travis jansen - thesis conference paper
TRANSCRIPT
The Millennial Generation: Understanding of and Need for
Information on Farm Animal Welfare in Canada
Travis W Jansen
1, Michael Von Massow
2
1 Centre for Knowledge Integration, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue
West, Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1
2 Department of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, University of Guelph,
50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
I. Introduction
The industrialization of Canadian agriculture
presents ethical challenges to consumers, producers
and governing organizations. This efficient model
of production has created an unquestioning demand
for cheap livestock products; including but not
limited to meat, eggs and milk. Combining this
demand with a population that is increasingly
separated from agriculture develops a strong
disconnect between the consumer and how their
food is produced.
However, recent media publications from outside
of the farming community are introducing the
public to the negative side of some livestock
practices. As a result, there is an increasing need to
ensure interested consumers are receiving and
absorbing accurate information about how their
food is produced. In particular, education should be
directed towards emotionally stimulating facets of
livestock production, such as animal welfare.
One of the challenges in educating such a large
population will be identifying the amount and type
of information that different people want and the
best way to deliver this information to them. The
millennial generation is of particular concern to the
food industry as they reflect the future parents and
primary consumers of livestock products for the
next few decades. Presently, post secondary
students are representative of the millennial
generation and the purpose of this study will be to
develop an understanding of this population and the
needs that they have for information about farm
animal welfare.
Understanding this population will help the food
and agriculture industry modify their education
program to better accommodate this population’s
needs. This will ensure that Canadians understand
the true way that farm animals are raised in their
country.
Abstract – Over the last ten years there has been an increase in the number of exposé videos that target
Canadian livestock producers. With these videos tarnishing the reputation of Canadian farmers, it
becomes increasingly important for the food and agriculture industry to educate the public on
mainstream farming practices. In order to develop effective teaching programs, these industries will
need to identify the needs of their various audiences. This quantitative survey study was done to
identify the millennial generation’s understanding of and need for information about farm animal
welfare. The survey was aimed at answering five key questions about this population: Are they
interested in farm animal welfare? Do they access information on farm animal welfare? If they access
this information, where do they get it from and how do they get it? What do they do with this
information? What is the best way to educate them about farm animal welfare? One hundred
participants filled out the survey over two days at the University of Waterloo Student Life Center. In
general, participants cared about farm animal welfare and had accessed information on the topic. The
most popular way to learn about farm animal welfare was by websites that were published by animal
welfare organizations or news agencies. A surprising number of participants had provided others with
information on farm animal welfare and many were interested in learning more about the subject. Most
participants wanted to learn about farm animal welfare by visiting a farm or through school.
II. Methods
Research was performed using a survey. This
method was chosen for two reasons. The first was
that it allowed for a large sample size. This ensured
that the sample was representative of the population
being studied. The second reason was that surveys
reduce response bias in participants. Had this study
been conducted using interviews, questions about
farm animal welfare may have led to participants
answering questions differently, in order to appear
more “normal” to the researcher. An anonymous
survey design helps to eliminate response bias by
separating the researcher from the participant and
separating the participant from their answers. This
ensured that participants answered the survey in a
way that accurately reflected their feelings.
A convenience sample was collected by having
one hundred participants fill out a thirty four
question survey over a period of two days. A booth
was set up in the University of Waterloo’s Student
Life Center. Anyone who passed by could fill out
the survey in exchange for a three dollar “Tim
Card”. Of the one hundred participants surveyed,
there were forty one males and fifty eight females.
Eighty six of the participants were between the
ages of eighteen and twenty three, eighty nine of
them were students at the University of Waterloo
and eighty four of the participants grew up in
Ontario. The collected sample is representative of
the millennial generation, defined as being those
who are currently between the ages of fifteen and
thirty.
Once the hundred surveys were completed, the
data from the hard copy surveys was transcribed
into an Excel file. Participants were asked to
provide only one answer for each question. For
questions where multiple answers were provided,
the responses were not included in the data
analysis. However, this did not exclude the
participant’s responses to other questions. As such,
analysis was done by comparing percent of
responses and not response frequency.
Initial analysis was performed by controlling for
certain participant responses and comparing results
between sample subgroups. The results provided in
this paper have not been statistically tested. The
final deliverable will use the Wilcoxon Rank Sum
Test to determine statistical significance.
