Dr. Wesley Tourangeau, a professor in the University of Windsor's Department of Sociology and Criminology. (SUBMITTED BY WESLEY TOURANGEAU/ University of Windsor)
By Lindsay Charlton
Picture yourself in the meat aisle, drawn to bacon citing “free-range” and “organic.”
Those claims suggest ethical farming, but how much do they really say about the welfare of the animals behind the food we buy?
That’s the question University of Windsor’s Dr. Wesley Tourangeau is exploring through a new project backed by a $71,242 Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
“At its core, the project is trying to evaluate standards for farming practices in the hopes of improving farm animal welfare,” said Tourangeau.
“Meat eating is very common in Canada and many parts of the world, and for as long as this is going to be true, it’s important and worthwhile to consider the moral and ethical questions about how we farm these animals and how well they are treated while they’re alive.”
The grant is part of $569,447 awarded to nine UWindsor researchers this year.
He, along with co-applicant Dr. Amy Fitzgerald and two research assistants, will examine Canada’s current standards for farm animal welfare and compare them to standards in other countries, and to the requirements used by third-party organizations to provide certifications (and associated product logos) that demonstrate meeting certain animal welfare considerations.
Each species has parameters set for care, Tourangeau explained, such as how long animals can be transported, or the minimum space requirements per animal.
The team will review each standard line by line, assessing how those choices affect the lives of pigs, sheep, chickens and other animals.
The research team will also examine what labels on meat packages actually mean—including third-party certifications related to ethical and humane treatment—and the questions those raise.
Shoppers might see one package stamped with multiple certifications at one price, another with a single claim at a different price, and a third without any labels, all being sold in the same store.
“Do these labels mean that Canada’s regulations need to be improved? If we have all these different third-party certifications—where companies hire someone to evaluate their practices—does that suggest our default regulations need to be updated?
Tourangeau believes there is likely room for improvement.
“That's probably fair to say. So, we’re looking to figure out where, and what’s possible and most practical, while trying to see if there are clear ways to make progress right away.”
“We want to look at the entire complex system and make sure it doesn't disregard these more social, environmental and ethical concerns. At the same time, it has to take into account scientific debates, the economics of farming and other realities,” he said.
“This project asks whether there are gaps we might better understand by looking at the bigger picture—opportunities that are harder to achieve and take longer to implement but are still important to name as future goals,” he said.
“The hope is that by making this large-scale comparison, we can identify different leverage points, including those that are easy wins and arguably should be implemented right away.”
The project draws on green criminology, which Tourangeau described as both a perspective and a sub-discipline that examines how we understand environmental and animal issues—including things that aren’t necessarily against the law but could still be considered harms.
“It’s taking a closer look at the regulatory and legal tensions that overlap with these social, ethical and farming concerns — and how all these different spaces interact,” he said.
The Insight Development Grant Tourangeau received is intended to support early-stage research, helping scholars develop new questions and test new methods or theoretical approaches. The program funds short-term projects of up to two years, with awards ranging from $7,000 to $75,000.
Other 2025 Insight Development Grant recipients are:
- Dr. Nazim Habibov — “Repairing a ‘broken elevator’ of social mobility: Drivers and barriers of perceived social mobility in 29 countries across the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 pandemic” ($59,286)
- Dr. Michael Bennett — “Final Wishes, Lasting Impact: Examining the Benefits and Challenges of Bucket List Fulfilment in Palliative Care” ($66,179)
- Dr. Alleson Mason — “Learning Black History and Building Capacity for Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in K-12 Classrooms: Ontario Teacher Candidates' Experiences” ($56,847)
- Dr. Kristen Morrison — “Strategic Leveraging of the 2026 FIFA World Cup” ($57,037)
- Dr. Carlo Charles — “Staging Identity: Exploring How Drag and Queer Monologue Performances Shape Queer Migrants and Refugees’ Sociocultural Integration in Windsor and Detroit” ($66,825)
- Dr. Kathryn Szechy — “Public Perceptions of Autism in the Workplace: Additional Impacts from Intersecting Marginalising Identities” ($70,209)
- Dr. Esraa Abdelhalim — “Harnessing Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to Maximise Performance While Nurturing Self-Accomplishment: A Balanced Approach” ($50,722)
- Dr. Ann De Shalit — “Beyond Protection: Mapping PCEPA Implementation and Impacts in Ontario” ($71,100)