A new division of a national charity is aiming to build public trust and confidence in Canada's food system.

Last week Farm & Food Care Canada launched the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI), an international affliate of the U.S.-based Centre for Food Integrity. Farm & Food Care CEO Crystal Mackay says the CCFI will act as an intelligence division for Canada's food system, conducting research with the public.

"We'll be doing social science every year," Mackay says, adding they released Canadian Public Trust research last week along with the launch of the CCFI.

"The research we released (last) week is a really great report card, it's a great benchmark for a starting point, but like many of my report cards in school, there's a few spots where I would say need improvement," she says.

According to the research, 93 per cent of Canadians say they know little or nothing about farming, but 60 per cent per cent would like to know more about it. Mackay says it is a good sign that Canadian are interested in food production even if they don't already have an existing base knowledge.

"I would just say a highlight on the overall concern, which was a bit of a surprise to us, is the rising cost of food and the need to keep healthy food affordable emerged as the top two concerns for Canadians, above healthcare, economy, or energy," Mackay adds.

But the facts and statistics aren't everything. In fact, in the challenge of building public trust, Mackay says consumers aren't looking for facts and statistics.

"We studied what's called the Trust Model that they developed in the U.S. (Centre for Food Integrity), which has been peer-reviewed and published with some good credibility," she says, "and what it shows us is that connecting with shared values is three to five times more important than fact. So traditionally if there's a problem, you know, we're practical people, so it's like, 'Here are the facts, now you should come over to our way of thinking.' But with this concept of having a conversation with Canadians, they want to connect with people and have a conversation, they don't want to be educated."

To learn more about the CCFI and its research, you can visit foodintegrity.ca.