Joseph Balagtas is a Purdue University professor of agriculture economics and the director of the Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability, which tracks and measures consumer behavior as it relates to food markets.

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Since January 2022, the center has been conducting a national survey of grocery shoppers called the Consumer Food Insights Report. Each month Balagtas and his colleagues ask customers what they prioritize when they’re buying food — taste, nutrition, environmental impact, affordability, availability, or social responsibility.

Although there is a common belief that consumers want sustainable products, Balagtas said, [that] each month, on average, environmental impact falls behind taste and affordability.

“It’s not that people don’t care about sustainability, it’s that it’s not the first thing,” he said. “It’s not the most important thing to us.”

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“When you start confronting consumers with the fact that it’s going to cost something, support drops for regenerative agriculture, and that’s important,” Balagtas said.

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