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33% Americans Hold Positive View of Food Industry: Gallup Poll

Gallup recently released its latest annual report on Americans' views of major industries and business sectors in the United States, showing that the American public's ratings for two food-related industries—supermarkets and restaurants—are significantly lower than a year ago.

The report also found that Americans' evaluations of the publishing industry have plummeted, but attitudes towards the sports industry have become more positive and optimistic.

In this report, only 33% of Americans said they have a positive view of the grocery supermarket industry, the lowest recorded in public opinion polls over the past two decades. The report analysis indicated that rising prices and concerns about food safety are the two main factors behind the public's negative attitudes.

A new low in American public confidence in 20 years

Since 2001, the Gallup polling organization has been conducting research on American public opinion about the food supermarket industry. Historical records show that public confidence in the food industry reached its peak during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with 63% of consumers having a positive view of the industry.

Analysts said that during the pandemic, chain grocery stores began to offer pick-up and delivery services, and supermarkets did everything they could to protect employees and customers, distributing masks, sanitizing shopping carts, and spraying disinfectant on checkout conveyor belts. However, four years later, "the experience has deteriorated." "There is now severe inflation, and people are blaming each other." Scott Mushkin, founder of market research firm R5 Capital, said, "The stores have become disorganized. Workers no longer spray disinfectant on the conveyor belts. The checkout lines seem longer. If you're in line and have to pay high prices, it's hard to garner much goodwill."

Compared to the decline in food industry ratings, agriculture and farming (64%) have become the highest-rated industries. Agriculture, catering, and computers are the only three industries that received a majority of positive evaluations in the 2024 survey.

The report also shows that the pharmaceutical industry (61%), oil and gas (53%), healthcare (51%), and federal government (58%) received majority negative evaluations. Half of the people have a negative view of education, but 40% have a positive view.

Since 2016, the pharmaceutical industry has been the lowest-rated or tied for the lowest-rated industry. However, since 2001, the federal government and the oil and gas industry have been rated the worst (or tied for the worst) the most times, with 14 and 16 occurrences, respectively.

Gallup's analysis report stated that overall, confidence in the federal government is waning among almost all demographic groups. The decline in confidence among parents of young children is the most significant, dropping from 67% in 2019 to 49% now; 60% of childless adults say they have confidence in the government, compared to 68% in 2019.The survey was conducted following a series of food recalls in the United States, which included products ranging from breakfast items to fresh fruits and deli meats. In recent months, food safety issues in the U.S. have garnered widespread attention, such as the recall of approximately 207,528 pounds of deli meat by the meat products company Boar's Head after an outbreak of listeria contamination was reported in 18 states.