The "new perception" of animal agriculture: legless cows, featherless chickens, and a need for genuine analysis.

Fraser, David

doi:10.2527/2001.793634x

Cited by 88 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Citizens are not for or against animal farming as such; they value certain aspects and criticize others simultaneously. Farmers and agricultural organizations often argue that the public is misinformed (Fraser 2001) and that a more accurate image of farming needs to be reconstituted by providing more information to the public (Holloway 2004). But people do not shape their opinion on the basis of knowledge and experiences alone; values and convictions also play an important role (Te Velde et al 2002;Tuan 1974).…”

Section: Public Perception Of Modern Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Acceptance of Dairy Farming: The Ambivalence Between the Two Faces of Modernity

Boogaard

Bock

Oosting

et al. 2010

J Agric Environ Ethics

141

132

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Society's relationship with modern animal farming is an ambivalent one: on the one hand there is rising criticism about modern animal farming; on the other hand people appreciate certain aspects of it, such as increased food safety and low food prices. This ambivalence reflects the two faces of modernity: the negative (exploitation of nature and loss of traditions) and the positive (progress, convenience, and efficiency). This article draws on a national survey carried out in the Netherlands that aimed at gaining a deeper understanding about the acceptance of modern dairy farming in Dutch society. People take two dimensions into account when evaluating different aspects of modern dairy farming: (1) the way living beings are used for production and (2) the way a dairy farm functions as a business. In both these dimensions people appeared to adopt cautious opinions: most people preferred relatively traditional and natural farms and were concerned about the use of nature and treatment of animals in modern production-although this did not imply an outright rejection of modern animal farming. The study also looked for (and sought to explain) differences of opinion between social groups. Besides sociodemographic factors such as age and gender, farming experience and valueorientation (such as socially minded and professional) appeared to be important variables. The values and convictions within modern society can help to explain why some people are greatly concerned about animal welfare while some show less concern. This diversity also helps to explain why general information campaigns are quite ineffective in allaying concerns about modern animal farming.

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Section: Public Perception Of Modern Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Acceptance of Dairy Farming: The Ambivalence Between the Two Faces of Modernity

Boogaard

Bock

Oosting

et al. 2010

J Agric Environ Ethics

141

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The field is less scientific than claimed, because welfare was part of a social discourse actuated by emotion rather than reason before it became the subject of scientific research [1]. In response to the public outcry over Ruth Harrison's 1964 book, Animal Machines [2], the British government commissioned an investigation, chaired by F. Rogers Brambell, into the animal welfare of intensively farmed veal calves, pigs, and chickens [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new animal welfare concept based on allostasis

Korte

Olivier

Koolhaas

2007

Physiology & Behavior

259

181

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Animal welfare is an increasing issue of public concern and debate. As a result, many countries are reconsidering the way animal welfare is embedded in the legislation and rules for housing and care of animals. This requires general agreement of what animal welfare is. Unfortunately, the current science of animal welfare is less scientific than what has been claimed. In our view, it is overly guided by anthropocentric thinking about how animals ought to be handled and neglects the latest concept of physiology: 'The Allostasis Concept'. Allostasis, which means stability through change, has the potential to replace homeostasis as the core model of physiological regulation. Not constancy or freedoms, but capacity to change is crucial to good physical and mental health and good animal welfare. Therefore, not homeostasis but allostasis is at the basis of our new animal welfare concept. This paper is aimed at a broader scientific discussion of animal welfare that includes knowledge from the latest scientific developments in neurobiology and behavioral physiology, and generates views that are extremely relevant for the animal welfare discussion.

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“…Lay people's views are often excluded from this point of view. Yet it is often stated that the lay public should be better informed about the realities of contemporary farming in order to get livestock farming socially accepted (see Fraser, 2001;Kanis et al, 2003). As such, there is a demand for social scientists to study the social perceptions of livestock farming, often with the aim of positively influencing social acceptance of contemporary livestock farming systems.…”

Section: Collaboration Between Animal Sciences and Social Sciencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, it has often been stated that the public lacks knowledge about (animal) farming and should be better informed about the realities of contemporary animal farming (Fraser, 2001;Holloway, 2004;Kanis et al, 2003). The general line of such arguments is that more information would make livestock farming more socially acceptable, that is, more socioculturally sustainable.…”

Section: Public Perceptions Of Livestock Farming: Quantitative Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Disputes over sustainability often come down to (deep) value differences (Sumner, 2005). It is therefore important for anyone engaged in research on (sociocultural) sustainability to make their underlying values explicit, even though values are implicitthat is, not directly observable (Rokeach, 1973).Third, it has often been stated that the public lacks knowledge about (animal) farming and should be better informed about the realities of contemporary animal farming (Fraser, 2001;Holloway, 2004;Kanis et al, 2003). The general line of such arguments is that more information would make livestock farming more socially acceptable, that is, more socioculturally sustainable.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming: an inquiry into social perceptions of dairy farming

Boogaard

Oosting

Bock

et al. 2011

Animal

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Over the past 50 years, the scale and intensity of livestock farming have increased significantly. At the same time, Western societies have become more urbanised and fewer people have close relatives involved in farming. As a result, most citizens have little knowledge or direct experience of what farming entails. In addition, more people are expressing concerns over issues such as farm animal welfare. This has led to increasing public demand for more sustainable ways of livestock farming. To date, little research has been carried out on the social pillar of sustainable livestock farming. The aim of this study is to provide insights into the sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming systems. This study reviews the key findings of earlier published interdisciplinary research about the social perceptions of dairy farming in the Netherlands and Norway (Boogaard et al., 2006(Boogaard et al., , 2008(Boogaard et al., , 2010a(Boogaard et al., and 2010b and synthesises the implications for sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming. This study argues that the (sociocultural) sustainable development of livestock farming is not an objective concept, but that it is socially and culturally constructed by people in specific contexts. It explains the social pillar of the economics/ecological/social model sustainability in terms of the fields of tensions that exist between modernity, traditions and naturality -'the MTN knot' -each of which has positive and negative faces. All three angles of vision can be seen in people's attitudes to dairy farming, but the weight given to each differs between individuals and cultures. Hence, sociocultural sustainability is context dependent and needs to be evaluated according to its local meaning. Moreover, sociocultural sustainability is about people's perceptions of livestock farming. Lay people might perceive livestock farming differently and ascribe different meanings to it than experts do, but their 'reality' is just as real. Finally, this study calls for an ongoing collaboration between social and animal scientists in order to develop livestock farming systems that are more socioculturally sustainable.Keywords: values, citizens, collective meanings, interdisciplinary, social sciences ImplicationsThis study explores the sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming. The sociocultural aspects of sustainability have been studied far less than the economic and ecological ones, although they deserve more attention, especially given the increasing demands and more influential position of citizens in terms of livestock farming. The sociocultural pillar of the sustainability of livestock farming is a relatively new research area within animal sciences and requires the input of social sciences. This study reviews the key findings of earlier published interdisciplinary research on the social perceptions of dairy farming in the Netherlands and Norway (Boogaard et al., 2006(Boogaard et al., , 2008(Boogaard et al., , 2010a(Boogaard et al., and 2010b and synthesises the implication...

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The "new perception" of animal agriculture: legless cows, featherless chickens, and a need for genuine analysis.

Cited by 88 publications

References 10 publications

Social Acceptance of Dairy Farming: The Ambivalence Between the Two Faces of Modernity

Social Acceptance of Dairy Farming: The Ambivalence Between the Two Faces of Modernity

A new animal welfare concept based on allostasis

The sociocultural sustainability of livestock farming: an inquiry into social perceptions of dairy farming

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