAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS REGULATIONS AND CONSUMER RIGHTS – FOOD PURCHASES : IN SUM • There is a strong need for information on GE/GM Foods • Independent/ impartial Govt bodies are most trusted for testing and certification of foods • Among rejectors of GE/GM Foods, there is a greater trust for independent impartial Govt. agency for conducting tests on GE/GM foods. • Most assert they reserve a right to protest. 19

FINDINGS TO SUM. . C. • Findings To Sum. .

FINDINGS TO SUM § Very low awareness: only a third claim to know GE/ GM foods. § Majority however desire to know about presence GE/ GM foods in either packaged or unpackaged food. § Majority of the individuals feel they have the right to access information related to GM crops, before the government makes a decision on GM crops.

FINDINGS TO SUM § A majority trust independent/ impartial Govt. organisation for both testing and certification of GM foods; Low trust for manufacturers of GE/GM seeds § Independency, impartiality and being part of the government seems to be the most trusted combination. § A majority assert they reserve the right to protest or right to say no. …. . Irrespective of their knowledge on GM/GE foods. Even after the government has made a decision

ARE THESE REFLECTED IN THE BRAI 2009 BILL? The BRAI bill does not provide the citizens, not elected representatives, not state governments a right to intervene or to make a independent decision on an approval of a GM crop. When GE/GM foods is not even known to a large section of public, the bill plainly forces GE/ GM without space for dissent. The BRAI bill nor the present GEAC or the food safety and standards authority, are having a policy on labelling and GM contamination issues. This is when a majority of individuals desire to know of the presence of GE/ GM foods in food.

ARE THESE REFLECTED IN THE BRAI 2009 BILL? The BRAI says it reserves the right to deny information on the grounds that it may not entail public interest but might affect the commercial interests of a company. It over rules the RTI Act 2005 in this matter. A majority of the individuals believe they have the right to information related to GM foods- before the decision on GM/ GE foods are made.

ARE THESE REFLECTED IN THE BRAI 2009 BILL? The BRAI depends on the company’s information to decide on bio-safety of the GE/GM food. The assessments of BRAI are mere reviews as the Govt has not invested in building an independent, impartial testing agency. § A majority don’t trust the manufacturers of a GE/GM food for assessing its safety. § Independency, impartiality and being part of the government seems to be the most trusted combination. § The conflict of interest issues surrounding the Bt brinjal decision by GEAC and the new findings on Bt brinjal by Prof. Seralini and others are indicative of this.

ARE THESE REFLECTED IN THE BRAI 2009 BILL? The BRAI presently has a clause that can imprison any one who “misleads” public without a scientific proof for six months and fined upto 2 lakhs. This includes, individuals, organisations and even media! An overwhelming majority assert they reserve the right to protest or right to say no. This is irrespective of their knowledge on GM/GE foods. And Even after the government has made a decision. ( to approve)

Greenpeace demands: The BRAI 2009 bill be immediately withdrawn and not accorded a cabinet approval nor tabled in the parliament. The bill redrafted to keep bio-safety protection as its primary mandate and with a long term view of food security- which can only be achieved by promoting real solutions – ecological farming techniques. The right to information and the right to protest are the rights of the citizen in a democratic government. The BRAI bill 2009 is against democracy.

• Error of estimate • Fieldwork Quality Control • Definition of GE/GM Foods used Annexure • SEC Grid

ERROR OF ESTIMATE (AT 95% CONFIDENCE LEVEL) Proportion Sample Size 5500 1000 750 10% ± 0. 79 ± 1. 86 ± 2. 15 50% ± 1. 32 ± 3. 1 ± 3. 58 90% ± 0. 79 ± 1. 86 ± 2. 15 The error in the reported proportions will range from ± 0. 8 % to ± 3. 6 % 29

FIELDWORK – QUALITY CONTROL 30 -40% of interviews in each town have been • Spot checked/accompanied– where part/complete interview happened in the presence of the supervisor or • Back checked on telephone, where certain questions were cross checked with the respondent. 30

DEFINITION OF GE/GM FOODS USED “Genetic Engineering is a technology. In this technology specific ‘genes’ or characteristics of different types of organisms are combined by scientists. This mixing up would never occur naturally. For example the genes or characteristics of fish into a tomato. Or genes or characteristics of a bacteria can be inserted into rice or brinjal. ” 31

SEC GRID Socio Economic Class or SEC is determined by looking at the Education level and Occupation of the Chief Wage Earner of a household. Chief Wage Earner is the person who contributes the most to supporting the household expenditures. Below is the SEC Grid used: _ _ _ 1 2 3 4 Graduate/ Post graduate General Graduate/ Post graduate professional 4 E 1 D D C 5 D C C B 2 6 D C C B 1 7 D B 2 A 2 8 D B 2 A 2 School 5 -9 yrs 1 E 2 E 2 D 2/3 E 2 E 1 D D Illiterate OCCUPATION SSC/ HSC Some college (incl. Dip. ) but not graduate Literate but not formal schooling upto 4 years EDUCATION Unskilled worker Skilled worker Petty Trader Shop Owner Businessman/Industrialist with no of employees : None 1 -9 10+ Self employed professional Clerical/Salesmen Supervisory Level 5 6 7 8 9 10 D C B 2 B 1 A 2 A 1 C B 1 D D D B 2 A 2 D D C B 1 A 2 B 2 C C A 2 A 1 B 2 B 2 A 1 A 2 B 1 A 1 A 1 B 1 A 2 Officer/Executive Junior 11 C C C B 2 B 1 A 2 Officer/Exec Mid/Sr. 12 B 1 B 1 A 2 A 1 32