Common Knowledge or Common Sense? Identifying Systematic Misconceptions of Animal Agriculture and Food Familiarity in Higher Education Individuals

Knowledge gaps in the context of agriculture contribute to mistrust and negative worldviews of the animal agricultural sector. The purpose of this quasi-experimental survey study stood on three tiers: quantify perceived connection to food production (FP) of the participants, their understanding, knowledge and perceptions of animal agriculture (AA) and FP, and determine predictors which may have contributed to their knowledge and perceptions of food animal production. A southeastern land grant institution served as the convenience sample for this study, where 265 completed responses were returned. The electronic survey collected several types of data including a Gapminder-influenced (Rosling et al., 2019) Animal Agricultural Knowledge and Perceptions Questionnaire, a Food Familiarity Index Questionnaire, and demographic questions. The study reports that almost 50% of participants demonstrated a negative worldview (P < 0.05) of animal agriculture, regardless of food familiarity scores. Natural and self-identified demographic characteristics impacted AA knowledge and perceptions, including gender, ethnicity, dietary preference, perceived connection to FP, and affiliation with the College of Agriculture. Additional research should be done to replicate the findings with broader question pools and other demographic groups to identify areas that need improvement in agriculture communication efforts designed to dispel misinformation.