Subject: Agri-food sector

Animal board invited review: Improving animal health and welfare in the transition of livestock farming systems: Towards social acceptability and sustainability

C. Ducrot, M.B. Barrio, A. Boissy, F. Charrier, S. Even, P. Mormède, S. Petit, M.-H. Pinard-van der laan, F. Schelcher, F. Casabianca, A. Ducos, G. Foucras, R. Guatteo, J.-L. Peyraud, M. Vayssier-Taussat, P. Veysset, N.C. Friggens, X. Fernandez

Published in 2024

The shared views of a group of INRAE researchers on the interdisciplinary research needed to support the transition to sustainable livestock production systems. Animal health and welfare are at the heart of these issues.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Societal issues, Environment, Living environment, One Welfare, Human-animal relationships, Livestock farming system

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Every step you take: Nudging animal welfare product purchases in a virtual supermarket

Nina Weingarten, Leonie Bach, Jutta Roosen, Monika Hartmann

Published in 2024

Scientific article analyzing the behavior of German consumers in a virtual supermarket where shelves featuring products produced according to animal welfare standards were made prominent using visual marketing techniques (footprints on the floor and banners). Marketing influenced the behavior of meat, milk and egg consumers, and sales of animal-welfare compliant products doubled in the compared with the control group.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Bovines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Identification, Processing

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Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment Report Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of animals during transport and related operations, amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/97 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005

DG SANTE, European Commission

Published in 2023

Impact assessment setting out the animal welfare implications of the legislative proposal on the transport of live animals. The impacts addressed are economic, social and environmental.

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories:Cattle, Dogs, Goats, Equines, Felines, Sheep, Fish, Pigs, Poultry

Keywords: One Welfare, Human-animal relationships, Transport,Societal issues

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(Not So) Happy Cows: An Autonomy-Based Argument for Regulating Animal Industry Misleading Commercial Speech

Rubén Marciel, Pablo Magaña

Published in 2023

Scientific article examining the commercial discourse of the livestock industry on the living conditions of farm animals. The authors conceptualize this messaging, argue that it is misleading, and suggest ways to restrict and defuse this misleading nature, notably through regulation.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Societal issues, Human-animal relationships

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Willingness to Pay a Higher Price for Pork Obtained Using Animal-Friendly Raising Techniques: A Consumers' Opinion Survey

Carlo Giannetto, Vito Biondi, Annalisa Previti, Angelina De Pascale, Salvatore Monti, Angela Alibrandi, Agata Zirilli, Maurizio Lanfranchi, Michela Pugliese, Annamaria Passantino

Published in 2023

Scientific article examining the animal welfare habits of pork consumers, showing that almost half are willing to pay more for meat from farms that implement animal welfare standards.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Societal issues, Human-animal relationships

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Animals and Social Welfare - Social Choice and Welfare, Forthcoming

Romain Espinosa

Published in 2023

Article setting out a framework for the assessment of the social benefits of animal-related policies in terms of both animal and human welfare. The framework is then used to evaluate 20 policy proposals concerning animals which, although strongly supported by the French public,  prove to have widely varying impacts on animal welfare. It reveals that willingness to pay is a poor indicator of the actual impact of these policies on animal welfare.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Societal issues, One Welfare, Human-animal relationships

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Indice international d’équité des engagements œufs hors-cage

Mercy for Animals

Published in 2023

Mercy for Animals' 3rd International Cage-Free Equity Index of commitment by companies. The index ranks 40 food companies on their commitment to sourcing cage-free eggs, and on the transparency of their communication on progress. Carrefour, Groupe Casino and Sodexo appear at the bottom of the ranking.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Enrichment, Housing, Living environment,Societal issues, livestock farming system

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Sustainability trade-offs in animal husbandry: consumers' choice when they can't have it all

Jeanette Klink-Lehmann, Milan Tatic, Nina Weingarten, Monika Hartmann

Published in 2023

Scientific article on the pork purchasing choices made by German consumers when faced with contradictory objectives, both with and without the conflicts being made obvious.  Human health considerations take precedence over animal welfare, which in turn takes precedence over environmental considerations.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Societal issues, One Welfare, Human-animal relationships

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How might the public contribute to the discussion on cattle welfare? Perspectives of veterinarians and animal scientists

Beth Ventura, Daniel M Weary, Marina AG von Keyserlingk

Published in 2023

Scientific article seeking the views of veterinarians and zootechnicians on concerns over the welfare of cattle expressed by members of the public and on how public opinion should be taken into account when developing ways to improve welfare. Those interviewed consider the general public to lack knowledge of livestock farming and believe that its members need to be educated in order to gain a better understanding of the issues. They could contribute to improving welfare by paying higher prices for animal products.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Livestock farming system

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Willingness-to-pay for reduced carbon footprint and other sustainability concerns relating to pork production - A comparison of consumers in China, Denmark, Germany and the UK

Sigrid Denver, Tove Christensen, Thomas Bøker Lund, Jakob Vesterlund Olsen, Peter Sandøe

Published in 2023

Scientific article comparing the willingness to pay higher prices for more sustainable pork among consumers in Shanghai and 3 European countries. In Western countries, animal welfare is the main reason for paying more, while in China it is food safety. In all countries, reducing climate impact was one of the least-cited reasons for paying more.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Environment, One Welfare, Carcass quality, Human-animal relationships,Societal issues

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