Investigation of the Awareness Level of Consumers about Red Meat Consumption and Animal Welfare

This study was conducted by interviewing 100 people face-to-face with the aim of examining the attitudes and behaviors of agricultural personnel towards meat consumption and their views on animal welfare in september–november 2020 in mersin province. t test approach was conducted in priori power analysis to calculate the minimum sample size with g*power 3.0.10 software. accordingly, the minimum sample size with 0.29 effect size (d=0.29), 0.80 power level (1-β=0.80), 95% confidence interval, and 0.05 significance level (α) was calculated as 96. considering that the questionnaires may be incomplete or inconsistent, 100 people (n) who voluntarily participated in the study were included in the study. it was observed that the agricultural personnel in mersin province preferred primarily “red meat” (48.3%) and mostly “beef” meat (44.3%) and “sheep” (40.1%). the reason for not choosing red meat is primarily because it is expensive (63.7%). among the participants, the first reason for preferring red meat is the nutritious nature of meat (40.1%). more than half of the consumers stated that they mostly bought red meat from the butcher of their choice (51.9%), and this was because the place of sale was reliable (71.1%). red meat is mostly purchased as minced meat (40%), while portioned meat is mostly purchased as “cubed” (74.6%). red meat consumption method is mostly consumed in the form of barbecue (grilled) (31.9%). while the participants were most concerned about animal welfare in the “care-feeding” parameter (36.2%), they declared that the “negative physical conditions” parameter should be corrected as a priority (23.4%) in life’s livestock. in order to make the consumer more conscious, various information should be given about the nutrient content of red meat and its importance in human health. in addition, the consumers need to be made aware of animal welfare.