A commentary on animal welfare in the US meat and poultry industry
Published date | 01 November 2020 |
Author | Peter Jones,Daphne Comfort |
Date | 01 November 2020 |
DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2358 |
COMMENTARY
A commentary on animal welfare in the US meat and poultry
industry
Peter Jones|Daphne Comfort
School of Business, University of
Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK
Correspondence
Peter Jones, School of Business, University of
Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK.
Email: pjones@glos.ac.uk
The welfare of farm animals continues to generate vociferous and passionate debate.
For many people, their closest, though indirect, contact with animal welfare is
through the food they buy, and then, eat, and though animal welfare seems removed
from the social practise of buying and eating animal products, it is very much a public
issue. This short commentary article looks to shine some light on animal welfare by
reviewing, and reflecting on, how some of the leading meat and poultry producing
companies in the US address animal welfare in their annual sustainability reports. The
article reveals that whilst most of the leading meat and chicken producing companies
within the US emphasised their strategic commitment to animal welfare, their com-
mitments are contested, and there are issues about how these commitments are
evidenced.
1|INTRODUCTION
The welfare of farm animals continues to generate vociferous and
passionate debate, and it has attracted increasing attention in the aca-
demic and professional literature. Clark, Stewart, Panzone, Kyriazakis,
and Frewer (2016), for example, recognised that increases in produc-
tivity may have negative impacts on farm animal welfare in modern
animal production systems, and provided a systematic review of pub-
lic attitudes to farm animal welfare. Their review suggested that “the
public are concerned about farm animal welfare in modern production
systems”and that “naturalness and humane treatment were central to
what was considered good welfare”(Clark et al., 2016). Whilst con-
sumer concerns about animal welfare are expressed in a variety of
ways, for many people their closest, though indirect, contact with ani-
mal welfare is through the food they buy, and then eat. That said,
whilst animal welfare is very much a public issue, it seems removed
from the social practises of buying, cooking, and eating animal prod-
ucts. Buller and Roe (2018), for example, claimed “we largely take farm
animals”lives (and deaths) for granted when we eat them and their prod-
ucts' and they suggested “for most of us, meat, egg and dairy consump-
tion has become so distinct –geographically, morally aesthetically –from
livestock, that the animal disappears.”With these comments in mind,
this short commentary article looks to shine some light on animal wel-
fare by reviewing, and reflecting on, how some of the leading meat
and poultry producing companies in the US address animal welfare in
their annual sustainability reports.
2|ANIMAL WELFARE
Animal welfare is concerned with the general health and wellbeing
of animals and spans a wider range of issues from the care of family
pets to the exploitation and abuse of animals. The welfare of ani-
mals generates fiercely contested debates and whilst some voices
stress the vulnerability of animals, for example, in intensive factory
farms and medical research, others emphasise the need to increase
food supplies and to develop new and better medicines. Essentially,
the concept of animal welfare is concerned with how an animal is
coping with the conditions in which it lives, and it is generally seen
to include three elements, namely, an animal's normal biological
functioning; its emotional state and its ability to express normal
behaviours.
As such, an animal is seen to be in “a good state of welfare if
(as indicated by scientific evidence) it is healthy, comfortable, well-
nourished, safe,able to express innate behaviour, andif it is not suffering
from unpleasant states such as pain, fear, and distress”(American Veteri-
nary MedicalAssociation, 2020). The so calledFive Freedoms of Animal
Welfare, formalised by the UK Farm Animal Welfare Council in 1979,
are freedom from hunger or thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom
from pain, injury ordisease; freedom toexpress (most) normal behav-
iour; and freedom from fear and distress. The American Veterinary
Medical Association (2020) affirmed“ensuring animal welfare is a human
responsibility that includes consideration for all aspects of animal well-
being, includingproper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention
DOI: 10.1002/pa.2358
J Public Affairs. 2020;20:e2358.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd1of5
https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2358
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