III. Results
3.1 Are they interested in farm animal welfare?
Sixty eight participants answered agree or
strongly agree when asked if farm animal welfare
was something that was important to them. Table 1
indicates that female participants care more about
farm animal welfare than males. The bottom three
rows of table three suggest that having more
firsthand experience on farms increases the
participant’s interest in farm animal welfare.
3.2 Do they access information on farm animal
welfare?
Fifty nine participants had been presented with
information on farm animal welfare. Fifteen
percent of them went looking for the information
while fifty nine percent came across it randomly. A
friend or family member was recognized as the
most frequent way that participants first learned
about farm animal welfare (23%). A face to face
interaction was the most common way for this
information to be presented (33%).
3.3 Where and how do they access this
information?
Animal welfare organizations were identified as
the most popular source for information on farm
animal welfare (21%). Other choices included news
agencies (20%), the government (14%), farmers
(9%) and farming organizations (6%). Forty one
Fig 1. Table 1 summarizes participants who expressed
that farm animal welfare is important to them. Percent
was calculated by dividing sample frequency by
frequency of participants who answered agree or
strongly agree.
percent of participants accessed this information
from websites, followed by face to face interaction
(24%) and social media sites (11%).
3.4 What do they do with this information?
Forty one participants had provided information
to others about farm animal welfare. Of these forty
one participants, only nine of them rated their
knowledge of farm animal welfare as good or very
good. However, on average only eleven percent of
these participants answered the three “knowledge
testing” questions about farm animal welfare
incorrectly. Forty percent answered correctly and
forty nine percent said they were unsure of the
answer.
3.5 How do they want to learn about farm animal
welfare?
Most participants were interested in learning
about farm animal welfare by visiting a farm (73%)
or in an elementary or high school class (72%).
These were the most popular choices for those who
are interested in farm animal welfare, those who
aren’t, and those who have been presented with
information on farm animal welfare. Those who
hadn’t already been presented with information
were indifferent about the way they wanted to learn
about the subject.
IV. Discussion
This study was conducted to develop an
understanding of the millennial generation and their
need for information on farm animal welfare in
Canada. As expected, results indicated that this
population is interested in farm animal welfare, has
learned about farm animal welfare and wants to
learn more. Given this interest, there is a need for
the food and agriculture industry to develop
education programs that teach the public about
what they do.
The results of this study show that participants
prefer to use animal welfare organizations and
news agencies to get information on farm animal
welfare. Only fifteen percent of participants chose
to use farmers or farming organizations. This is not
surprising given that participants prefer to access
this information online where news agencies and
animal welfare organizations have a much stronger
presence.
However, this presents two reasons for the food
and agriculture industry to be concerned. The first
is that the millennial generation doesn’t go to them
to learn about what they do. This suggests that this
population has a difficult time accessing these
people or they do not trust them to provide accurate
information. The second issue is the number of
participants who choose to learn about farm animal
welfare online. Research suggests that despite
Millennials being comfortable with online research,
they have a difficult time evaluating the quality of
the information that they find1,2
. As a result, this
population is more susceptible to misinformation
about farm animal welfare. In particular,
information that comes from animal welfare
organizations and news agencies.
Despite these challenges, providing information
online is a convenient way to teach the millennial
generation about farm animal welfare. At a
minimum, the food and agriculture industry should
work to build a stronger online presence.
Participants also want to learn about farm animal
welfare in school or by visiting farms. This presents
the opportunity for an education program that
increases the number of Millennials who access
farmers for information on farm animal welfare.
One option is to incorporate virtual farm tours into
classrooms. Welcoming the public onto livestock
farms will build their trust in agriculture and reduce
the effects that exposé videos have on Canadian
farmers’ reputations.
In conclusion, the results of this study warrant
concern and the need for further research in this
area. Given the time constraints of this project, the
sample was limited to one hundred participants
who were primarily from Ontario and students at
the University of Waterloo. A more representative
sample will include individuals from across Canada
with different education levels. Future research
should look to answer questions about the type of
information this population is interested in and this
population’s willingness to pay for products from
animals raised under higher welfare standards.
V. References 1. Considine, D., Horton, J., & Moorman, G. (2009). Teaching
and reaching the millennial generation through media
literacy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(6), 471-
481
2. Joint Information Systems Committee. (2008). Information
behaviour of the researcher of the future.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes
/reppres/gg_final_keynote_11012008.pdf