Animal geographies: food retailers, fast food companies and animal welfare

Abstract

Introduction During the past decade, animal geographies have attracted increasing attention within the discipline. Sellick (2020), for example, traces the development of animal geographies using the example of cattle and their relationships with space, place and landscape. She suggests that the driving force behind animal geographies was ‘how should humans treat animals in an ethical way’ (Sellick, 2020, p. 22), which puts animal welfare under the spotlight. That said, Buller claims ‘shopping for welfare-friendly food products becomes an act of care-at-a-distance’ (2016, p. 422). The separation between production and consumption also poses a challenge for the food retailers and fast food companies who are a prominent feature on high streets and retail parks throughout the UK. While most of these food retailers and fast food companies are not involved in the raising, feeding, handling, transport or processing of animals, they are increasingly looking to respond to consumer concerns about animal welfare. This article aims to extend Sellick’s work on cattle and to respond to Johnston’s call for animal geographies to ‘better understand the current construction and social negotiation of farm animal welfare’ (2013, p. 139).