The US Public’s Attitudes on Animal and Worker Welfare in the Dairy and Poultry Industries

The social license between the US public and food producers has grown increasingly complex, especially as it relates to the treatment of farm animals and workers. In this study, we employ two best–worst-scaling experiments to elicit the public’s preferences regarding animal and worker welfare farm practices within the dairy and poultry industries. Using a latent class modeling approach, we find that US consumers generally value animal welfare practices more than they value worker welfare practices. However, population subgroups with strong preferences for worker welfare practices exist, primarily among older, highly educated, Democrats living in the Northeastern United States.