Shoppers think chickens trot and pigs fly, survey shows
Consumers are getting pig- and chicken-parts confused, a new survey has revealed, with one-in-10 claiming they had tried “chicken trotters”.
The RSPCA commissioned the survey ahead of Farm Animal Week, an annual event to highlight its Freedom Food labeling scheme. It also found 8% of respondents claiming that they had tried “pigs’ wings”.
Despite these answers, 72% of the 1,000 people quizzed said they had visited a working livestock farm.
“If people knew more about the provenance of the food they eat and the lives of the animals that produce it, they are more likely to care about how those animals are looked after.”
David Squaire, Freedom Food’s chief executive
Freedom Food’s chief executive, David Squaire, said: “There is no ‘might’ about it; some people actually think pigs do fly and chickens trot, so I’m not sure what animals they have seen when visiting farms. But all jokes aside, this is worrying.”
Mr Squaire added that the “majority of farm animals are kept in conditions which don’t fully meet their welfare needs”.
“If people knew more about the provenance of the food they eat and the lives of the animals that produce it, they are more likely to care about how those animals are looked after.”
Farm Animal Week is an RSPCA scheme aimed at encouraging consumers to buy Freedom Food meat. The charity says that nearly 47 million farm animals are reared under the scheme, including the majority of the UK’s free-range layer flock.
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