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Julita El-Jai ®
Cardinal Stephan Wyszynski University, Warsaw, Poland
EU CITIZENS ABOUT ANIMAL WELFARE - RESULTS FROM SPECIAL
EUROBAROMETER 229.
Abstract
EU citizens are considered that increase of animal welfare will improve the taste, quality and safety of the products. Special EUROBAROMETER 229 "Attitudes of consumers towards the welfare of farmed animals" shows that a tendency in society to choose animal-friendly products depends on many factors.
Key words: food ethics, animal welfare, consumer concerns
Introduction.
We can notice the increasing animal welfare standards in EU. Consumers in developed countries demand the safe food which protects the environment. Concerns about animal welfare has helped to pass laws concerning animal welfare in research, commercial use and farming. New agricultural policies must take into account that consumers connect animal welfare with food safety, quality and healthiness.
Special EUROBAROMETER 229 "Attitudes of consumers towards the welfare of farmed animals - Report" was made by the European Commission's Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General. This survey has been carried out by TNS Opinion & Social, they interviewed about 25.000 citizens in the 25 Member States of the EU between 9.02.2005 and 20.03.2005.
EU and animal welfare.
EU protocol obliging member states to pay full regard to animal welfare in forming and in implementation relevant policy and legislation. It may help to raise the level of farm animal welfare in EU but also it can have a negative influence of the liberalization of world trade and an impact on a price, so there is a competing market for imported food, which is much cheaper. But unfortunately this means that animal welfare standards in other countries are lower. Product produced outside EU under poor welfare conditions and more cheaply will, under free-market-forces, have to be accepted for sale in EU. They will compete with the more expensive European high welfare products and come to occupy a high proportion of the market (Eurogroup for animal welfare 1998).
An international committee consisting of veterinary, animal science experts and ethicists have to establish a list of critical levels for animal welfare standards. Also EU should pay attention to international animal welfare organizations in building new standards.
The EU has many strategies about animal welfare: 1. policy makers (subsidies, standards, enforcement, monitoring, research, labeling, clear codes, coherent policy, trust in institutions)
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2. producers (promotion of best practice, increased communication and transparency of the supply chain, labeling methods, niche marketing for added value, advertising, efficiency and training)
3. retailers (transparency, labeling, impact on standards through legislation, cooperation)
4. communication (better education of consumers, labeling, show realities of best practice, funds, information, transparency)
5. consumers (product choice, vote information) [Consumer Concerns about Animal Welfare and the Impact on Food Choice,2001].
The are many sources of information about animal welfare:
- media
- organizations to protect farm animals and environment
- consumers' organizations
- food industry, farmers and butchers
- the government and EU: problem of validity and credibility so there is a need for independent body to accredit animal-friendly production and labeling
- own experience
- family and friends
Consumers believe that EU, government, farmers and food industry should take the most responsibility for animal welfare standards.
About animal-friendly products.
Many studies had been made to analyze how large is the minority of consumers who want to buy animal-friendly products, who is consist of, the importance of its concern and how all those facts changing over time [McInerney 1991, 2004]. In general, increasing concerns about animal welfare in EU consumers are because of bigger demand for animal-friendly products, bigger demand for freerange eggs, more vegetarians and organizations which are interested in farm animal rights. Modern system of production of food is considered to be unnatural, unsafe and unhealthy.
Animal welfare is connected with feed, space, outside access, expressing normal behavior and conditions of transport and slaughter. That is why the battery cage system for laying hens is considered to be cruel, so consumers prefer free-range system or barn system, sows and other farm animals should be in the outdoor system or loose house and the best system is in milk and lamb production.
