According to a recent poll by YouGov, 78% of British people are opposed to factory farming practises which cause animals to experience pain or suffering as a means of producing affordable food.
The poll, which was commissioned by animal protection charity Open Cages in December 2021, aimed to explore how Brits balance concern for animal welfare with desire for affordable food.
Respondents were given examples of typical factory farming practises, such as breeding chickens to grow 400% faster than they did in the 1950s, leading to a slaughter age of just 35-days old and keeping large volumes of animals inside large, crowded facilities for their entire lives.
Commenting on the findings, Open Cages CEO Connor Jackson said:
“Behind the scenes, there’s a common attitude of seeing consumers as too cheap to support a move to higher standards. This poll suggests that the vast majority of British consumers aren’t interested in such a trade off: they don’t want cruelty to be the price.
“It blows this outdated attitude out of the water.
“I hope retailers are taking note: whoever signs the Better Chicken Commitment next will have the support of the British people.”
The Better Chicken Commitment is a chicken welfare policy that addresses issues related to breeding broiler chickens. It primarily targets areas of concern like space at housing, length of life and natural size.
