Commodifying animal welfare
Commodifying animal welfare
As the profile of farm animal welfare rises within food production chains, in response both to consumer demand and greater ethical engagement with the lives of animals, animal welfare is increasingly being commodified by various foodchain actors. That is to say that, over and above regulatory or assurance scheme compliance, welfare conditions and criteria are being used as a ‘value-added’ component or distinctive selling point for food products, brands or even particular manufacturers and retailers. We argue in this paper that such a commodification process has major implications both for the way in which farm animal welfare is defined and assessed (with greater emphasis being placed either on those welfare elements that lend themselves to commodification processes or on those that respond to consumer interpretations of what ‘good’ welfare might be at a particular time) and for the ways in which farm animal welfare is articulated and presented to food consumers as a component of product value or quality.
animal welfare, commodification, consumption, free-range eggs, market, welfare assessment
131-135
Buller, Henry
fe866b2a-3910-49ca-8f14-abd693a75dcb
Roe, Emma J.
f7579e4e-3721-4046-a2d4-d6395f61c675
May 2012
Buller, Henry
fe866b2a-3910-49ca-8f14-abd693a75dcb
Roe, Emma J.
f7579e4e-3721-4046-a2d4-d6395f61c675
Abstract
As the profile of farm animal welfare rises within food production chains, in response both to consumer demand and greater ethical engagement with the lives of animals, animal welfare is increasingly being commodified by various foodchain actors. That is to say that, over and above regulatory or assurance scheme compliance, welfare conditions and criteria are being used as a ‘value-added’ component or distinctive selling point for food products, brands or even particular manufacturers and retailers. We argue in this paper that such a commodification process has major implications both for the way in which farm animal welfare is defined and assessed (with greater emphasis being placed either on those welfare elements that lend themselves to commodification processes or on those that respond to consumer interpretations of what ‘good’ welfare might be at a particular time) and for the ways in which farm animal welfare is articulated and presented to food consumers as a component of product value or quality.
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Published date: May 2012
Keywords:
animal welfare, commodification, consumption, free-range eggs, market, welfare assessment
Organisations:
Economy, Society and Space
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Local EPrints ID: 204781
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/204781
ISSN: 0962-7286
PURE UUID: 52eb5433-46c1-4679-89a9-57c0b8ae07cd
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Date deposited: 01 Dec 2011 14:52
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:28
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Author:
Henry Buller
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