The researches show that there is a tendency in society to choose animal-friendly products. It depends on many factors:
- gender: women are more likely to buy animal-friendly product than men
- age: younger are often vegetarians and they do not eat meat for ethical reasons
- level of education and socio-economic status (co-determinant): well educated people often have more money and they are going to pay more for animal-friendly products
- having a pet: those people are more sensitive to animal's suffering in farms
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- consumers of organic food: they have better knowledge about natural environment
- place of living: citizens from developed countries, with high-income are more likely to take into account in their food choice strategy animal welfare and media campaigns
We can distinguish many ways to increase animal-friendly production:
- establish minimum standards for farm animals
- change agricultural policy to provide farmers high animal welfare system
- EU information campaigns - for example encourage consumers to know their role in improving animal welfare standards, show in scientific (not shocking way) present methods of animal production and consumer education
- Legal definitions for labeling - animal welfare labels
- Negotiations on animal welfare on WTO [Consumer Concerns about Animal Welfare and the Impact on Food Choice, 2001]
Results from Special EUROBAROMETER 229
We can notice the change of eating patterns (red meat to white meat, more milk and eggs). It is because of health and safety reason - biotechnology, BSE scare, genetics engineering (GM food and GMO), unnaturally production (hormones, antibiotics), also because of lifestyle, diet and costs.
Consumers have both anthropocentric and zoocentric concerns about animal welfare. The consumers concern about animal welfare is not the most important in food choice and use animal welfare as an indicator of food safety and quality, so they equal animal welfare standards with good food standards. Consumers have little knowledge about animal production (more about egg and poultry production) and would like more information in order to make good choices. But research has showed that consumers prefer voluntary ignorance - for example they do not trust the food industry or government as a source of information. The most interesting is that even if the consumers say about high level of concern about animal welfare, it is not true in the practice.
The majority of consumers from developed countries are focused on the nutritional content of food, health and pleasure - which means quality. Also there is a demand for food safety products and the impact of methods of production on the natural environment and animal welfare. Animal welfare can be seen not only as an ethical issue, but also as a healthy issue, because there is a scientific close link between welfare and health. All those factors are an individual utility function. Consumers require sufficient and accurate information too ensure they can identify and select products that will meet their needs, preferences and objectives and so maximize the benefits they gain from consumption.
Specific outcome:
- very distinct realities with regard to the welfare of farm animals within the Union (differences in production, Western and Eastern countries)
- the welfare is considered to be superior in the EU compared to the rest of the world
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- the welfare is judged differently for each species (laying hens are being judged to be poorer than cows and pigs)
- the majority of citizens do not seem to take account of animal welfare when buying food and the identification of animal friendly production is very difficult, what partially explains the lower sensibility towards animal welfare
- three quarters of citizens believe in their influence to change the welfare of farm animals by their purchasing behavior
- people accept a price increase for free range eggs to level of 25%
- visits to farms seem to increase the awareness and concern for animal welfare - impact of an awareness campaign promoting animal welfare [Special Eurobarometer 229].
Conclusions.
Animal welfare is built on development of legislative and market forces, which should not determine animal welfare standards - EU should increase support for animal-friendly products and ensure acceptable minimum standards of animal welfare in Europe. Self regulation, monitoring and third party certification on animal friendly products are good in closed economy, after they can be transferable to an international setting.
Reference
1. Attitudes of consumers towards the welfare of farmed animals, Special Eurobarometer 229, EC 2005.
2. Consumer Concerns about Animal Welfare and the Impact on Food Choice, 2001, http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/welfare/eu_fair_project_en.pdf.
3. McGlone J.J., 2001, Farm animal welfare in the context of other society issues: toward sustainable systems, Livestock Production Science 72, 75-81.
4. Mclnerney J., 1991, Assessing the benefits of farm animal welfare, Farm animals: it pays to be a humane, S.P. Carruthers (ed.), Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Reading, pp. 15-31.
5. McInerney J., 2004, Animal welfare, economics and policy, http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/reports/animalwelfare.pdf.
Summary
In animal production are many stakeholders: producers, distributors, retailers, exports and finally, consumers. It is important to remember about each group in any political, economical or ethical decisions. The challenge for animal agriculture is to provide public assurances with minimal cost to the consumer [McGlone, 2001]. When these methods will be harmonized there is a hope for increasing the animal welfare standards.
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