What Prevents Better Animal Welfare?

‘Good-enough’ animal welfare seems to have achieved momentum in Norwegian industrial food production. However, in the grocery trade, we find meat products that are labelled as having better animal welfare. What is the difference between good and better animal welfare? Why cannot all products achieve better animal welfare? In this paper, we ask what obstacles stand in the way of better animal welfare? Farmers report that they financially and structurally have no opportunity to produce in a different way than what they do today. They are somewhat locked in a system that limits the possibility of operating differently. This runs alongside confidence that ‘the great silent mass’ is happy with the way food is produced and ‘have nothing to hide’. This paper departs on mainstream farmers’ perceptions of animal welfare and their reasoning for continued industrial production. These perceptions are negotiated with perceptions of what good animal welfare in industrial production, with systems offering ‘better animal welfare’ and with perceptions of risk and sustainability in sustaining or changing production.