What is more important to you - cheap food or high welfare standards?

[Scrowy]

There has been news coverage today that the US has said that to enable trade relations the UK may have to consider lowering some food standards (chlorinated chicken, growth hormones etc).

As a beef and sheep farmer I'm genuinely interested to know if the British public really cares about animal welfare standards or if the reality is that money is tight and as long as it's meat people aren't actually too choosy about it's origins if the price is right?

Please don't pander to me, please be honest. If the truth is that you would like to think you would choose high welfare but when it comes down to it at the supermarket shelf you choose the cheaper option... just say.

I genuinely can’t afford to worry about animal welfare. I wish I could but I can’t. I buy whatever is affordable.

Animal welfare is paramount
I would rather be vegetation than eat chlorinated chicken
I try to buy from local farm shops as I’m keen that farmers get a fair price for their products

I would rather be vegetation than eat chlorinated chicken

Wow, that's some strength of feeling!

I want to be a tree 🌳

genuinely can’t afford to worry about animal welfare. I wish I could but I can’t. I buy whatever is affordable

You do realise we aren’t obligate carnivores?
Everyone can afford to be concerned with animal welfare.

Cheap meat is still more expensive than non-meat alternatives. If you really want to buy “affordable” food, buy more veg and lentils.

My food bills have dropped considerably since I went veggie and the rest of the family only eat meat once or twice a week.

High welfare/production standards v important in our household. We don’t buy very much meat but are pretty fussy about what we do buy.

My priority is quality. Chlorination and growth hormones doesn’t scream good quality to me. This is a non negotiable for me and I don’t buy poor quality animal products. Then comes welfare as a concern but balanced with affordability. I would cut back drastically to be able to afford good welfare animal products but wouldn’t cut them out altogether.

Welfare.

I'd rather eat leads meat than compromise.

Welfare.

I'm poorly off, so I eschew meat if I can't afford higher welfare.

Higher welfare, though I'm not convinced half the time that high welfare standards/laws are always actually adhered to.

@GregoryPeckingDuck

Quality and welfare usually go hand in hand. If you want meat not pumped full of antibiotics, the farm has to reduce crowding and increase access to sunlight and fresh food. For more muscle and less fat, the animals need to be able to move around. Obviously your unethical products - veal, fois gras etc are always going to fail to take welfare into account properly.

Welfare . I live on a beef and sheep farm too .I only buy NI or Irish raised meat .

I would never consider American raised meat .

Welfare and Reagan pink veal is far more ethical than the calves kept in crates.

Just because the supermarkets may choose to stock US meat, we don't have to buy it...there are certain countries whose produce I will not buy...I go without if theirs is the only product on offer in the shop, same with US meat.

High welfare every time. Only buy organic milk and eggs, ideally organic meat but if i really cant source any occasionally will eat non organic (but still outdoor reared).

We are fortunate to be able to afford it, but dont buy much to compensate - we only have meat about once a week (and fish maybe once).

If we had less money i would go veggie completely (was for 10 years pre dc). Idea of American chemicals etc being added is hideous

I m not sure I understand the meaning here.
So I like as far as possible to know the provenance of the meat I buy.

I know for instance Dane pack bacon is absolutely vile, and generally pigs across th e EU are kept in appalling conditions and the meat quality is not good.

I also know the EU has instances where horse meat and goodness knows what else is put into cheap pies sold in cheaper supermarkets.

So as I avoid all pig products except those from UK which has world leading standards in pig farming, I shall avoid us chicken

Well I'm vegetarian, but if buying meat for the rest of the family, it's always welfare first. It's more expensive to buy meat that's had a reasonable life, but if money is tight I'd always just buy less, it's not as if we have to eat meat.

As an aside I feel British farmers and food practise here is generally far higher than in the EU.

Bud The pork in Belgium is very good quality, and they do have specific licensed butchers that sell horse meat here. It is also sold in the supermarkets.

I also have to applaud Belgium for banning halal slaughter.

As a vet, hand on heart, it is welfare every time. I will go vegetarian before I will buy US reared meat. Sadly, this thread does not reflect the mass market in the UK, as for most people price will come first.

As an aside rose veal - the calves are similar age to lambs and pigs killed for the table. And are grass fed, usually outdoors, with high welfare standards. Even CIWF are ok with it.

I am extremely lucky to be in a position to have a choice. For me it is welfare.

British meat only. Chicken and eggs always free range.

The sticking point for us is ready meals. Occasionally we like a decent ready meal but frustratingly even M&S, Waitrose and Charley Binghams don’t do free range chicken in their ranges.

I was caught out by mayonnaise which I bought on the promise of free range eggs - turned out just some of it was free range.

I am not bothered by organic produce. Nice if it is there but I don’t care either way

I was brought up rural poor so have a decent sense of both animal welfare and being too poor to consider more than your own children being fed.

When I am buying raw meat to cook then I buy British raised beef from my local butcher and free range chicken and pork so high welfare/higher cost.

Where it gets more difficult is with processed products - the kids love a chicken Kiev every now and again and I buy a ready meal once a week for the night I get in from work very late. I suspect the meat in those is low welfare and I buy them for convenience...

I chose to stop eating meat altogether, in part because I'm not confident that welfare standards are guaranteed - laws that are insufficient, laws that are broken, cheap imported meat and unlabelled halal meat (I don't care about the religion side, but I don't believe that it should be legal for animals to have their throats slit while fully conscious).

I do, however, choose organic milk and free range eggs on welfare grounds. I'd choose organic cheese if the range was there and it wasn't a huge price difference, as is the case with milk and eggs.

When I move back to the UK, my meat will be sourced from a butcher, and a local farmer that I trust, and I will be back to buying as locally as I can.

@regansomerset geberally yes, which is not surprising but I just wanted to clarify that the welfare itself isn’t a primary concern for although I do value it. I would choose halal organic free range meat over ethically slaughtered meat over antibiotic fed free range meat for example. Obviously I would prefer to reduce intake and have humanely raised, humanely slaughtered (where applicable) and high quality products but the humanity of animal products is always going to be limited and sometimes costs more that it is actually worth. Not eating shit food on the other hand is worth a lot.