Acceptance of animal husbandry in Germany: Drivers and different ways to cope with problems

J. Simons, M. Hartmann, J. Klink-Lehmann, C. Vierboom and I. Harlen

No 277367, 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia from International Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Based on a large qualitative study the paper confirms previous and provides interesting new insights into societal acceptance of current animal husbandry in Germany. Regarding perception and evaluation of animal husbandry two concepts and visual depictions are dominant. In this paper, we name them museums husbandry and mass animal production whereby the first describes a common feeling about an acceptable way of animal husbandry while the opposite holds for the latter which is perceives as a rotten system driven by greed. Omnivores feel entangled in this system and deal with the meat paradox by finding excuses for their behavior. Interviewees felt guilt and concern to a different extend. No one really accepted what they perceived as the current way of animal husbandry, but tolerance was quite diverse among participants. The latter implies to be willing to go on with the system because of the many benefits linked to it. Moreover, it has to be taken into account that not own experience but media and peoples fantasies and horror scenarios as well as their longings drive perception of animal welfare. That leads to the question to what extend potential future adjustments in animal husbandry change peoples perception. Acknowledgement : The project is supported by funds of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) based on a decision of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany via the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) under the innovation support program.

Keywords: Livestock; Production/Industries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/277367/files/1827.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:iaae18:277367

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.277367

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia from International Association of Agricultural Economists Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().