COMPLEXITY AND TRADEOFFS IN ANIMAL AGRICULTURE SUSTAINABILITY: BUILDING AWARENESS AND TRUST BETWEEN PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS

The overall goal of this project is to enhance the ongoing transformation of U.S. animal agriculture systems to make them more sustainable. Our team of interdisciplinary scientists, educators, and extension specialists has developed a comprehensive approach to achieve this goal via objectives that (1) identify how producers and downstream value chain actors make and balance sustainability decisions, especially in response to consumer preferences and market trends and pressures related to these decisions, (2) assess how existing research on consumer animal protein preferences frames the breadth and complexity of sustainability issues related to animal welfare and environmental impact and the extent to which this is aligned or misaligned with the breadth and complexity of producers' perceptions, (3) apply an innovative educational approach to explore how the priorities and opinions of consumers about products and practices aimed at improving animal welfare and environmental impacts would change if they were informed about and weighed competing arguments, and (4) translate this knowledge into action by working closely with stakeholder communities to inform and guide messaging, outreach, and strategies through extension programs and to key partners and policymakers. Our project features the use of a dynamic set of qualitative and quantitative social science research methods with representatives of local, state, and national beef, pork, and chicken (broiler) value chains to illuminate complexity in issues, decisions, and strategies at the intersection of animal welfare and environmental impact. Study investigators will assess the breadth, framing, and complexity of how existing and commonly used consumer market trend surveys have framed sustainability issues related to meat production with consumers to capture their preferences and priorities. Together, these activities will inform the novel application of a public consultation methodology to this topic in order to design a robust education effort that can evaluate whether, how, and on which issues consumers would change their behaviors if given the requisite knowledge to assess animal agriculture complexity. Finally, this project recognizes the essential role of Extension in driving animal agriculture transformation and will use key insights from all prior activities to develop effective messages and communication practices for consumers, build trust between producers and consumers, and inform policymakers. The extension efforts will incorporate stakeholder needs and local expertise of Extension agents into activities and materials. Extension outputs will be designed to incorporate systems thinking to address complexity and inspire informed action.