Welfare Quality®: Science and society improving animal welfare in the food quality chain
Introduction
VI Framework integrated EU funded project FOOD-CT-2004-506508
Animal welfare is a very emotive and contested issue for the European public. The Welfare Quality® project focused on integration of animal welfare in the food quality chain: from public concern to improved welfare and transparent quality. The project aimed to accommodate societal concerns and market demands, to develop reliable on-farm monitoring systems, product information systems, and practical species-specific strategies to improve animal welfare. Throughout this Integrated Project efforts were focused on three main species and their products: cattle (beef and dairy), pigs, and poultry (broiler chickens and laying hens).
The research program was designed to develop European standards for on-farm welfare assessment and product information systems as well as practical strategies for improving animal welfare. The standards for on-farm welfare assessment and information systems have been be based upon consumer demands, the marketing requirements of retailers and stringent scientific validation. The key was to link informed animal product consumption to animal husbandry practices on the farm. The project therefore adopted a “fork to farm” rather than the traditional “farm to fork” approach”.
Welfare Quality® will make significant contributions to the societal sustainability of European agriculture.
Welfare Quality® was a project funded by the European Commission. It was an integrated project in the sixth framework programme, priority 5: Food Quality and safety. Forty-four institutes and universities (representing thirteen European countries and four Latin American countries) with specialist expertise participate in this integrated research project. The project started in May 2004 and ended in December 2009.
Two follow-up projects (the Animal Welfare Platform and the forthcoming Welfare Quality Network) have started to examine possible mechanisms for using these assessment protocols to evaluate different animal farming practices. An important outlet for project publications has been the Welfare Quality Report Series, edited by Mara Miele and Joek Roex. All the reports are available as free download at the project webpage.