Abstract
The livestock industry has numerous and diverse impacts on the environment. In a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire, 361 students were asked about their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to the environmental impact caused by livestock industry. The data were analyzed using correlations, t-tests for independent samples, and linear regression models. We found that students have almost no knowledge about the environmental impact of the food they consume, their attitudes are moderately pro-environmental, yet they are not strict about pro-environmental behavior. Students with higher levels of environmental knowledge demonstrated more pro-environmental attitudes and behavior; attitudes mediate the relationship between level of knowledge and behavior with respect to environmental pollution caused by the livestock industry. In addition, participants that rear/reared animals demonstrated more knowledge and pro-environmental attitudes and behavior, and women demonstrated more pro-environmental attitudes and behavior than men. There is a need to raise awareness of the environmental and health impacts caused by livestock industry. An introductory course on environmental science should be integrated into different academic study programs. Further research should be conducted among additional population sectors.
Highlights
The present study examined the level of knowledge, attitudes and behavior of students on topics related to environmental pollution caused by the livestock industry
Students do not demonstrate pro-environmental behavior in this context. These findings are in line with a number of studies conducted in Europe and the U.S, which showed that some consumers are concerned about production of animal foods but their knowledge on this topic is very limited, and most continue to consume animal products without any intention of reducing consumption [20,21,22,45]
Students have almost no knowledge about the environmental impacts of the food they consume, and in particular, animal products, indicating that campaigns to raise awareness of this issue are likely to be effective, especially since we found that knowledge is positively related to attitudes and behavior
Summary
Throughout the world approximately 70 billion animals are reared as domestic animals annually, with more than 6 million animals killed for food each year [2], and approximately 56 billion mammals and birds slaughtered each year [3]. Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, titled, “The Long Shadow of the Animal Industry” [1], global meat consumption doubled during the period 1980–2002. Global meat production is expected to double from 229 million tons in 1999 to 465 million tons by. Besides the humane aspects associated with the rearing and slaughtering conditions of animals in the food industry, the great increase in the consumption of animal products has a most severe impact on the environment.
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