Sunday, October 10, 2010

Public Trusts HSUS & PETA More than Farmers

The Center for Food Integrity is an agribusiness-sponsored non-profit corporation, and their list of supporters include Foster Farms and Monsanto, corporations not well-known for their animal welfare or environmental stewardship.

According to their website, the Center for Food Integrity was formed to "serve as a resource where consumers and other stakeholders can find accurate, balanced information about the food system and engage in constructive dialogue" and yet I cannot seem to find any information on results from one of their most recent surveys. 

CFI conducted an opinion survey posing a variety of attitudinal statements, requesting respondents to rank them according to importance. You can see a summary of their presentation at their Food Safety Summit here, minus some important information.

I am guessing presenting this information to your stakeholders might...ruffle some feathers. Oh yeah, bad pun intended.

The survey showed that when it comes to who the public trusts about farmed animal welfare, it isn't Foster Farms - it's the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). And People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (P.E.T.A.) It wasn't even close - HSUS was the most trusted source twice as much for information on farmed animal welfare. Farmers, like Foster Farms, ended up pretty much dead last.

I'm biased. I'm vegan, so I am probably more receptive to what an animal welfare or animal rights organization has to say over a multi-billion dollar corporation that kills animals. 

I guess I don't know why people wouldn't trust the companies they buy their meat, dairy and eggs from...after all, they're endorsing what they do by purchasing their products. But humans are interesting, sometimes contradictory creatures. I know I am, so that isn't me being judgy.

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