Tag Archives: Jen Gillespie

In my last Industry Insightspost, we talked about the “Crate Debate.” This is just one of a handful of animal welfare debates facing our industry, and recent research from Purdue University yielded some “red flag” results for pork producers. Dr. Nicole Olynk Widmar (Agricultural Economics), Dr. Candace Croney (Animal Science) and Melissa McKendree (Agricultural Economics) conducted a survey of U.S. consumers related to perceptions of livestock – specifically pork – production. What they found may come as a shock.

Of the 798 survey participants, nearly one-third had never been to a farm that raised animals for the food system, and only 31 percent had visited such a farm within the last five years – which is representative of the nearly 98 percent of Americans who are not directly involved in agricultural production.These researchers also looked at the consumers’ sources of information regarding animal welfare issues. This chart breaks down the [ … ]