The Psychology of Cheap Meat: How humans rationalize factory-farmed animals
Many people do not want to know about animal farming practices, because they recognize that such information might make it more emotionally difficult to purchase and consume meat. It is not only that we are often ignorant of the processes of meat production. We are willfully ignorant.
ROB PERCIVAL: The ‘psychology of meat’ might strike you as a peculiar phrase. What can psychology tell us about sausages? What does the science of the human mind have to tell us about our appetite for chicken nuggets or lamb chops? Well, quite a lot, it turns out. Because when it comes to eating meat, it seems we often say one thing and do another.
When quizzed, most Brits say they care about animal welfare. We pride ourselves on being a nation of animal lovers. We donate generously to animal charities and abhor animal abuse. David Attenborough is our honorary patron saint. And yet we so often opt not to fork out for higher welfare on our farms. For all our goodwill in one sense, it is intensively farmed, typically low-welfare poultry and pork that make up the bulk of the meat in our diets.
Of course, not everyone can afford to pay more. But it remains the case that a large proportion of the population could and yet, for one reason or another, often choose not to… In the past decade, a body of research has probed this very question, examining the cognitive and emotional tensions inherent in our relationship with meat and animal foods, asking why our behaviour so often diverges from our values. This research has been conducted under the banner of the ‘meat paradox’…
The issue, you might think, is simply that the average citizen is unaware of how their food is produced. Only a quarter of Brits for instance can correctly differentiate free-range and intensive poultry farming, according to a survey by the Animal Welfare Foundation.
There is also a limited understanding of the labels and certification schemes meant to communicate this kind of information. A third of those who recognise the Red Tractor logo believe it guarantees higher standards of welfare, a YouGov survey found last year – only a partial truth given the reality is it just means chickens must have 10% more space than the law requires.
But there’s an added layer of complexity. It is not only that we are often ignorant of the processes of meat production. We are wilfully ignorant. Psychologists have found that, when quizzed, many people explicitly say they do not want to know about animal farming practices, because they recognise that such information might make it more emotionally difficult to purchase and consume meat.
Even the most conscientious among us are prone to wilful ignorance. While most Brits say they care about welfare, 67% concede they dislike thinking about it when purchasing meat, a study published in Appetite, a leading peer-reviewed journal, found. Meanwhile, of those who consider welfare to be ‘highly important’, only about half actively think about it when buying animal foods in supermarkets or restaurants…
Our capacity for dissociation is accentuated by a bias against certain animals. Put simply, the more ‘human-like’ an animal, the greater sense of moral value. We therefore empathise more readily with a four-limbed mammal than a bird or a fish. In another study published in Appetite, when participants were asked what they understood the word ‘meat’ to mean, it transpired that processed meat and white meats were hardly seen as ‘meat’ at all. They were more akin to plants.
In so many ways, we struggle to think straight and act consistently. Our concern for animal welfare is genuine, yet is compartmentalised and impinges only lightly upon our dietary behaviours. Our values are sincere, but exist largely in the abstract and can be muted when purchasing or ordering food…
The findings illustrate the degree to which our behaviours can become divorced from our self-image, and our susceptibility to subtle forms of self-deception. They help to explain how as ostensibly ‘animal loving’ consumers, we often act in less-than-ethical ways. We say one thing and do another. We identify as ‘ethical omnivores’ even as we dine on factory-farmed meat. SOURCE…
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