Is There a "Cage-Free" Lunch in U.S. Egg Production? Public Views of Laying-Hen Housing Attributes
Animal welfareÐrelated production attributes are increasingly considered by U.S. consumers making food purchasing decisions and U.S. voters at the ballot box. This research considers U.S. consumer preferences for egg production attributes. The results reveal preferences for less hen stress, more nat...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Western Agricultural Economics Association
2019-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/287982 |
| _version_ | 1819060184199200768 |
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| author | Daniel Ochs Christopher A. Wolf Nicole J. Widmar Courtney Bir |
| author_facet | Daniel Ochs Christopher A. Wolf Nicole J. Widmar Courtney Bir |
| author_sort | Daniel Ochs |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Animal welfareÐrelated production attributes are increasingly considered by U.S. consumers making food purchasing decisions and U.S. voters at the ballot box. This research considers U.S. consumer preferences for egg production attributes. The results reveal preferences for less hen stress, more natural hen behavior, and improved worker health and welfare. We propose an index combining animal welfare scores and consumer preference shares for determining preferred combinations of egg production attributes. When weighting hen housing systems by consumer preference for animal and worker welfare attributes, the preferred system is enriched colony housing, which differs from recent retailer commitments to cage-free aviaries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T14:22:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4d84e5e23b3d44c3a807794f88a07294 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1068-5502 2327-8285 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T14:22:57Z |
| publishDate | 2019-05-01 |
| publisher | Western Agricultural Economics Association |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics |
| spelling | doaj.art-4d84e5e23b3d44c3a807794f88a072942022-12-21T19:00:43ZengWestern Agricultural Economics AssociationJournal of Agricultural and Resource Economics1068-55022327-82852019-05-0144234536110.22004/ag.econ.287982287982Is There a "Cage-Free" Lunch in U.S. Egg Production? Public Views of Laying-Hen Housing AttributesDaniel OchsChristopher A. WolfNicole J. WidmarCourtney BirAnimal welfareÐrelated production attributes are increasingly considered by U.S. consumers making food purchasing decisions and U.S. voters at the ballot box. This research considers U.S. consumer preferences for egg production attributes. The results reveal preferences for less hen stress, more natural hen behavior, and improved worker health and welfare. We propose an index combining animal welfare scores and consumer preference shares for determining preferred combinations of egg production attributes. When weighting hen housing systems by consumer preference for animal and worker welfare attributes, the preferred system is enriched colony housing, which differs from recent retailer commitments to cage-free aviaries.https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/287982animal welfare indexbest-worst scalingegg industryhen welfarepreference elicitation |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Ochs Christopher A. Wolf Nicole J. Widmar Courtney Bir Is There a "Cage-Free" Lunch in U.S. Egg Production? Public Views of Laying-Hen Housing Attributes Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics animal welfare index best-worst scaling egg industry hen welfare preference elicitation |
| title | Is There a "Cage-Free" Lunch in U.S. Egg Production? Public Views of Laying-Hen Housing Attributes |
| title_full | Is There a "Cage-Free" Lunch in U.S. Egg Production? Public Views of Laying-Hen Housing Attributes |
| title_fullStr | Is There a "Cage-Free" Lunch in U.S. Egg Production? Public Views of Laying-Hen Housing Attributes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is There a "Cage-Free" Lunch in U.S. Egg Production? Public Views of Laying-Hen Housing Attributes |
| title_short | Is There a "Cage-Free" Lunch in U.S. Egg Production? Public Views of Laying-Hen Housing Attributes |
| title_sort | is there a cage free lunch in u s egg production public views of laying hen housing attributes |
| topic | animal welfare index best-worst scaling egg industry hen welfare preference elicitation |
| url | https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/287982 |
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