Our questionnaires were distributed during the panel discussion, the questionnaire consists of two parts: The first 6 questions asked about the general view of several hot topics like antibiotic resistance.The last 3 questions were to get the feed back from the audience after the panel discussion. We retrieved in total 51 replies, the data and analysis are presented as follows. Here is the link to our Online-questionnaire (in English). You are very welcome to contribute to our data.
Most of the guest in the audience at our podiums discussion were around 25 years old and had a university background in biology.
The general opinion towards genetic engineering was split between being positive and mixed.
Only 6% of our audience would not consume genetically manipulated food. More than 60% would consume those items. The rest was undecided.
For food without any genetically changes only one quarter of the audience would pay more. More than 50% would not pay more for “clean” food.
In agreement with our speakers at the discussion, most guests had the right idea about where new antibiotic resistances come from. 60% think they come from a misuse of antibiotics in general.
In case of being sick, our audience would act as the specialists advise to act: Use antibiotics only as a last weapon and when the doctor prescribes it.
Since most of our guests already had a positive opinion towards “gen-tec”, it is not surprising that 78% did not change their opinion about it. 22% of the audience changed their opinion after the discussion in one way or the other.
With our discussion we could pursue more than half of our audience to think more about their food, their usage of antibiotics and genetic engineering in general.
The elections in Germany are coming up in September. That is why we asked our audience, how they would vote regarding genetically engineered food. About a third of the audience would vote pro, another third contra engineered food. The rest would not vote at all.