Six meat and poultry consumers taking part in a focus group at the 2019 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit all revealed that animal welfare was important to them. But the level of that importance varied.
Two of the focus group members identified as living alone, while the others were either the primary shopper in their household or shared shopping duties. Participants represented a diverse demographic group.
The summit is being held May 8-9 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Focus group moderator Anne-Marie Roerink, Principal, 210 Analytics, asked each of the panelists to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 how important animal welfare was to them. Here are their ratings and what they had to say:
Thomas, 63, married for 35 years
Ranking: Pretty low (did not offer a number)
Comments: “I think for most people who do that sort of thing (raising farm animals) for a living, they are kind of attached to their animals and their property. That's how they feel about the whole process and they're proud of what they do. I don't think they go, ‘Come here, chicken. I’ll kick your ass.’”
Bill, 55, single and lives with a roommate
Ranking: 6 or 7
Comments: “I care about animal welfare, but I’m also on a limited budget.”
Kristine, 39, single
Ranking: 10
Comments: “(The things that are important to me about the animals are) being outdoors, having enough space to roam around, they have friends. Just their physical well-being and emotional well-being.”
Victoria, 33, mother of two who lives with significant other
Ranking: 7
Comments: “Of course animal welfare is important. My issue is trusting in labels. If it says organic, what does that really mean? … Is this something you put in here to justify the increase in prices, or is this something that’s really a benefit to me and my family.”
Zach, 28, married and father of two
Ranking: 7 or 8
Comments: “I don’t think I was consciously aware of it early on in life. … Some of my closest friends in college, their family owned a pig farm, I became more aware.”
Lynn, 50-something, single
Ranking: 10
Comments: "I want to be a conscious meat consumer. I do care a lot about how the animal was raised, and I also care about what’s been put in that animal that I might be eating.”
