According to a recent poll conducted by researchers at Michigan State University and Kansas State University, most Americans support the idea of mandatory animal welfare labels on meat, dairy and egg products. Specifically, more than 61 percent of those polled wanted producers who cruelly confine mother pigs to gestation crates or egg-laying hens to battery cages to be required to label their “products” to warn consumers. The survey also indicated that most people are even willing to pay up to 20% more for animal products that don’t come from facilities that intensively confine animals.
This latest study was conducted by one of the same researchers who last year released a report indicating that “media attention to animal welfare issues triggers consumers to purchase less meat.” Not only does media exposure of factory farms make consumers lose their appetites for all types of meat, consumer demand for meat remains lower than usual for as long as six months after the media report.
These reports confirm that as people become more aware of the cruelty inherent in raising and killing animals for food, they become less willing to support it. While mandatory labeling of animal products would not eliminate the suffering these animals endure, it would force consumers to take a closer look at their food choices and the animals who were raised and killed to produce them – and that awareness will no doubt encourage more people to look to animal-free alternatives to meat, dairy and eggs.
Interested in cutting back on meat or going vegetarian after learning how animals are treated on today’s farms? Here are some helpful tips and recipes to get you started on a path toward a healthier and more compassionate lifestyle.
