Ep27: Jayson Lusk on Markets and Consumer Power

Episode summary

Agricultural economist Jayson Lusk puts forward a vision of how science, technology and innovation are what we need for a sustainable food future, and what aspects of power he feels are getting in the way of this future. We discuss: whether having more information actually changes what food people buy; why Jayson is excited about venture capital flowing into the food system; and why he disagrees with some of the narratives and policy proposals put forward by the “food movement”. We also touch on some hotly debated topics like agricultural subsidies, GMOs, and true cost accounting..

[ Transcript available ]

About Jayson Lusk

Jayson Lusk is a Distinguished Professor and Head of the Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University. He is a food and agricultural economist who studies what we eat and why we eat it. Since 2000, he has published more than 260 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals on a wide assortment of topics ranging from the economics of animal welfare to consumer preferences for genetically modified food to the impacts of new technologies and policies on livestock and meat markets to analyzing the merits of new survey and experimental approaches eliciting consumer preferences.