Attitude toward gene-edited food: and economic analysis from diverse stakeholders’ viewpoint

The fast-growing global population is increasingly confronted with the need to produce enough food, while coping with growing environmental challenges. To address this issue, gene technologies are more and more put forward as a potential solution to help reaching a more sustainable food system. Recently, new genetic engineering techniques such as gene editing (GE) have been proposed as valuable solutions to overcome people’s concerns about GMOs. GE includes several tools, and one of the most prominent is CRISPR/Cas9. Nevertheless, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in July 2018 that products derived from new genetic modification techniques must be considered as GMOs (i.e. they must be subject to the same safety assessments and require the same label, thus they must undergo the European Commission Directive 2001/18). Europe is currently experiencing a heated debate on GE food at political and scientific level, with many researchers calling for a revision toward a two-fold regulation. Beyond these regulatory challenges, public acceptance of GE food needs to be further explored, as there has been little research on this subject to date. This doctoral dissertation examines attitude toward GE food among different stakeholders, namely farmers and consumers. This dissertation contributes to the ongoing literature on gene-edited acceptance in several ways. First, it examines farmers’ attitude toward CRISPR/Cas9 blast resistant rice, which represents a particular application of the GE technology. Secondly, it examines consumers’ attitude toward GE food and GE labelling preferences. Both studies identify the key determinants of attitudes toward GE food. In more detail, the study conducted on farmers offers valuable insights on a hypothetical application of CRISPR/Cas9 blast resistant rice. Then, the analysis investigates the effect of a non-cognitive skill (NCS), namely the locus of control (LOC) on farmers attitude toward CRISPR rice. It represents an empirical research and the analysis was based on primary data. The study conducted on consumers aims to explore attitudes toward GE food and preferences for GE food labelling. In addition, the study addresses young adults, that is Millennials and Generation Z. These population segments include young adults who are expected to play a key role in the debate on agricultural biotechnologies of the next future. Results provided in the doctoral dissertations suggest an overall positive attitude toward gene-edited food. Farmers generally showed a positive tendency toward CRISPR rice resistant to blast. Subjective knowledge, prior farming experience, and a low perception of risk on the agri-food business caused by CRISPR/Cas9 positively affected their attitude. Notably, having an external LOC improved attitude toward CRISPR rice. This result is surprisingly, but it has to be contextualised in the EU policy scenario, where the cultivation of CRISPR plants is not allowed. Young consumers, i.e. Millennials and GenZers, generally showed a positive attitude toward GE food. Key determinants were objective knowledge, which positively affected attitude, and environmental concern, which negatively affected it. Regarding GE food labelling preferences, key determinants were educational background, objective knowledge of EU GMO regulation (positive), and attitude toward GE food (negative). Moreover, the preference for applying a similar labelling policy to both GM and GE was negatively linked to objective knowledge. Results suggest several policy interventions. First, more information regarding new plant breeding techniques should be provided to improve knowledge on breeding technologies, particularly among farmers. Policy should also highlight the positive outcomes that NPBTs could generate on the environment and on the economy. Finally, a revision of the current EU GM policy should be rethought to meet the needs of the population.