Corey and I went to Food Inc. with a friend last week down at Filmstreams. The theater was packed, which says a lot about the level of concern people have about our food system.

We’ve been aware of the problems with the industrial food system for a number of years. We’ve watched documentaries and read books about nutrition, the food industry, and corporate power in the fundamentals of life. This film pulled together the three elements in a way that hopefully makes an impact with people who are just opening their eyes to the problem.

When we leave a theater our conversation usually starts with, “what was your favorite part?” I was at a loss on this one. There were so many enlightening, fun, confusing, or disturbing elements.

Enlightening:
The segment on how Monsanto is enforces their patents on seeds in the courts. There was a feature on a professional seed cleaner who is paid by local farmers to process their harvest for planting the next season. This process is apparently illegal if the seed (or possibly seed from adjacent farms) is a patented Monsanto product. This poor guy was blacklisted, his friends and clients turned against him, and he was run out of business because of the extent of his legal expenses. What is wrong with our world?

Fun:
An small-scale organic farmer Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms provided thoughtful, whimsical, and grounded insight into his life and methods. I was quick to underestimate him when he first came on camera. But it didn’t take me long to figure out that I had a lot to learn from him.

Confusing:
I don’t know how I feel about the segments featuring Stoneybrook Farms and Walmart. Obviously I make my living by helping businesses play a role in driving sustainability. But it was still difficult to reconcile the massive scale and profit driven business models discussed in the film. The camera also took a stroll through a natural foods trade show and highlighted that many of the natural and organic brands that line the shelves of Whole Foods are now wholly owned by conventional corporate giants.

Disturbing:
The segment on industrial chicken producers. These massive and inhumane operations grow chickens in something like 45 days. These are like pathetically malproportioned and unhealthy versions of real birds. So sad. There were also disturbing images of cattle and hog operations that will make you want to forsake fast food.

This documentary is a must see for anyone interested in learning more about our food supply. Like my favorite farmer said, “People would feel differently about the food they eat if the meat processing facilities had glass walls.” (approximation) This film gives you a look inside.

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A new national study titled Green AMPlified was released today that attempts to unearth a solid understanding of the current state of ‘Green’, its meaning and impact on consumer’s lifestyle and purchasing behaviors.

The survey found that close to all American consumers (90%) believe that acting in an environmentally responsible way is important, but feel corporations hold most of the responsibility to implement change over their own personal efforts and are increasingly implementing eco-friendly evaluation into their product purchasing decisions.

The survey went on to state that over half (53%) of consumers factor a company’s social and environmental activities into their purchasing decisions and while overall, consumer’s personal actions to protect the environment show minimal sacrifice in terms of changing one’s lifestyle, consumers are ready to reward those companies that prove their commitment to the cause.

In fact, after learning a company is environmentally friendly, the study found that 57% are likely to trust the company, 60% are likely to purchase its products, and 58% are likely to recommend the company or its products to others.

It’s Not Always Easy Being Green
When it comes to purchasing green products over traditional ones, consumers put high demand on marketers with cost acting as the primary factor. When asked how much more (if any) consumers were willing to spend on green products, the results are significant, with over 75% of consumers stating that they were not willing to spend more than 10% to purchase a green product over a traditional choice in almost all of the categories offered.

Product performance also factors into purchase decisions and most consumers are not giving green products a break. In fact, for consumers who consider performance important, it makes all the difference. In all product categories discussed, almost all consumers (90%) stated that a green product must work just as well as or better than a traditional product in order to make the switch.

Green It, But Mean It
Consumers are demanding that corporations be part of the movement to protect the environment, but with green marketing messages flooding store shelves, they are also getting savvier or perhaps, more skeptical of the myriad of claims. Overall, consumers are expressing they don’t expect companies to be perfect, but they need to know that they care as much as they do and are making efforts to improve the state of the world - and can show it.

So, where are consumers getting their cues? At the top, 40% of consumers stated that they learned that a company is environmentally friendly because of its packaging. However, 44% stated that they sometimes, but not often, believe the environmentally friendly claims on product packages. Based on follow up interviews, consumers shared their reasons for feeling skeptical of a company’s environmental claims, stating they think they are often unverifiable, overly generalized, or contradictory to other behaviors of the company.

On the other hand, it appears consumers want to trust the companies behind the products and are simply asking them to be more explicit and transparent about their policies and to help educate the public on the benefits of their products and claims and how to participate in eco-friendly practices.

Green Evangelists
The study identified a robust group of consumers who are not looking to cast blame, but rather band together to make a difference.

Green Evangelists are twice as likely as the general market to purchase products from companies who state they support the environment, with close to half (49%) reporting doing so, and 63% are more likely to choose a green product over others. More than half of these passionate consumers are displaying eco-friendly actions such as buying organic (51%), unplugging appliances (53%), forgoing air conditioning (55%) and recycling (78%).

These passionate consumers show they can be a brands best advocate should they succeed in grasping their attention and ultimately, their loyalty. 73% are encouraging others to act green and close to all (91%), agree that when they discover a new product that they like, they immediately tell their friends, compared to 82% of the total.

I’m Guilty!
The mindset of younger consumers surveyed appears to differ from their older counterparts when it comes to their decision to act earth-friendly. Whereas boomers responses were more tied to economical reasons, millennials actions were tied to environmental impact.

Interestingly, this environmentally aware generation seems to carry more weight of the future of our world on their shoulders. Almost half (47%) report feeling guilty when they don’t take actions they feel are important and 50% state they feel irresponsible, a measurable disparity from the 33% of boomers who feel guilty when they don’t take action and the 34% who reported feeling irresponsible.

Conclusion
This national survey of more than 3,000 consumers between the ages 18-49 provides an interesting ‘moment-in-time’ snapshot of consumer attitudes today. It shows that environmental concerns are certainly playing a significant role in the marketplace.

Among the younger and more environmentally aware generation, consumers are willing to exercise environmental accountability in their actions/purchases. That is good news for marketers with a long-term horizon. The question for the planet as a whole is whether consumerism is a bad habit that needs to be broken.

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Note: I loathe the word ‘consumer’, but for convenience I didn’t manipulate the text (which largely came directly from the press release).

If you haven’t ever seen the video called The Story of Stuff, or all of the amazing support material on the site, then you MUST check it out. Seriously, I mean it. Get some popcorn and watch it now.

This gets to the root of everything that I’m trying to do in work and in life.

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. It exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Remember, when you are done watching, spend some time looking through the resources and then send a link to a friend. We really do have the ability to change the system.