Not appropriate dinner table conversation? Talking to children about meat production Heather J. Bray a, * , Sofia C. Zambrano b , Anna Chur-Hansen b , Rachel A. Ankeny a a School of Humanities, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia b School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia article info Article history: Received 27 July 2015 Received in revised form 20 January 2016 Accepted 21 January 2016 Available online 22 January 2016 Keywords: Meat Children Meat eating Meat production Livestock production Food communication Food socialisation Omnivorism Family values Vegetarian abstract Although Australians on average consume large quantities of meat, their attitudes to farm animal welfare are poorly understood. We know little about how farm animal production is discussed in Australian households or how children learn about the origins of meat. This study consisted of an online survey completed by 225 primary carers throughout Australia recruited through social media. Findings include that conversations about the origin of meat were generally stimulated by meal preparation within the home rather than visits to agricultural shows or similar activities. Parents preferred to initiate conver- sations with children about meat production before they were 5 years of age. Urban parents were more likely than rural parents to reveal that they were conflicted about eating meat and would be more empathetic to children who chose to stop eating meat. Rural parents were more likely than urban parents to feel that children should eat what they are given and that talking about meat is not a major issue. Both groups felt that it was important that children should know where their food comes from. The findings of this study suggest that parental attitudes to meat production and consumption influence conversations about meat origins with children. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Australia's increasing urbanisation has been linked to decreasing levels of food and agricultural literacy (Worsley, Wang, & Ridley, 2015) and increasing unease with food production prac- tices (Meyer, Coveney, Henderson, Ward, & Taylor, 2012). The increasing proportion of ‘animal welfare friendly’ products sold by major retailers (Parker, Brunswick, & Kotey, 2013), and recent high- profile media campaigns highlighting ‘unethical’ production methods such as live export of cattle (Tiplady, Walsh, & Phillips, 2013), suggest that Australian consumers are concerned about the welfare of farm animals used for producing food. However they have varying levels of knowledge about these practices, faring little better than chance in tests of this knowledge (Coleman, 2010). Generally, levels of agricultural knowledge in adults (Worsley et al., 2015) and children (Hillman & Buckley, 2011) are low in Australia. In this paper we explore family attitudes to meat eating and the use of animals for food production, and the ways in which such atti- tudes are communicated in Australian families. 2. Background 2.1. Australians and meat Australians ate 44.6 kg of chicken, 32.8 kg of beef, 26 kg of pork, bacon and ham, and 9.5 kg of lamb per capita in 2012e13 (Langley, 2013), which is one of the highest rates of meat consumption in the world. In historical terms, meat has been considered to be an essential part of an Australian meal (Santich, 1990), with meat- eating being a deeply engrained cultural value, exemplified by Meat and Livestock Australia's recent campaign to associate the consumption of lamb with Australia Day and promote the idea that humans evolved to eat meat (Ankeny, 2008). Meat is still consid- ered an essential part of the evening and midday meals and oftentimes is part of breakfast. Australia has relatively low rates of vegetarianism, with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing 5% self-identify as vegetarians (Cornish, 2012); however it has been * Corresponding author. School of Humanities, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia. E-mail address: heather.bray@adelaide.edu.au (H.J. Bray). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Appetite journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/appet http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2016.01.029 0195-6663/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Appetite 100 (2016) 1e9