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In our special Food 2021 survey the Public Opinion Research Centre examined the culture of eating. Most people east three (41%) or four (30%) meals a day. The room in the home in which people most often eat their meals is the kitchen (53%), followed by the dining room (27%) and the living room (18%). 35% of people regularly, i.e. at least once every two weeks, eat at a canteen/cafeteria, 33% at a restaurant, 21% at a fast-food restaurant, and 18% each at a cafe or in another home (usually the home of a family member or when visiting someone).

The majority (71%) of the Czech public never orders food through food delivery app (e.g. Wolt, Dámejídlo, Uber Eats), 26% do so sometimes, and 2% do so regularly

In its special ‘Food 2021’ survey the Public Opinion Research Centre at the Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences, examined the Czech public’s attitudes and opinions on the issue of food waste. More than two fifths (43%) of people believe that food waste is a big problem, while another approximately two-fifths (42%) believe that food waste is wrong but there are more urgent problems that need solving, and around one-seventh (14%) do not consider food waste to be a problem in society.

A more than one-half majority (53%) of respondents go shopping for food several times a week, one-quarter (25%) go grocery shopping once a week, and 10% of respondents shop every day.

The Czech public believe that food services are the biggest source of food waste, and that food production contributes the least to food waste. These results, however, are very different from EU estimates on this issue.

The most important factor the Czech public considers when shopping for food is price, followed by a food’s ingredients, while the least important factor is the food’s packaging.

For a more than one-half majority (51%) of respondents the environmental impact of how the foods they buy are produced is important to them, while for 45% this consideration is not important at all.

The absolute majority (91%) of the Czech public eat regular food without any restrictions, 3% are vegetarians and 3% are flexitarians, and the remaining 3% adhere to some other type of diet (gluten-free, health food, vegan).

One-third (33%) of respondents indicated they at least occasionally by organic food, which compared to 2020 is an increase of 10 percentage points.

The Public Opinion Research Centre’s special ‘Food 2021’ survey also explored the subject of the sorting of organic waste and composting.

Almost three-quarters of Czech households sort their organic waste (32% always, 24% sometimes, 17% rarely) and less than one-quarter (24%) never do so.

 The most common methods of sorting organic waste used by Czech households are garden composting (43%) or the ‘brown-bin’ organic waste containers provided by public services (36%).

Almost one-half (49%) of respondents indicated that they at least sometimes use substrate compost for plant cultivation and just under one-third (31%) use commercially available compost for this purpose. 

The majority (84%) of the Czech Republic has never heard of the CRISPR/Cas9 method.

 A more than one-half majority (60%) of the Czech public agrees with the possibility of using the CRISPR/Cas9 method for medical purposes. The Czech public least agrees with the possibility oof using this method to improve the performance of athletes (66% do not agree with this idea).

On the matter of treating hereditary diseases, most respondents (37%) agreed with using the CRISPR/Cas9 method only in medically justified cases and on the condition that none of the patient’s altered genetic information be passed on to any offspring.

In a special survey called Food 2021 the Public Opinion Research Centre at the Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences, surveyed the Czech public for its opinions on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and crops (GM crops) used to produce the food we consume.

The majority of respondents (74%) surveyed said that were familiar with the term ‘genetically modified crops’. Just under one-tenth of them (8%) said they knew what it means, one-third (35%) said they had a rough idea, and almost one-third (31%) said they had heard the term but did not know what it means.

Slightly less than one-quarter (23%) of Czech citizens believe that the genetic modification of crops is morally wrong.

Almost one-half (47%) of respondents said they would be willing to take medicines that contain genetically modified organisms.

Less than two thirds of respondents (64%) said that their household incomes remained the same at the time of COVID, more than a quarter (27%) said they had fallen, of which 9% said significantly. In 8% of households, income increased. The resulting findings do not change significantly during the pandemic.

The CVVM also included a large block of questions concerning local food in the special Food 2020 research focused mainly on food waste, shopping, and consumer behaviour of Czech citizens.

Only three-tenths (30%) of the public in the Czech Republic were interested in the topic of local food, while the majority (69%) were rather not interested or not interested at all.

The most important criterion, which, according to the Czech public should be met by the "local food" label, is the information about the place where it was produced (20%) and subsequently that it should be what is considered a quality food (16%).

The CVVM also included a block of questions concerning organic food in the special Food 2020 research which was focused mainly on food waste and shopping as well as the consumer behaviour of Czech citizens.

Just under a quarter (24%) of the public in the Czech Republic is interested in the topic of organic food, while 76% are rather not interested or not interested at all. On top of that, compared to 2017, the interest decreased slightly.

In general, women who also buy organic food more often as well as people aged 20 to 44 and respondents who rate the standard of living of their household as good, are more interested in the topic of organic food.

The special Food 2020 research also included several questions related to the issue of food packaging materials, packaging-free shopping, environmentally friendly behaviour or diet, which are all areas closely related to one another but also in general to food waste.

The vast majority (93%) of the Czech public ate a normal diet without any restrictions and the remaining 7% of respondents indicated a different diet.